Nigeria, Dec. 12 -- Something alarming has happened in Bukkuyum, Zamfara State, something that should shake every policymaker, security agency, opinion leader, and ordinary Nigerian out of complacency. Bandits have now planted grenades and explosive devices in civilian areas.

This is not a routine headline. It is a warning shot, a turning point, and a sign that the security crisis in the Northwest is mutating into something far more dangerous than anything we have seen before.

For years, Nigerians comforted themselves with the idea that "bandits are just criminals." That illusion is over. We are now staring at a new phase of insurgency, expanding beyond the Northeast into territories once considered safe. If we do not wake up now, the N...