Nigeria is in the middle of one of its most alarming security spirals in years, and a film that premiered barely a month ago has suddenly become part of the national conversation. The Herd, directed by Daniel Etim-Effiong and now streaming on Netflix after a theatrical release on 17 October, was conceived as a tense crime thriller. Today, it looks like a mirror held up to Nigeria’s most painful reality. Its themes, imagery and emotional weight echo almost exactly what Nigerians have been confronted with in recent days, from the mass kidnapping of students in Kebbi and Niger to the deadly church attack in Kwara livestreamed online.
The film’s timing is eerie. When Nigerians watch its scenes of highway ambushes, forest hideouts and frantic families scrambling for ransom money, they are not watching fiction. They are watching their nightly news.
The movie opens at a joyous wedding, drenched in colour and celebration. Within minutes, the atmosphere collapses into chaos as newlyweds Derin and Fola hit the road with their best man, Gosi, only to be ambushed by armed kidnappers. What follows is a brutal descent into captivity, violence and psychological torment. The tension is relentless, and the film never allows viewers to settle into comfort again.
What most viewers did not expect was how closely The Herd would align with Nigeria’s unfolding reality. In the last week alone, dozens of schoolgirls in Kebbi were abducted, over 50 students in Niger were taken in a predawn raid, and worshippers in Kwara were attacked in a church as the service streamed live. National anxiety has risen sharply, and discussions about insecurity dominate both online spaces and everyday conversation. Watching The Herd in this climate feels like watching the country’s headlines dramatized frame by frame.
The cast, stacked with names like Daniel Etim-Effiong, Deyemi Okanlawon, Genoveva Umeh, Kunle Remi
