By Rev. Polycarp Gbaja
On 13 September 2026, the Nigeria Police Force issued a nationwide security communication warning of increased mobilisation of terrorist elements for possible coordinated attacks against places of worship, schools, NYSC orientation camps and other vulnerable locations. Crucially, the intelligence reportedly identified the movement of armed elements from Katsina through Kaduna toward Plateau State. The directive was circulated to police formations nationwide and ordered heightened surveillance, patrols, border/route controls, stop-and-search operations and coordination with other security and intelligence agencies.
The Troubling Gap
The police warning is therefore not merely a social-media rumour. Multiple Nigerian news organisations have reported the underlying police wireless message and its specific reference to movement from Katsina through Kaduna towards Plateau.
An intelligence warning is not the same thing as a public operational response.
CRUCIAL QUESTIONS
▪︎ Has the reported movement actually been detected and tracked?
▪︎ what intelligence operation is being conducted along the Katsina–Kaduna–Plateau axis?
▪︎Have the military and police established interception/blocking points along likely routes?
▪︎Are air assets, drones, reconnaissance units or special forces being deployed?
▪︎Have vulnerable Plateau communities been placed on a specific heightened-alert status?
▪︎What evacuation or emergency-response arrangements exist for communities identified as potential targets?
▪︎Are the communities receiving actionable early-warning information, rather than simply being told to remain vigilant?
▪︎Has the NSA convened an integrated response involving Defence Headquarters, DSS, Police, Civil Defence and the affected states?
▪︎What has the Plateau State Government been instructed to do?
▪︎Has the President authorised a specific operation to prevent the reported mobilisation from reaching its intended targets?
These are legitimate accountability questions, particularly because the warning itself appears to contain unusually specific geographical intelligence.
The government has not publicly demonstrated that its response to a specific, geographically identified terrorist mobilisation is commensurate with the seriousness of the intelligence warning.
Recent reporting describes attacks extending across Plateau, Kaduna and neighbouring states, including deaths and abductions during the latter part of September. One recent field-based report has recorded at least 41 deaths and more than 100 abductions across Plateau, Benue and Kaduna during a single week.
There are three separate things that should not be conflated:
*The September 13 police intelligence warning.
*The existence of continuing violent attacks in the region.
*The assertion that a particular massive force is currently moving toward Plateau to conduct a particular planned operation
In this kind of situation, without a concrete voice of authority that reassures citizens, panic can itself become a security vulnerability.
*The President, National Security Adviser, Defence Headquarters, Inspector-General of Police, Governor of Plateau State, Ministry of Defence and National Assembly should answer five basic questions:
1. INTELLIGENCE:
Has the reported movement of armed elements from Katsina through Kaduna toward Plateau been confirmed, disproved or otherwise assessed since the September 13 alert?
2. INTERDICTION:
What concrete operations have been undertaken to intercept, disperse or neutralise the reported mobilisation before it reaches vulnerable communities?
3. COMMUNITY PROTECTION:
Which Plateau communities, schools, worship centres and other vulnerable locations have been placed under enhanced protection?
4. EARLY WARNING:
What communication channel exists through which threatened communities can receive immediate, reliable warnings and summon security assistance?
5. ACCOUNTABILITY:
WHO is operationally responsible if an intelligence warning of this specificity is followed by mass casualties?
Accountability should not begin after people have been killed*.
A credible security system is supposed to convert intelligence into prevention.
It is increasingly disturbing that the body language of the President, State Governors, National Assembly NASS, Security Chiefs/Agencies shows that government priority is not the security and welfare of its citizens, but rather, winning the 2027 elections.
That in itself is tragic and unacceptable.
All Nigerians and the media should raise a clear and strong voice and action to compel the President and the various components of this government administration to rise to the occassion and deal decisively with the well known terrorists that have and continue to butcher the unprotected, undefended and extremely vulnerable and unarmed citizens of its indigenous communities in this well highlighted ongoing attack of Plateau, Kaduna, Benue, Zamfara, Niger & Nasarawa states, among others.
● Gbaja, a public affairs analyst, lives in Abuja and sent this via WhatsApp.