By Bankole T. James

As  President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration completes 15 months of cold, bitter and unforgiving governance in office, it is worthy to note that kidnapping and abduction is gradually becoming a major issue in Nigeria, while the Nigerian public, security experts, and policy-makers are grappling with the continuous surge in kidnapping and abduction cases.

Today, kidnapping in Nigeria is no longer restricted to certain regions or political motivations, it has become an industry on its own, that is; an enterprise which is driven largely as a result of many factors.

Nowadays, schools, highways, and even religious institutions are no longer safe, and there is the growing fear that has left Nigerians in a state of insecurity. From students and religious leaders to wealthy individuals and ordinary citizens, no one is exempted from the threats posed by organized kidnapping syndicates. As a result, I beg to ask the questions: how did we get here, and what, if anything, is changing?

From Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East to banditry and kidnapping in the North-West and North-Central regions, despite promises of enhancing military operations and intelligence by the Tinubu administration. “Security shall be the top priority of our administration because neither prosperity nor justice can prevail amidst insecurity and violence. To effectively tackle this menace, we shall reform both our security doctrine and its architecture. We shall invest more in our security personnel, and this means more than an increase in number.

We shall provide better training, equipment, pay, and firepower,” President Bola Tinubu vowed during his inaugural speech on 29 May, 2023. Fifteen months after he (President Tinubu) made this statement, based on the findings by PUNCH, about 2,140 people were reported kidnapped across 24 states of the country between January and July 2024. Between the months of January and July, gunmen have reportedly kidnapped 193 people in January, 101 in February, 543 in March, 112 in April, 977 in May, 97 in June, and 117 in July, totalling 2,140. Between January 4 and 5, 85 travelers were abducted along the Kaduna-Abuja highway near Katari, in the Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna State. On February 1, a terrorist group kidnapped about 60 wedding guests who were escorting a bride home in the Sabuwa Local Government Area of Katsina State.

On Thursday, March 7, 280 pupils and teachers of Government Secondary School and LEA Primary School at Kuriga, Kaduna State, were abducted by bandits. That same month, terrorists kidnapped 87 people after launching a fresh attack on the Kajuru-Station community in the Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State. On April, 30, children were kidnapped at Kasai village in Batsari Local Government Area of Katsina State. On May 24, bandits abducted no fewer than 200 resident members of the Kuchi community in the Munya Local Government Area of Niger State. In June, terrorists kidnapped 20 travelers along the Maiduguri-Kano Highway.

On September 2, Suspected pirates abducted 10 passengers from a boat traveling in the Bonny waterway, Rivers State. On September 4, gunmen abduct Oyo State governor Makinde’s aide, PDP chieftain Akika from home. On September 5, a senior nursing staff member of Babcock University Teaching Hospital, Mrs. Elizabeth Uruakpa, 66, was abducted by unknown gunmen in Ilisan Remo, Ogun State. Also, about 28 people were reportedly abducted by a group of terrorists at Tsanu village in the Talata Mafara Local Government Area of Zamfara State on September 6.

At this point, it will be so absurd to sideline the costly effect of the Tinubu’s administration, a crawling economic landscape that is grappling with record inflation, rising unemployment, and an increasing cost of living crisis. Although the Tinubu administration might have inherited an economy struggling with the aftershocks of COVID-19 and the global downturn, the removal of fuel subsidies, though aimed at long-term economic relief, has just worsened the immediate financial burden on many Nigerians. However, as far as I’m concerned, this is one of the most unwise political decisions ever made by a statesman. 

It is already an established fact that Nigeria’s worsening insecurity is driven as a results of economic stagnation, leading more people to resort to kidnapping for survival as the pool of high-net-worth individuals shrinks. Hardship in Nigeria is like a national cake that is being served on everyone’s table, and everyone is definitely having their own share of it. The situation in the country is looking dicey, and it seems the country is governed by terrorists, bandits and kidnappers. The rate of kidnapping and abduction is beyond alarming.

Desperation, coupled with the lack of legitimate economic opportunities has driven many young people to resort to criminal activities, including kidnapping and abduction, which guarantees a quick and substantial financial gain, has become the latest means of survival for many of them. According to Nairametrics, a new report by SBM Intelligence reveals that Nigerians have paid around N1.048 billion as ransom to kidnappers between July 2023 and June 2024. “But unlike Boko Haram, those carrying out many of the recent kidnappings are not driven by a political or religious cause, their primary motivation is money.

Authorities do not usually manage to apprehend kidnappers, but on rare occasions when they do, these criminals are often revealed to be ordinary people with families, jobs, or even university students. For some, kidnapping has become a desperate means of survival.” said Nigerian novelist Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani in The Sunday Times. Evidently, the structural conditions of Nigeria, marked by high inflation, unemployment, and poverty have fuelled the rise of kidnapping as a “career” for many disenfranchised youths. 

For many, this is not a last resort but rather an intentional decision driven by the need for economic survival in a country where the state has failed to provide adequate opportunities for the majority of its citizens.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and fourth-largest economy is grappling with a persistent kidnapping, an underground industry that has left countless lives devastated. Killings and abductions have become tragically a daily routine, affecting every corner of the country, but I beg to ask – how did we get here?

Surprisingly, these kidnappers are not just demanding ransom, they demand in-kind payments from the families of victims ranging from food, drinks and other items. This proves that people are hungry. The country’s hunger strike where food prices have skyrocketed has created no other options for the lazy and less privileges ones other than to resort to crimes, a condition for kidnapping. Once again, I beg to ask – how did we get here?

The way forward? I honestly do not have any proposed solution as regards this current situationship because terrorism is like a worm that has eaten into our fabric as a society, but I do think if things can at least go back to the old days, when Nigeria was still affordable and less expensive, when people still dear to dream and hope for a better tomorrow, the urge and drive for kidnapping and terrorism might reduce a little bit. 

This does not suggest that terrorism and kidnapping will cease but at least when there’s food on our table to eat, and the ambassadors of poverty are greedy but still care enough to do their duty and responsibility to the masses,  then a meaningful solution can be put in place to address the issue of terrorism and kidnapping.

Here’s my closing remark. Nigeria is a movie, but with an elaborate theme of absurdity. A paradox of a nation flowing with milk and honey where the countrymen are hungry. Nigeria is a fraction of prosperity and negativity,  an inside joke, and a caricature of itself. A one chance on a roller coaster, you can’t move, you can’t stop it, you can’t get out and if you get out, brother man stay out cause my country is a gamble between life and death. A jungle where dogs lead dogs and brothers cause their brothers to stumble.James writes in via taiwobankole438@gmail.com