The spate of kidnappings in Nigeria is becoming alarming. These mass kidnappings across the country have had devastating effects on the lives of victims and their families. According to data sourced from the National Security Tracker (NST), an initiative of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), and the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), 3,841 people were reported to have been killed by non-state actors, while 4,243 others were kidnapped in 2023.
Also, SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based consultancy, estimates that 3,620 people were kidnapped in 582 incidents between July 2022 and June 2023, with a ransom demand of over ₦5bn ($6.5m). SBM Intelligence also estimates that 7,000 people have been kidnapped since President Bola Tinubu took office in May 2023.
In 2024, the kidnapping epidemic continues to increase. Data from Enough is Enough Nigeria, a coalition promoting a culture of good governance and public accountability, reveals that the country witnessed 256 kidnappings in January 2024. These kidnappings continued in February.
On the 13th of February, WITHIN NIGERIA gathered that Gunmen abducted at least 40 people in Zamfara state, the northwest region of the country. Also in the same month, 35 women are missing after kidnappers seized guests returning from a wedding in Northwestern. On the 5th of February, it was reported that travelers from Umuahia, Abia States, in two luxury buses, were kidnapped in Inyele Eteke in the Olalamaboro Local Government Area of Kogi State.
In March, the wave of kidnappings persisted, with reports of 60 individuals abducted by bandits in Buba village, located in the Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Additionally, on Thursday, March 7th, the largest mass abduction from a school since 2021 occurred. Gunmen seized at least 287 school pupils in the northern town of Kuriga. In a brazen act during daylight hours, bandits stormed a government primary school and carried out this unprecedented mass kidnapping, marking the largest such incident in a decade.
Recall that in 2021, the Boko Haram terrorist group’s abduction of 276 schoolgirls from their dormitory in the town of Chibok caused international outrage, with 98 of the victims still missing, according to Amnesty International.
These Gunmen who kidnapped at least 287 school children on the 7th of March, demanded a ransom of 1 billion naira ($621,848) and threatened to kill all of the students if their demands were not met; a devastating incident.
Kidnapping continues to thrive in the country despite the increase in the security budget yearly, which calls for concerns. In 2021, the defence budget stood at N966.4 billion, which rose to N1.2 trillion in 2022 and then to N1.383 trillion in 2023. The Defence budget for 2024 is N1.647 trillion, about 5.7 % of the entire 2024 budget. Similarly, in 2021, N455 billion was budgeted for the Police, N559 billion in 2022 and N838 billion in 2023. In 2024, the Police budget stands at N969.6 billion.
Expert Reacts
A Security and intelligence consultant, Adams Abuh, has said that the increase in kidnapping is a result of the corruption that has eaten into Nigeria’s system, while also blaming the government for not taking a bold step to end poverty in the country.
“ I believe the greatest factor is the level of poverty in our nation, which is occasioned by massive or mitigated corruption in not only our politics but in governance. You are aware of how money meant for development, infrastructure, for organizations have been looted over the years. And we are faced now without a solid economic issue that cannot provide genuine employment for our teaming youth population in the country.
Most of these youth populations who have become talks in the hands of politicians and who sometimes are armed during elections turn against society to terrorize us. You are aware that some of these states or local governments don’t even pay salaries as they are supposed to pay. In these hard times, those areas we must look at, the government must look at” he said
According to him, proper judgment has not been melted on kidnappers caught over the years, leaving a negative effect on the country.
“Have we had kidnappers who have been condemned to death over the years? How many of them have been executed in the last 20 years in this country? They will kill our men people, but they are allowed to go free. I think that punishment needs to be brought back to being implemented to serve as deterrence for those who want to go into it” he added.
He therefore called for the government to provide adequate resources for security agencies and invest in technology, while also backing the call for state policing.
“ Government must continue to provide adequate resources in terms of remuneration for security agencies. Time is due for a review of their remuneration and other welfare benefits to enable them to be committed to what they are supposed to do. We should recruit massively. I want to believe that we are almost in the war period.
The strength of most of these organizations is inadequate to be everywhere, the way we want them to be. So we need to drill down, and we need to invest massively in technology and other equipment for them. Look at our forest, where these people are taken to, very poor, we don’t have technology that is overseeing them, We should be able to be in our comfort zone in a control centre and know what is happening in various forests across the country, this is what various technology can offer.
“let me use this opportunity to add that time is long overdue for the state police, whatever the likely misuse of the state police by some unscrupulous governors, should not hold us back because there are open spaces that the state police can occupy and support the Nigerian police for us to adequately provide security for our country,” he emphasized.