Security agencies have intensified surveillance around schools, places of worship, NYSC orientation camps and other vulnerable locations following intelligence suggesting that terrorists and their collaborators may be planning coordinated attacks across Nigeria.
According to The Punch, the Nigeria Police Force, in a security alert circulated to its formations nationwide, said the planned attacks could coincide with the resumption of the 2026/2027 academic session.
The police said intelligence available to the Department of Operations indicated “increased mobilisation of terrorist elements for possible coordinated attacks” on schools, places of worship, NYSC orientation camps and other vulnerable locations.
The alert, which was distributed to Assistant Inspectors-General of Police overseeing Zones 1 to 17, Mobile Police units, counter-terrorism and other specialised formations, as well as Commissioners of Police across the states, also revealed the movement of armed elements from Katsina through Kaduna towards Plateau State.
“There is an increased mobilisation of terrorist elements for possible coordinated attacks on places of worship, schools, NYSC orientation camps and other vulnerable locations,” the police stated.
The Force further disclosed that suspected Islamic State West Africa Province operatives and local collaborators were carrying out surveillance and reconnaissance of potential targets.
It consequently directed affected commands to increase security around schools, worship centres, NYSC camps and other vulnerable locations.
The police ordered commanders to intensify intelligence-led surveillance, patrols, stop-and-search operations, access control and rapid-response measures around identified vulnerable areas.
“All personnel should maintain heightened vigilance and report suspicious persons, vehicles, movements or objects through established channels,” it added.
Commissioners of Police were also instructed to tighten security at state borders, entry and exit routes and other critical approaches to prevent the infiltration and movement of armed elements.
The Defence Headquarters said it was monitoring the development.
“We are monitoring the situation,” the Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Michael Onoja, said.
Similarly, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps said it had strengthened its intelligence network across the country to protect schools and other learning institutions.
The NSCDC spokesperson, Babafemi Afolabi, said intelligence-driven operations involving federal and tactical squads had prevented more than 100 attempted attacks on schools.
Afolabi said the Commandant-General had briefed state commandants and directed personnel to remain vigilant as schools reopened.
“All tactical squads, officers, and men of the Corps in different state commands — the Commandant General has already briefed them through their commandants. So, now that schools have resumed, they’ve doubled their intelligence network, and I’m very sure that nothing of such will happen,” he said.
He also appealed to parents not to keep their children away from school because of the security concerns, while urging communities to cooperate with security agencies.
“I would advise parents and their wards to just let them free to go to school. Nothing of such will happen. That’s why we’ve been able to work in collaboration with other stakeholders, even the community leaders,” he said.
“This is the time we have to work and we have to do it all together because security is a collective responsibility. When they notice anything going on in their area, they should quickly alert us and let us know.”
Afolabi added that the NSCDC was working with private security personnel to improve intelligence gathering nationwide.
“Not only Civil Defence are doing this; we work together with other sister agencies, and also the private guards. We have millions of them all over the federation,” he said.
“So, part of the training we are giving to them is to put their ear on the ground and to furnish us with any information—whatever that is going on in their area—that they should furnish us and let us know.”
A former Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Ali Amodu, and former Director of the Department of State Services, Mike Ejiofor, also urged Nigerians and security agencies to remain vigilant following the alert.
Amodu described the advisory as part of the responsibility of security agencies to gather intelligence, issue warnings and help citizens prepare for possible threats.
He said, “Whichever department must have actually ignited or sent the alert is going to serve one and the same purpose. And it is a good thing; it’s a responsibility of the law enforcement, not only to enforce law but to gather intelligence and send alerts so that citizens can always be alert.
“Citizens can always be ready. They cannot take things for granted. When such an alert is given, from experience, you discover that everybody will sit up.
“Security is everybody’s business. I must be very frank with you, over the years, we Nigerians have taken things for granted. It is now dawning on us that there is a need for us to be very cautious in what we do and to be alert.”
The former police chief urged residents to report strange persons, suspicious movements and vehicles, particularly around worship centres.
