Crime and Terror Has No Tribe or Religion, Nigeria Must Stop the Double Standards

Nigeria has experienced several armed struggles across different regions, but not all of them followed the same path, methods, or intentions. Treating them as if they are the same, or deliberately framing some differently from others, has done severe damage to national understanding, unity, and security.

When militants in the Niger Delta took up arms against the Nigerian state, their grievance was clear. They believed their region had been exploited for decades through oil extraction, environmental destruction, and political neglect. Their targets reflected that grievance. They attacked pipelines, oil facilities, and state interests. They confronted the government directly.

• They did not bomb markets. 
• They did not storm places of worship.
• They did not kidnap schoolchildren or massacre villages to make a point.

Whether one agrees with their cause or not, their struggle was openly directed at the state and its economic structures, not at civilians.

What has played out in northern Nigeria over the years is a very different story. Where armed groups operating in the North have deliberately hidden under the banner of religion. Their methods are brutal and theatrical, designed to shock, terrify, and divide. Schools are attacked. Villages are wiped out. Churches and mosques are destroyed. Women, children, farmers, and traders bear the brunt of the violence. Entire communities, Muslim and Christian alike, are displaced and traumatised.

Yet the public narrative is often quick to frame these crimes as “Muslim attacks on Christians,” even though countless Muslim communities have also been slaughtered by the same terror groups.

This framing is dangerous, and it is not accidental. It pushes the false idea that Islam itself is at war with Nigeria, when the reality is that the overwhelming majority of Muslims in the country live peacefully and are just as much victims of these terror groups as anyone else. The branding fits a narrative that sells fear, fuels division, and turns a national security crisis into a religious blame game.

And then the script changes when violence shifts to the East.

For deeper insight into how naming shapes global narratives around Nigerian conflicts, read:
Genocide Nomenclature in Nigeria: How Naming Shapes Global Perception of Conflict

When attacks linked to IPOB or ESN occur in regions where the majority of victims are Christians, the language suddenly becomes cautious and vague. The perpetrators are often described as “unknown gunmen.” Their ideology is blurred. Their identity is softened. Their religion is never mentioned.

The brutal 2022 killing of Harira Jibril, a pregnant woman, and her four young daughters in Anambra State remains a haunting example. The crime was horrific. Innocent lives were taken. Communities were shaken. Yet the violence was treated as an abstract security issue, not terrorism. The language stripped it of urgency, ideology, and moral clarity.

This selective naming raises serious questions that Nigerians can no longer ignore.

• Why is violence in one region quickly tied to religion, while violence in another is stripped of all labels?
• Why are some victims loudly identified by faith, while others are reduced to statistics?
• Why are some armed groups exposed in full daylight, while others are hidden behind careful wording?

Terror is terror. Killing innocent people is cowardice, no matter the cause, the region, or the excuse used. No religion teaches the slaughter of the innocent. No political grievance justifies turning civilians into targets. And no part of Nigeria should be granted moral cover through selective storytelling.

The real danger of these double standards lies not just in the lies they spread, but in the divisions they deepen. They turn neighbours against one another. They poison trust between communities. They distract the nation from the real enemies, criminal networks, violent extremists, and political opportunists who thrive on chaos and confusion.

Nigeria cannot defeat insecurity while choosing comfort over truth. The country cannot heal while applying different names to the same crime. If justice, peace, and unity truly matter, then every act of terror must be called exactly what it is, regardless of who commits it or where it happens.

And the politicians, clerics, and commentators who deliberately paint criminal violence with a religious brush must be called out without hesitation. Because only then can Nigeria begin to confront insecurity honestly, rebuild trust among its people, and move forward as one nation.

This is not about defending any group. It is about rejecting lies, double standards, and selective outrage.

If terror is terror everywhere, why do we still describe it differently depending on the region, religion, or narrative it serves?

Related reading on Streaming Naija:
Crime and Terror Have No Tribe or Religion: Nigeria Must Stop the Double Standards

And its counterpoint:
When Naming Everything Terror Blinds Us: Why Context Still Matters in Nigeria’s Insecurity Crisis