A new viral video showing a Katsina lawmaker openly negotiating with armed terrorists has triggered nationwide outrage, with citizens describing the scene as a humiliating indictment of Nigeria’s collapsing security architecture and a government they believe has grown tolerant of criminality.
The footage, which circulated widely on Tuesday, shows a group of armed men, some wearing military-style camouflage, seated with a local legislator as part of what has been described as a “peace deal” that reportedly resulted in the release of 45 kidnapped victims. Instead of relief, the video ignited anger, disbelief, and fierce political criticism online.
On X (formerly Twitter), many Nigerians condemned the spectacle as a national embarrassment and a troubling normalisation of terror.
One user, Optician-M, argued that President Bola Tinubu’s administration has done little to discourage ransom payments and informal negotiations with terrorists. “I think Tinubu is in support of all this peace deal and ransom paid to these terrorists. I have never seen or heard him frown at it,” she wrote, adding that Nigerians “deserve better in 2027.”
Another user, Jeff, tagged the U.S. government and questioned whether ongoing violence described as genocide in some quarters can ever be resolved when politicians appear “in bed with these terrorists, looking at the events and happenings.”
A particularly blistering critique came from Bassy, who contrasted the government’s handling of terrorists with its treatment of detained IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu.
“Fulani terrorists in Nigerian Army camouflage can sit with a Katsina lawmaker, negotiate a ‘peace deal,’ and walk free… but Nnamdi Kanu, a freedom fighter with just a microphone, is still locked away in solitary confinement,” he wrote. “How does a country pamper armed terrorists while treating a political detainee like a war criminal?”
Others accused Nigeria’s political and security elite of complicity, weakness, or open acceptance of banditry.
“A lawmaker stands happily with a lawbreaker,” wrote Mark SH, calling the situation evidence of a country where “everyone is forced to watch a horrific movie.”
Comments also touched on ethnic dynamics, with user Okoro Ugwu Nwachukwu stating, “Northerners are at peace with terrorists and bandits; look at the smiles on their faces.”
Another commenter, Dr_Shreds, lamented the government’s inability to arrest terrorists despite aggressively pursuing unarmed critics. “You kidnap, they pay you in broad daylight… yet they can arrest citizens who speak out,” he said.
Perhaps the most searing analysis came from Obiorah Otu, who warned that the video portrays a nation losing control of its sovereignty.
“What we just watched is a portrait of a country that has let the line between authority and outlaw blur so badly that criminals now negotiate in broad daylight with elected officials,” he said, describing the incident as proof that “power has drifted away from institutions meant to hold it.”
He questioned whether Nigeria can still claim to be a sovereign state in practical terms. “Sovereignty is not a flag and an anthem. It is capacity, will, and consequence… A country that cannot defend its people, enforce its laws, or confront terror with decisive clarity is performing sovereignty rather than exercising it.”
The Presidency and security agencies have not publicly commented on the viral video at press time.
