Posted by Samuel on Sat 07th Feb, 2026 - tori.ng
Ejiofor noted that political leaders focus on electoral calculations while citizens are being k!lled in their hundreds.
Human rights lawyer Ifeanyi Ejiofor has accused the Nigerian government of yielding to terrorism, warning that the nation is sliding into a serious security and moral crisis.
Ejiofor noted that political leaders focus on electoral calculations while citizens are being k!lled in their hundreds.
In a statement titled “When the state negotiates with terror and campaigns on corpses,” issued on Saturday, Ejiofor said Nigeria is witnessing an unprecedented assault on its sovereignty, marked not just by the scale of violence but by what he described as “ritualised indifference” from the government.
“There has been no moment in Nigeria’s political history when the sovereignty of the state has been subjected to such a sustained, organised, and unapologetically destructive assault as the one unfolding now,” Ejiofor said.
The counsel to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), however, lamented what he described as a predictable pattern of response by the Nigerian government following mass k!llings across the country.
"Attacks occur, communities are wiped out, lives are lost, and the Presidency issues routine statements of condemnation and sympathy before announcing the deployment of security forces — often after the damage has already been done.
“The curtain then falls. The cycle ends. Until the next massacre,” he said.
Ejiofor accused Nigeria’s political leadership of being more invested in defections, electoral manipulation and the pursuit of a de facto one-party state than in protecting lives, despite what he described as a coordinated onslaught by bandit and jihadist terror networks across the North-West, North-Central and North-East.
“This is not merely a failure of governance; it is a masterclass in state acquiescence to mass death,” he stated.
Questioning the role of intelligence agencies, Ejiofor asked why repeated warnings ahead of attacks fail to prevent bloodshed.
“If the Nigerian state is not complicit by conduct, omission, or deliberate acquiescence, what becomes of the intelligence warnings routinely issued ahead of these attacks?” he asked. “Why do these monsters move with uncanny precision, unchallenged and unhindered?”
He pointed to recent mass k!llings in Kwara, Benue and Katsina states, noting that more than 400 Nigerians—many of them potential voters—had been k!lled in just one week.
“Four hundred citizens who might have queued peacefully in 2027 now lie in shallow graves,” Ejiofor said, adding that with the pace of k!llings, “one wonders how many Nigerians will still be alive to exercise their franchise by 2027.”
Referencing the recent release of 183 abducted worshippers in Kaduna State, Ejiofor criticised what he described as celebratory narratives around ransom-driven negotiations with terrorists.
“One might be forgiven for mistaking the spectacle for a diplomatic triumph,” he said, “until one recalls that the abductors’ initial demand was ₦28 million.”
He questioned why no terrorists were arrested, paraded or prosecuted following the release, warning that ransom payments—whether acknowledged or not—were strengthening terror networks.
Ejiofor also cited reports from Woro community in Kwara State, where locals claim more than 300 people were k!lled, far exceeding official figures.
“These were Nigerians. Christians and Muslims alike. Their crime was existing,” he said.
He criticised the deployment of troops only after communities had been decimated, describing such actions as “security after slaughter.”
“Why is protection retroactive?” he asked. “Are soldiers now assigned to guard graveyards and deserted villages?”
Calling for urgent action, Ejiofor demanded an immediate national security emergency declaration and a decisive dismantling of terror networks.
“The time for euphemisms is over,” he said. “Death has become so routine that it is now reduced to statistics — and statistics are the final stage before conscience collapses.”
He concluded under hashtags including #CountingGravesNotVotes and #CampaigningOnCorpses, by urging Nigerians not to accept the normalisation of mass death, warning that political ambition must not be placed above the survival of citizens.