Security woes haunt Buhari’s bid

More than 1,300 have been killed in vicious land disputes between cattle herders and farmers

Nigeria is beleaguered security threats. In the northeast, Islamist extremists from Boko Haram and its splinter groups are waging increasingly complex attacks on military forces and civilians. In the middle part of the country, more than 1,300 people have been killed in increasingly vicious land disputes between cattle herders and farmers.

Farther to the south, violence spikes from time to time in the by Biafra region, where separatists are pushing to secede.

And in various pockets throughout the country, like a major highway between Kaduna and Abuja, kidnappings of prominent figures and regular Nigerians alike have become common.

Exaggerated proclamations

The threats are becoming a major issue for President Muhammadu Buhari as he tries for a second term in February. Increasingly, critics, and even allies, complain about his failure to take control of the security situation.

After Buhari took office in 2015, he made advances in pursuing Boko Haram, but he has not delivered on his promise to defeat the group once and for all. Even as the war rages, he has repeatedly claimed victory, prompting outrage by some over exaggerated proclamations.

Last year, dissatisfaction with the 75-year-old president grew while he was out of the country for several weeks, receiving medical treatment in London for an undisclosed illness.

On Sunday, according to local reports, several soldiers brought an airport in Borno state, in northeastern Nigeria, to a halt, shooting into the air and threatening their superiors to protest working conditions. It is the third time this year that security forces have protested.