Youths under the aegis of the Coalition of Borno Youth, Students, Clubs and Associations took to the streets of Maiduguri to protest the worsening state of insecurity in Borno State, gathering under a bridge in the state capital with placards bearing messages such as “United We Rise, Terror Falls” and “We Are Stronger Together.”

The demonstration adds to a growing pattern of youth-led agitation across the state this year, as residents grow increasingly frustrated with the persistent wave of abductions, attacks, and killings blamed on Boko Haram and ISWAP insurgents.

The protest comes against the backdrop of a string of harrowing incidents in recent months that have kept Borno in the national spotlight. In early July, suspected ISWAP terrorists stormed a school in Lassa, Askira/Uba Local Government Area, during an ongoing examination, killing two teachers and abducting dozens of students, an attack that left parents scrambling to compile lists of missing children and confronting a government delegation sent to sympathise with affected families.

That incident followed an earlier mass abduction in Ngoshe, Gwoza Local Government Area, where insurgents seized about 416 people, mostly women and children, and demanded a N5 billion ransom for their release.

Youth groups, including the Borno South Youth Alliance, have repeatedly organised demonstrations this year to press the state and federal governments for stronger action, though not without friction with the authorities. In May, a planned protest at Filling Polo in Maiduguri was effectively shut down after the Nigerian Army deployed armoured vehicles and armed personnel to the venue, a move organisers described as an attempt to intimidate peaceful demonstrators.

The Nigerian Union of Teachers, the National Association of Nigerian Students, and religious bodies including the Christian Association of Nigeria have also staged separate rallies and solidarity actions in recent months, all pointing to a common demand: that government match its rhetoric on security with visible, sustained action.

Governor Babagana Zulum has repeatedly warned that Borno risks being overrun without stronger military intervention, even as isolated successes, including operations against senior insurgent commanders, have offered only temporary relief.

For the youths who gathered under the bridge this week, the message remains the same one that has echoed through Maiduguri’s streets for months: that the state’s young people are done watching from the sidelines while their communities bear the brunt of a conflict now well into its second decade.

Photo Credit: Punchng.com