Nigeria, June 23 -- The recent brutal attacks on wedding guests in Mangu, Plateau State, and the horrific killings in Yelwata, Benue State, are grim reminders of Nigeria's escalating security crisis. Yet, beneath the tragic headlines and grim statistics lies an even more insidious problem: the silent complicity of some community members who shield killers, betray their neighbours, and undermine national efforts to restore peace.

In the Mangu attack, a bus conveying men, women, and children to a wedding was ambushed and set ablaze. Survivors, scarred by trauma, recount the belated arrival of soldiers, long after the carnage. Just days earlier, over 200 people, including displaced persons, were slaughtered in Yelwata, Guma Local Government...