The activists argued that rising poverty, unemployment, inflation and declining living standards have created fertile ground for criminal networks to recruit desperate young people into banditry, terrorism and kidnapping operations.
Civil society organisations and activists under the banner of the #EndBadGovernance Movement have said that President Bola Tinubu's administration’s economic policies have created conditions that fuel terrorism, banditry, kidnappings and mass abductions across the country.
The groups made the claims during a press conference held in Abuja on Thursday ahead of planned June 12 nationwide protests, where they called on Nigerians to mobilise against what they described as the twin crises of insecurity and economic hardship.
Addressing journalists alongside representatives of civil society organisations, labour groups, students' unions and community organisations, the coalition expressed solidarity with victims of terrorism, banditry and kidnapping nationwide, lamenting that thousands of Nigerians now live in fear while criminal groups continue to operate with increasing boldness.
According to the groups, the persistent abduction of schoolchildren, teachers, farmers, workers and other citizens has become one of the country's greatest tragedies, with many communities deserted, schools shut down, and economic activities disrupted.
