Nigeria recorded a staggering 6,800 deaths linked to insurgency in the first half of 2025, according to a new report by security experts, a figure that experts describe as a national emergency demanding urgent government attention.
The report, unveiled at the 2025 Annual Lecture/Award of the Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria (CRAN) in Lagos, highlights the intensifying insecurity driven by terrorism, banditry, and mass abductions, especially across the northern region.
The experts noted that terrorist organizations, including Boko Haram and ISWAP, continue to wreak havoc through bombings, kidnappings, and violent raids on communities. Vulnerable groups, women, children, and the elderly remain disproportionately affected.
Speaking at the event, security expert and Chairman, Kontz Engineering Ltd., Engr. Mustapha Kazeem Lusty, warned that the already alarming death toll continues to rise.
“This figure is not static, it is climbing every single day,” Lusty said during his keynote presentation titled “Harnessing Technological Innovations for Crime Prevention and Control in Nigeria.”
Lusty provided deeper insight into the crisis, revealing that: Over 5,400 Nigerians were abducted within the same period; Between March 1 and March 14, 2025 alone, at least 179 deaths, 115 injuries, and 217 kidnappings were recorded; Banditry accounted for nearly 75% of all kidnapping victims in 2024, based on data from the Nigeria Violent Conflict Database; The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) recorded 51.9 million criminal incidents between 2023 and 2024; An estimated N2.2 trillion was paid as ransom to kidnappers within the period.
According to Lusty, worsening insecurity has eroded public confidence in government and law enforcement, pushing communities toward self-help and vigilante responses.
Lusty called for a radical overhaul of Nigeria’s security architecture, arguing that traditional policing and manual surveillance cannot keep pace with modern criminal networks. He proposed a six-point technology framework to strengthen national defence and intelligence: AI-powered early warning and predictive threat detection systems; A National Intelligent Vision Centre for centralized surveillance; Encrypted neighborhood/community reporting platforms; Large-scale deployment of surveillance drones and body cameras; Secure communication networks for security agencies; Advanced digital financial tracking to disrupt ransom networks.
He also urged deeper localisation of technology, enhanced forensic labs, cyber capabilities, multi-agency intelligence dashboards and transparent public reporting systems.
Another speaker, Chairman of Strict Guard Security, Dr. Bone Efoziem, warned that Nigeria’s porous borders remain the largest gateway for threats.
He explained that most criminal activities from arms trafficking to insurgent infiltration enter via unregulated land routes, not airports or seaports.
“Almost every village around the border is a potential entry point,” he said. “Even officers deployed to these areas cannot monitor them effectively. This is where drone technology and remote monitoring become indispensable.”
Efoziem noted that insurgents often possess superior night-vision and tactical equipment compared to Nigerian forces deployed with limited gear. He called for a redefined border management system built on technology that detects suspicious movements in real time and enables rapid military response.
He further urged the integration of community reporting platforms to anonymously capture intelligence on cross-border threats.
Chairman of the occasion, Mr. Akeem Osuolale, decried Nigeria’s reliance on manpower-heavy operations while other nations have fully embraced digital policing.
“Simple technology should be able to identify security pressure points and deploy men where they are truly needed,” he said.
Osuolale, represented by legal practitioner Barrister Olayinka Sanni, criticized Nigeria’s weak data management, saying criminal networks, including kidnappers, exploit poor intelligence coordination. He referenced a recent actionable intelligence alert that was ignored, calling it “evidence of systemic breakdown.”
Osuolale urged Nigeria to adopt automated surveillance, real-time monitoring software, advanced data analytics, and AI-supported policing, insisting that innovation, not human deployment, now drives effective security systems globally.
Royal Father of the Day, Oba Gbolahan Akanbi Timson, Jagunmolu of Somolu/Bariga, delivered a bombshell allegation: firearms seized from licensed owners have reappeared in criminal hands.
According to him, owners who lawfully possessed five-year firearm licences complied with police directives to surrender their weapons but the guns were never returned, destroyed, or officially documented.
“Those guns were seized not because they were unlicensed or used to commit crimes, but simply because an executive order was issued,” he said. “Today, some of those guns have found their way back into Lagos in the wrong hands.”
He urged investigative journalists to uncover how government-collected weapons ended up with criminal networks, insisting that accountability is critical to curbing escalating violence.
In his welcome address, President of CRAN, Mr. Olalekan Olabulo, said the association has spent nearly three decades advocating solutions to Nigeria’s insecurity.
“This year’s edition gives us a chance to reflect deeply on Nigeria’s security trajectory,” he said. “The current security challenges require innovation and proactive approaches.”
Olabulo emphasized: Surveillance systems; Forensic science; Data analytics; Inter-agency intelligence sharing. He urged the Police, DSS, and other security agencies to collaborate on a comprehensive technological strategy.
“We cannot continue to fight 21st-century crime with analogue tools,” he said. “The federal government must provide funding, infrastructure, and training to make policing technologically driven.”
Olabulo further called on the government and security stakeholders to leverage AI, conflict analytics, and digital systems to protect citizens and safeguard national stability.
Across speakers, one message was unanimous: Nigeria’s security crisis will worsen unless it abandons manual, manpower-heavy methods and embraces technology.
With insurgency deaths mounting, mass kidnappings increasing, and weapons proliferating in communities, stakeholders insist that AI, drones, digital surveillance, and intelligence sharing are no longer optional, they are a matter of survival.