Amid rising insecurity narratives online, a Facebook comment escalated real national frustration into something far more dangerous:
“Nobody is coming to save you. Our nation is at war with itself. Activate your own militias.”
While insecurity can make citizens feel unprotected, framing Nigeria’s challenges as “a nation at war with itself” and urging the creation of militias transforms concern into extremism. Militias, by nature, are unregulated armed groups that operate outside the law, accountability, and command structures. Encouraging people to raise them means encouraging weapons in untrained hands, private vengeance, and inevitable bloodshed.
Security problems should push us toward demanding better institutions, not dismantling them. A “war within” may describe the emotional state of the nation, but calling citizens to arms weaponizes fear and invites chaos, not safety.
The harm is not the panic—it’s the prescription.
LINKS
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