President Bola Tinubu spoke by phone with French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday to address Nigeria’s deepening security troubles. The leaders focused on ways to deepen ties amid rising threats, especially terrorism in the north. Macron pledged stronger French backing for Nigerian officials and aid for those hit hardest by the violence.
Macron voiced firm support in a message on X, stressing France’s solidarity against the dangers. He promised closer work with Nigeria at Tinubu’s urging and called on global allies to boost their efforts. No one, he added, should stand idle as the crisis unfolds.
The call came amid a surge in armed raids and abductions that have shaken northern schools and villages, sparking outrage worldwide. Just days earlier, Tinubu named retired General Christopher Musa as the new defence minister, tasking him with fast action. On November 26, he declared a national security emergency, pushing for rapid hires and shifts of thousands of troops, with a sharp focus on guarding schools, farms, and worship sites.
US President Donald Trump has turned a harsh spotlight on the unrest, warning of invasion over what he calls a genocide against Christians. In early November, he slapped Nigeria back on a list of nations with severe religious freedom issues and hinted at force. Nigeria’s leaders firmly deny any targeted purge, pointing out that the bloodshed spares no faith.
To ease tensions, Nigeria has turned to allies for help. On November 20, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth met National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu at the Pentagon to map out fixes. That day, a US House panel grilled experts on the religious freedom tag and its fallout.
Last Tuesday, Republican lawmakers warned of climbing faith-based clashes in a briefing pushed by Trump. On October 31, he ordered Congressman Riley Moore and a budget panel to dig into the Christian deaths and brief the White House.
Ribadu hosted a US Congress team in Abuja on Sunday for fact-finding chats, building on prior Washington talks about joint defence goals. US Ambassador Richard Mills joined the session, which Ribadu said signalled deep mutual respect. They covered anti-terror teamwork, area calm, and steps to fortify the Nigeria-US security bond.
Moore wrapped up his Nigeria trip on Sunday with upbeat words on X. He came, he said, in faith and for Americans everywhere, vowing more updates soon. Details on his meetings stayed vague.
On Saturday, the US Assistant Secretary of State and Ambassador Mills visited Benue State. They sat down with Governor Hyacinth Alia in Makurdi, plus Catholic bishops Wilfred Anagbe and Isaac Dugu from Makurdi and Katsina-Ala. The group also called on Tiv ruler Professor James Ayatse, head of Benue’s traditional council.
The trip’s aim stayed under wraps, though whispers tied it to US worries over faith attacks. Anagbe has twice briefed US lawmakers this year on Christian hardships and pleas for real steps. Ayatse branded the strife a genocide after the Yelwata slaughter that claimed about 200 lives during Tinubu’s state visit.
Governor Alia, a former priest, shot down genocide talk at a recent rights forum in Abuja. Benue sees no religious, ethnic, or other mass killings, he insisted. His press chief, Kula Terso, called the US stop a private affair with no press welcome.
Iorbee Ihagh, head of Benue’s top cultural bodies, linked the visit to genocide claims. He faulted the state for skipping a chance to show the visitors Yelwata or roadside refugee camps. Locals, he said, view the deaths as outright slaughter, echoing the Tor Tiv and Makurdi bishop’s cries to Congress.
On a brighter front, officials quietly freed 100 schoolchildren snatched from St. Mary’s Catholic school in Papiri, Niger State’s Agwara district. No word yet from authorities as reports closed. The win followed Ribadu’s school visit last week, where he shared Tinubu’s hope and updates on rescue pushes, plus extra guards in the zone.
Bandits hit the remote dorms on November 21, grabbing 315—303 pupils and 12 teachers—in a three-hour frenzy. Fifty kids broke free soon after and hugged families again. That left 265, including 253 children and all staff, in chains until now.
The state shuttered Niger schools and several northern unity colleges in response. A air watch swept Kwara, Kebbi, and Niger to hunt the gang.
Ex-presidential hopeful Gbenga Hashim pinned northern woes on local elites’ long flops, which breed jobless youths for terror ranks. He cheered Musa’s defence post as a real shot at fixes, if backed hard. Nigerians, he warned, crave deeds over talk in this dire hour.
Hashim pushed for laws to spawn state and community cops, key to taming threats. Northern banditry and grabs stem from ruling flops that trap folks in want, he said. He looked back fondly to the First Republic’s honest chiefs like Ahmadu Bello, who kept the region safe and knit tight.
University scholar Abubakar Siddique warned that northern rot—poverty, job voids, and raids—endangers all Nigeria. Speaking at a Kaduna memorial for General Hassan Katsina, he flagged the north as home to 65 percent of the poor. Out-of-school kids top 10 million nationwide, 60 percent up north, with youth joblessness over 50 percent in spots.
Desert creep devours 350,000 hectares yearly, worsening clashes, Siddique noted. Boko Haram alone has killed 35,000-plus and uprooted 2.5 million since 2009, alongside bandit hell. He urged overhauls in rule, forces, learning, and jobs to break the doom loop.
The event drew old soldiers, thinkers, and activists to honour Katsina, the 1995-lost northern military chief. Retired Lt-Gen Alani Akirinade lauded him as a true servant of unity and uprightness.
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