Families, religious leaders must work together to tackle insecurity—Alaro
By Mustafa Abubakar
The Director of Quality Assurance Unit, University of Ilorin, Prof. AbdulRazzaq AbdulMajeed Alaro, has stressed the need for families, religious leaders and communities to work together in tackling insecurity in Nigeria.
Prof. Alaro, who teaches at the Department of Islamic Law, gave the charge last Thursday (September 3, 2026) in his office while speaking with UNILORIN Bulletin on the Islamic solution to “Drivers of Insecurity in Nigeria,” where he examined the causes of insecurity and proposed Islamic and community-based approaches to addressing the challenge.
He advocated a collective culture that promotes moral integrity, exposes corruption and protects public welfare.
The don called for the rebuilding of family structures, with stronger parental guidance and household accountability serving as an important line of defence against crime.
He further advocated empowering local Imams to contribute to intelligence gathering and community cohesion, stressing that security is inherently local.
Prof. Alaro identified poverty and economic exclusion, weak enforcement of the rule of law, corruption and the erosion of ethical values among the primary drivers of insecurity in Nigeria.
He said widespread poverty and resource inequality create fertile grounds for radicalisation and survivalist crime, while inadequate enforcement of the rule of law and pervasive impunity undermine public confidence in security agencies.
He also raised concerns about the “insecurity economy,” asking who supplies bandits and terrorists with essential items such as food and fuel.
The don noted that violent conflicts claimed more than 4,600 lives, while 3,141 citizens were kidnapped nationwide in 2025. He added that ransom demands increased from ₦11 billion in 2024 to ₦48 billion in 2025, while ransom payments rose by 147 per cent to ₦2.57 billion. Nigeria, he said, ranks fourth globally on the Global Terrorism Index.
Prof. Alaro identified injustice as a significant root cause of insecurity and called for reforms to address vulnerabilities among young people. He noted that a significant portion of extremist group members stem from unintegrated non-Western or Almajiri educational structures.
He advocated modernising local educational systems through prudent governance to transform vulnerable youths into modern innovators rather than security threats.
He also highlighted the contributions of Muslim scholars such as Ibn Sina, Al-Khwarizmi and Abulcasis to global science.
Prof. Alaro placed the protection of human life at the centre of the Islamic framework for security, describing it as one of the paramount objectives of Shariah. He cited Qur’anic and Prophetic prohibitions against the unlawful killing of human beings and emphasised the protection of non-Muslim citizens and treaty holders.
The Islamic law scholar also advocated dialogue and intellectual engagement in addressing ideological extremism, arguing that kinetic force alone remains insufficient where insecurity stems from ideological distortion. He cited the historical debate between Ibn Abbas and the Khawarij as an example of theological engagement against extremist ideas.
