The Nigeria Police Force has raised the alarm over intelligence suggesting that terrorists and their collaborators may be planning coordinated attacks on schools, places of worship, NYSC orientation camps and other vulnerable locations across the country.
According to The PUNCH, the warning comes as schools resume for the 2026/2027 academic session, with security agencies increasing surveillance around institutions considered potential targets.
In a security alert circulated to police formations nationwide, the Force said intelligence received by its Department of Operations indicated increased mobilisation of terrorist elements for possible attacks.
The police also reported the movement of armed individuals from Katsina through Kaduna towards Plateau State.
According to the alert, suspected Islamic State West Africa Province operatives and their local collaborators were allegedly carrying out surveillance and reconnaissance of potential targets.
The Force therefore directed commanders to strengthen security around schools, worship centres, NYSC camps and other vulnerable locations.
Police formations were also instructed to intensify intelligence gathering, patrols, stop-and-search operations, access control and rapid-response arrangements.
The Force further ordered Commissioners of Police to tighten security at state borders, entry and exit points and other strategic routes to prevent the movement of armed groups.
The Defence Headquarters said it was monitoring the situation.
“We are monitoring the situation,” the Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Michael Onoja, said.
Similarly, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps said it had expanded its intelligence network across the country to protect schools and other learning institutions.
The NSCDC spokesperson, Babafemi Afolabi, said security operations involving federal and tactical teams had helped prevent more than 100 attempted attacks on schools.
Afolabi said the Commandant-General had directed state commandants to ensure that personnel remained vigilant as schools reopened.
He also appealed to parents not to keep their children away from school because of the security alert.
“I would advise parents and their wards to just let them free to go to school. Nothing of such will happen,” he said, stressing that security agencies were working with communities and other stakeholders.
Afolabi added that private security personnel were also being integrated into intelligence-gathering efforts.
He urged members of the public to promptly report suspicious persons, vehicles, objects and movements to security agencies.
Meanwhile, a former Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Ali Amodu, described the alert as part of the responsibility of security agencies to gather intelligence and keep citizens informed.
He said the warning should encourage Nigerians to remain vigilant rather than panic.
“Security is everybody’s business,” Amodu said, urging residents to report suspicious activities, particularly around schools and places of worship.
He also stressed the need for increased vigilance ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Former Director of the Department of State Services, Mike Ejiofor, similarly urged Nigerians and security agencies to take the warning seriously.
“If you get such an advisory, we should take it seriously so that people are not caught unawares,” Ejiofor said.
He called for closer cooperation among the military, police, intelligence agencies, governments and communities, noting that members of the public could provide information needed to prevent attacks.
Ejiofor urged Nigerians to embrace the principle of “see something, say something” by reporting suspicious activities to the appropriate authorities.
The security alert has also heightened concerns among parents over the safety of their children as schools reopen.
The National Secretary of the Uche Onyia-led faction of the National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria, Ibrahim Nabayi, said many parents were already worried about sending their children back to school.
“Parents are worried now, parents are scared of sending children back to school,” Nabayi said.
He called on governments at all levels to urgently strengthen security around schools and deploy technology capable of detecting threats before they reach educational institutions.
Nabayi also called for the revival and proper implementation of the Safe School Initiative, which he said was designed to improve surveillance, coordination and rapid response around vulnerable schools.
He argued that schools in areas facing serious security threats should not simply be abandoned but that pupils could be temporarily moved to safer institutions.
“Instead of closing down schools, they transfer to the nearby schools that are safer and more reliable in terms of security. It’s a dynamic approach,” he said.
Nabayi further urged stronger collaboration between security agencies, communities and parent-teacher associations, saying local residents were often in the best position to identify unusual activities around schools.
The latest warning comes amid previous attacks and abductions involving educational institutions.
In May 2026, armed men reportedly attacked schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, abducting pupils, teachers and a toddler, while a mathematics teacher was later killed in captivity.
The Department of State Services has also previously alerted religious leaders in Osun State to an alleged plan by terrorists to attack places of worship and other public gathering centres ahead of the 2027 elections.