“Now that election is by the corner, there’s need for everybody to be more of that alertness. The security agents are doing what they are supposed to do,” Amodu said.
Ejiofor said the advisory was consistent with the responsibility of the DSS to prevent and detect crime, urging other security agencies to respond quickly to the warning.
He said, “If you get such an advisory, we should take it seriously so that people are not caught unawares.”
Ejiofor stressed that preventing attacks required the cooperation of the military, police, intelligence agencies, governments and citizens.
“Now that we have preventive information, we should be sitting up. All of us—the military, the police, the state government, the Federal Government—everybody must be involved. But most importantly, the people must be security conscious,” he said.
He added that information from local communities could help security agencies identify suspicious activities before attacks occurred.
“The people must be security conscious, and they must also report back to the security agencies. That’s what this ‘see something, say something’ is important for,” Ejiofor said.
Meanwhile, parents have expressed concerns about sending their children back to school amid the security threats.
The National Secretary of the Uche Onyia-led faction of the National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria, Ibrahim Nabayi, said parents were worried and called on governments at all levels to urgently improve security around schools.
“Parents are worried now, parents are scared of sending children back to school,” he said.
Nabayi urged the Federal Government to deploy technology capable of detecting threats approaching schools, suggesting that surveillance systems should monitor activities within a five-kilometre radius of schools.
“I want to implore the Federal Government as well to develop, to deploy technology whereby from about five kilometres in the radius of a school, any weapon, any danger that is approaching towards the head of the school, government should be able to watch it from a distance and contain it and avoid this situation,” he said.
He also described schools as vulnerable because the security personnel stationed there might be unable to confront heavily armed attackers.
“All our schools are porous. The kind of ammunition these guys move around with is more that what the security guards in the schools have. They cannot contain them until there’s intervention of a superpower,” he said.
Nabayi recalled the Safe School Initiative introduced during the tenure of the current Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, as Chief of Defence Staff, saying it was designed to improve the mapping, surveillance and rapid response around schools.
“When the present Minister of Defence was the Chief of Defence Staff, he rolled out a military kind of system, what he called Safe School Initiative, whereby schools were mapped out for proper coordination, for swift response and surveillance,” Nabayi said.
He said the association had reminded the minister about the initiative during a courtesy visit about three months ago and that the minister pledged to sustain government efforts.
Nabayi called for stronger cooperation between security agencies, communities and parent-teacher associations, stressing that residents should report suspicious activities around schools.
“We want synergy between the government and the communities where schools are located. Security is not the responsibility of the government alone. The communities where schools reside should be proactive. They should say something when they see foreign objects around them,” he said.
On whether schools in high-risk areas should be temporarily closed, Nabayi said, “Of course, that’s the best way.”
However, he advocated moving pupils from vulnerable schools to safer institutions rather than shutting schools completely, warning that prolonged closures could disadvantage children without access to online learning.
He also called for the Safe School Initiative to be properly implemented and urged journalists to independently assess its presence and effectiveness in schools.
“The most unfortunate thing in this country is the somersault in policy decision-making. And the issue of the Safe School Initiative—we have been clamoring for the Safe School Initiative right from the attack on the Chibok girls,” Nabayi said.
He further urged the government to use technology to monitor suspicious activities around schools and involve parent-teacher associations in educating pupils and communities on security threats.
“For parents who are apprehensive, it is a genuine fear, and I respect that. I cannot send my child where he is not safe,” he said.
Nabayi added that NAPTAN had previously conducted sensitisation programmes for school administrators, pupils and other stakeholders but suspended the initiative because of inadequate funding.
The latest security alert comes against the backdrop of previous attacks on schools and other public institutions.
In May 2026, dozens of pupils and teachers were abducted in separate incidents, including an attack on three schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State on May 15, during which 49 pupils, teachers and a toddler were reportedly abducted and a mathematics teacher was killed in captivity.
The Department of State Services had also alerted Muslim and Christian leaders in Osun State to an alleged plan by terrorists to attack places of worship and other public gathering centres ahead of the 2027 general elections.
