Nigeria Violence: Attacks on Churches, Schools, and Faith Traditions

Drivers of Violence in Nigeria

• 💰 A significant driver of current violence is the profitability of criminal enterprises, such as kidnapping, which funds further weapon procurement and operations.
• 📉 The low legitimacy of Nigerian politicians contributes to a lack of trust, leading communities to feel unprotected by the government.
• 💸 Consequently, many communities resort to paying protection money to criminal groups to avoid becoming targets.

Lack of Consequences for Perpetrators

• ⚖️ The precious little legal consequences for perpetrators of violence, such as jail time or executions, emboldens them to continue their activities.
• 📈 Recent violence builds upon a decade of insecurity, creating a situation described as a "free for all".

Factors Contributing to Insecurity

• 🌍 A confluence of economic, political, social, and environmental factors creates preconditions for violence across Nigeria's religiously and ethnically diverse communities.
• 🎯 While the government's intelligence apparatus is well-developed, the security architecture for effectively utilizing this intelligence on an operational level is lacking.
• ⚠️ This intelligence gap leads to unfortunate situations, including unwittingly targeting civilians or friendly forces due to improper intelligence utilization.