By Francis Ajuonuma, Ben Adoga, Cajetan Mmuta, David Lawani, and Anthony Otaru
Abandoned street children roaming Nigeria’s cities and conflict-affected corridors are increasingly being exploited by criminal and extremist networks, security experts and rights advocates have warned, raising fresh concerns that the country is ignoring early warning signs of a deepening national security crisis.
From major urban centres in the South to insurgency-ravaged communities in the North, children living outside family, education, and state protection systems are being approached, monitored, and in some cases deployed for criminal surveillance, logistics, and violent acts, according to multiple sources interviewed by ThisNigeria.
Human rights activist and Convener of the Recover Nigeria Project (RNP), Comrade Osita Obi, described the phenomenon as a “ready-made pipeline” for terrorism and organised crime.
“These abandoned children are raw materials for terrorism, cultism, robbery and other crimes. As long as we allow children to sleep on the streets, we are sitting on a keg of gunpowder that can explode at any time,” Obi said.
He cited instances in Awka, Anambra State, where separatist sympathisers allegedly mobilised street children to ignite bonfires and disrupt economic activity.
“They were recruited to burn tyres and create fear. That is how vulnerable children are weaponised, the same way terrorists and bandits operate in the North,” he added.
A United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) consultant and UNICEF resource person, Prof Agharese Osifo, said the swelling population of homeless children is a direct indicator of governance failure and a latent terror threat.
“The build-up of street urchins across Nigeria is a tinderbox, a reserve army for terrorism, especially in the North. There have been documented cases of juvenile suicide bombers since 2009, yet the problem persists,” Osifo warned.
According to him, extremist groups exploit gaps in surveillance, identity systems, and social welfare structures to access and manipulate homeless children without attracting suspicion.
“These children move freely between markets, garages and road junctions. That invisibility is what makes them attractive to violent networks,” he said.
Osifo called for the revival of the abandoned Almajiri school reforms and a coordinated national child-protection policy.
A Chief Security Officer in Abuja, simply identified as Mr Mike, confirmed that abandoned children, particularly Almajiri, remain highly vulnerable to radicalisation and recruitment by terror groups.
“Most bandits were recruited from abandoned street children. They grew up without parental care, education or skills. Survival becomes instinct, and criminality becomes an option,” he said.
While he said no comprehensive data currently proves widespread use of street children as suicide bombers, he admitted operational indicators strongly suggest it.
“Some clerics are sympathetic to radical preachers. Radicalisation starts early, and the children become a pool for Boko Haram and ISWAP,” Mike stated.
He faulted the government’s failure to regulate religious teachings and dismantle extremist narratives early.
An Islamic teacher at the Islamic Training Centre, Madalla, Niger State, Alhaji Adamu Umar, acknowledged that abandoned children in northern Nigeria are easy prey for bandits and terrorists.
“The children abandoned today are becoming the criminals and terrorists of tomorrow,” Umar said.
He said bandits often exploit the children’s mobility and hunger, sometimes using them as cover or suicide bombers.
Umar called for the strict regulation of Quranic schools, compulsory parental responsibility, and integration of Western education and vocational skills.
In Lagos, a resident, Clement Paul, confirmed witnessing street children being approached and moved around in coordinated patterns.
“Yes, I have seen them monitored and relocated with false promises. Their poverty makes them vulnerable to manipulation, crime and prostitution,” he said.
Paul warned that government neglect of early warning signs is worsening insecurity.
“Recent security reports show they are used as informants, drug carriers and errand boys before being hardened into criminals,” he added.
President of the Conference of NGOs (CONGOS), Bartholomew Okoudo, said society’s silence is enabling the exploitation.
“The children are not the threat. Their vulnerability is. When early warning signs are ignored, abuse thrives unchecked,” Okoudo said.
He called for urgent national coordination focused on prevention, rehabilitation and reintegration.
Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the International Society for Human Rights and Rule of Law (Intersociety), Comrade Emeka Umeagbalasi, blamed the crisis on leadership failure and lack of data.
“Nigeria does not know how many people it has, how many children are out of school, or where they are. That is how insecurity festers,” he said.
He insisted that state and local governments bear primary responsibility for child welfare and the prevention of child abuse.
Across the board, experts agreed on one point: abandoned street children are not criminals by nature, but victims of systemic neglect whose vulnerability is being weaponised.
Without urgent intervention, they warned, Nigeria risks turning its most vulnerable population into the next generation of terrorists, bandits and foot soldiers of instability.
