Insecurity is escalating in Nigeria, and the bloodthirsty terrorists have gruesomely murdered no fewer than six active serving military commanders and one Retired Major General since January this year, 2026.
The fight against insurgency has turned deadlier recently with a sharp rise in killings and abduction for ransom, signaling no end to the decade-long national crisis, reports said.
Military officers and commanders are also not left out in the targeted strikes by the assailants as innocent civilians are being murdered on a relatively daily basis.
On 16th February, 2026, Boko Haram fighters attacked the Mandaragirau community in the Biu Local Government Area of Borno State, killing Lt. Col O.C. Okolo.
He was buried in his home town of Obinofia Ndiuno, Ezeagu Local Government Area of Enugu State in April 2026.
The armed militants killed Maj. U.I. Mairiga the Commander, Mayenti base in Borno State on March 1, 2026, a month after the death of Colonel O.C. Okolo.
Lieutenant Colonel S.I. Iliyasu, another top military commander paid the supreme price on March 6, 2026 when Boko Haram fighters attacked a Battalion in Konduga area of Borno State.
Similarly, on March 9, Lieutenant Colonel Umar Farouq was killed in another deadly attack by Boko Haram insurgents on a military base in Borno State.
The killings continued in April with the murder of Colonel I.A. Mohammed Commanding Officer of the Nigerian Army’s 242 Battalion in Monguno, Borno State, in active service on April 13, 2026.
It also recalls that Brig. Gen. Oseni Omoh Braimah was shot dead by members of the Islamic State of West African Province, ISWAP terror group on April 9.
The latest was the sad report of the death of Retired Maj-Gen Rabe Abubakar.
The Retired General was not killed in active service, but died in the forest after being kidnapped by terrorists in Katsina State.
He and his wife were abducted on 30 May along the Marabar Musawa-Kafinsoli road in Matazu Local Government Area of Katsina State.
Rabe was last seen in a video where his captors demanded the release of some bandits and the seizure of livestock, it was reported.
In the four-minute, two-second video that has been circulating on social media, the couple were seen standing and relaying the demands of their captors.
In the video, the widow said the abductors demanded the release of three of their members, namely, Sani, Aminu and Nasiru.
She said two of the detained persons were arrested in Jikamshi and the third was in Kano.
She also appealed to Katsina State Government and the leadership of the five local government areas to assist in meeting the demands to ensure their release.
But Rabe died from complications of diabetes and hypertension, Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs in Katsina, Nasiru Mu’azu said in a statement on Saturday.
Nigerians react: Nobody is safe
Nigerians took to social media on Saturday with posts of their deep anger over the government’s failure to rescue General Rabe before his death.
Following the announcement of Rabe’s death, some political big wigs took to their X handle to mourn the late general and made comments on the bigger issue of insecurity in the country.
Peter Obi: ‘We cannot continue like this’
The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Peter Obi in a statement on X, said the unfortunate incident was painful, describing the deceased as a “distinguished military officer who contributed a large part of his life to defending Nigeria and protecting its citizens.
“It is tragic that a man who served his fatherland with honour, rose through the ranks of the Nigerian Armed Forces and retired after years of meritorious services would meet such a heartbreaking end at the hands of criminal elements.
“His death is a national tragedy and a sobering indictment of the insecurity that has engulfed our country.
“When traders can no longer safely travel to markets, farmers cannot reach their farms, communities live under the constant fear of attack and even retired senior military officers are not spared from the menace of kidnapping and violent crime, it is clear that our nation is facing a grave security emergency”.
Obi urged the Federal Government and security agencies to go beyond the rhetoric and adopt a more proactive, intelligence-driven, technology-based and coordinated approach to tackling insecurity.
“Nigeria must strengthen its security architecture, improve intelligence gathering, secure our borders, equip and motivate our security personnel and ensure that those behind these heinous crimes are apprehended and brought to justice,” he said.
It has become a national calamity – Sam Amadi
The former Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, Sam Amadi has said that the deteriorating security situation of the country is becoming a national tragedy. Amadi cited the killing of other top military personnel.
Amadi called the unfortunate development a sad development and asked “why should a retired General be held in the forest for weeks and the Nigerian state cannot rescue him and his wife?
“Where is the competence of the Tinubu government if it cannot save this retired General? It has happened too often to be a national disaster.
“The Nigerian government can only do propaganda and arrest political enemies and activists”.
David Mark laments: Nigerians now at risk in their own country
Senator David Mark, National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, said that Nigerians are now endangered in their own country “due to the persistent threats of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes”.
In a statement by his media aide, the former Senate President said, “insecurity has continued to escalate for over a decade now, affecting every segment of society.
He called on Nigerians to unite in the fight against terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other forms of criminality that are threatening the peace and stability of the country.
President Bola Tinubu, in a statement issued Saturday night by his media aide, Bayo Onanuga, said that while the terrorists had “done their worst”, the government would never bow to their demand to release their members held by our security agencies.
“Bandits, kidnappers and sponsors of terror should now surrender or face the full weight of the Nigerian State,” Tinubu reiterated.
“Those windows of surrender won’t stay open forever. “And there shall be no mercy for those trading in the blood of Nigerians”
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