The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) is compelled to raise urgent alarm over what clearly appears to be a pattern of double standards in the Federal Government’s handling of non-state security actors across the country under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
We observe with grave concern the emerging contradictions in state responses to armed or quasi-security formations allegedly linked to different ethnic and regional actors. While the Federal Government under successive administrations, including the current APC-led government, has continued sweeping military operations against alleged IPOB-linked vigilante formations in the South-East, resulting in arrests, proscription, and prolonged detention of suspects including the IPOB leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, there are troubling reports suggesting a different treatment for similar groups elsewhere.
We are particularly alarmed by public claims credited to Yoruba Nation activist, Sunday Adeyemo (Sunday Igboho), that he has been “approved” or licensed to operate a private security network. We also recall similar controversies surrounding alleged state tolerance or patronage of other regional armed formations in different parts of the country.
HURIWA is therefore compelled to ask: is Nigeria now operating a system of selective justice and selective security approval? Are some citizens now more equal before the law than others?
If IPOB-linked vigilante formations are dismantled and criminalised on grounds of national security, then on what legal or constitutional basis are other privately organised armed or quasi-military groups being tolerated, accommodated, or allegedly endorsed?
This contradiction, if left unexplained, threatens to deepen ethnic suspicion, erode public trust in federal institutions, and weaken the moral authority of the Nigerian state as an impartial arbiter.
HURIWA reiterates that Nigeria is a constitutional democracy governed by the rule of law. There is no provision in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that permits the arbitrary licensing of private armies or ethnic militias under whatever guise, whether in the South-East, South-West, South-South or any other part of the federation.
We condemn unequivocally any policy inconsistency that suggests that some groups are treated as terrorists while others are romanticised as patriots, despite engaging in similar security-related activities outside formal state control.
We also recall with concern the continued incarceration of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu despite repeated court pronouncements and growing national and international concern, while other actors accused of similar or even lesser infractions appear to enjoy different treatment in the public space.
HURIWA demands urgent clarification from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Federal Government on the following:
Whether any private security outfit has been officially licensed or approved outside the statutory framework of Nigerian security agencies;
The legal basis for any such approval if it exists;
The criteria used in determining which groups are acceptable and which are criminalised;
The status of all non-state armed or quasi-security formations operating across the federation.
We warn that continued ambiguity on this matter is dangerous to national unity and security cohesion. Nigeria cannot afford a situation where the law is applied selectively depending on geography, ethnicity, or political convenience.
HURIWA maintains that all Nigerians are equal before the law and must be treated as such without fear or favour. Security policy must not be reduced to a tool of political or ethnic differentiation.
We call on President Tinubu to immediately address these concerns in the interest of transparency, justice, and national stability.
Signed
Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko
National Coordinator
HURIWA
June 06, 2026
