ABSTRACT

Insecurity in Nigeria, manifesting in insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, and cybercrime, is increasingly represented on social media, where multimodal resources such as text, images, videos, hashtags, and emojis shape public narratives. While existing studies often focus on single communication modes, little attention has been paid to the multimodal construction of insecurity online. This descriptive qualitative study applies Kress and van Leeuwen’s Multimodal Discourse Analysis (MDA) and Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) to 18 purposively selected posts from Facebook, Twitter (X), and Instagram between January and July 2025. Data were analyzed by examining the interplay of linguistic, visual, and symbolic modes to identify ideational, interpersonal, and textual meanings, with social semiotic principles guiding interpretation of cultural and ideological contexts. Findings reveal how multimodal strategies frame insecurity, assign responsibility, and influence public perception. The study advances communication and security scholarship, offering insights for policymakers, media practitioners, and civil society on responsible digital engagement in security discourse.