Tensions around security in the southern regions of Nigeria have fuelled extreme rhetoric on Facebook, and one viral comment crossed into dangerous generalization:
“These people are your Meruwas, suya sellers, metal-scrap buyers, okada riders, tailors, food sellers. They are sleeper cells… They are here in the South.”
Rather than addressing insecurity with verified facts, this statement frames entire economic groups and northern-associated trades as undercover threats. Suya is a widely-loved West African food shared across tribes, and okada or scrap trading are livelihoods for millions trying to survive—not indicators of insurgency.
Injecting “sleeper cell” claims into working-class identities spreads suspicion, deepens ethnic divides, and encourages the public to see neighbours as enemies. Fear of infiltration is a real global security term, but applying it broadly to market workers and community artisans turns concern into harmful misinformation.
Security discourse should spotlight systems and accountability, not label a people, a region, or a profession as war instruments. The danger in such narratives is not the warning—it’s the target.
LINKS
https://x.com/OzorNdiOzor/status/1995517993736888448
