Pastor Tunde Bakare, Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, has urged the Federal Government to suspend all non-essential gatherings in vulnerable areas across the country and place them under emergency security patrols.

Dr. Bakare made the call on Sunday during a State of the Nation news conference titled “The Darkness Before Dawn”, held at the Citadel Global Community Church in Lagos.

He said that although such measures might appear to signal the militarisation of affected communities, they remained essential, temporary steps needed to neutralise the growing threat of terrorism.

“The suspension of mass gatherings and increased emergency patrols must be implemented to prevent further mass kidnappings,” he said.

Dr. Bakare lamented what he described as intensified terrorist attacks following former U.S. President Donald Trump’s redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern over alleged government-tolerated killings of Christians.

“In the space of one week, troops were ambushed and some killed; dozens of secondary-school pupils were abducted in Kebbi; worshippers in a church in Kwara were attacked, kidnapped, with some killed; and hundreds of pupils were taken from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State,” he said.

He added that the heightened global attention on Nigeria appeared to have emboldened terrorists and bandits who “brazenly dared the Nigerian state.”

While welcoming the release of some abducted victims, including the Kebbi schoolgirls and the Kwara church worshippers, as well as the escape of some Papiri pupils, he said the recurring attacks underscored the need for fundamental reforms in governance and security.

“These interventions go to the very essence of our nationhood and the quality of governance in both domestic and foreign policy contexts,” he said.

Dr. Bakare attributed Nigeria’s worsening insecurity to years of leadership failure and institutional neglect.

“It is tragic that it took the United States Congress—not the elected representatives of Nigerians in the National Assembly—to convene a hearing on the lived experiences of citizens suffering under insecurity,” he said.

To reposition Nigeria in the evolving global order, he called for an integrated approach involving a critical review of governance structures, the security architecture, and the country’s geo-economic strategy.

From his role in convening the Save Nigeria Group to his participation in the 2014 National Conference, he said he had always been guided by the conviction that “the best of the North and the best of the South must come together at the table of brotherhood to forge a strong and united Nigeria.”

He argued that institutional failure had transformed a localised conflict into a vicious terrorist movement.

“The state’s failure over decades to address long-standing disputes between Hausa farmers and Fulani pastoralists allowed local tensions to mutate into a sophisticated and deeply entrenched network of terror,” he said.

Dr. Bakare maintained that the Nigerian state had a responsibility to invade the camps of armed marauders “who hide under the cloak of herdsmen, of whatever ethnicity, and who invade defenceless communities to massacre unarmed men, women, and children.”

He added that violent groups—from the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Eastern Security Network (ESN) to so-called unknown gunmen—had contributed to a mix of separatism, revolt, and criminality.

He warned that the trial and sentencing of Biafran separatist Nnamdi Kanu, occurring around the time Nigeria came under renewed global scrutiny, had reopened old wounds. He therefore urged the Federal Government to take concessionary steps to ensure equity for the South-East.

Recalling deliberations at the 2014 National Conference, Dr. Bakare said progressives at the time believed Nigeria needed consolidation of states into geopolitical zones rather than further “balkanisation” of already non-viable states. However, in the spirit of equity, they agreed to support the creation of an additional state for the South-East.

According to him, such concessions could foster genuine integration, just as the South-South—comprising Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, and Rivers—continues to grapple with the legacy of environmental degradation and resource-control disputes.

He reiterated his long-standing call for restructuring, noting that while President Bola Tinubu had taken initial steps on security—such as the declaration of an emergency and mass recruitment into the police—the administration must now “rise to the occasion and restructure Nigeria.”

Dr. Bakare also urged the Federal Government to tender a national apology and offer compensation to victims of terrorism by establishing a Victims and Survivors Register and acknowledging affected communities “by name.”

On state police, he cautioned President Tinubu not to delegate the process to governors or regional blocs, insisting that only a nationally coordinated approach would ensure proper checks and balances and prevent subnational executive excesses.

He further proposed replacing the one-year National Youth Service Corps scheme with a two-year programme, the first year dedicated to military training and deployment.

Other recommendations included standardising the national identity management system and conducting a constitutional referendum to give Nigerians a direct say on ongoing reforms.

Dr. Bakare commended the President’s directive withdrawing police officers from elite protection for redeployment to general policing duties, saying it aligned with earlier recommendations.

“To Nigerians across the nation, let us not despair. Let us hold fast to our conviction regarding the destiny of our nation, assured that our story will soon change for the better,” he said.