By Salihu Othman Isah
In the last 10 years, “kidnapped” has become one of the most painful words in Nigeria’s vocabulary. It is no longer tied to one region, one road, or one type of victim. From schoolchildren in the North to commuters in the Southwest, from farmers in the Middle Belt to oil workers in the South-South, no one is safe.
The most recent cases in Oyo State, where victims were abducted and later released, are a reminder that this crime has no borders. If we keep reacting after people are taken, we will keep counting victims. The only way out is to be proactive.
*A Nation Under Siege: The Pattern Across Regions*
*North West*
This zone has become the epicentre of mass abductions. In February 2024, over 280 pupils and teachers were taken from LEA Primary and Secondary School in Kuriga, Kaduna State. In 2021, 317 schoolgirls were abducted from Jangebe, Zamfara. Before that, 344 boys from Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina.
The method is the same: armed men storm schools at night, move victims into forests, and demand ransom.
In Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto, entire communities now live in fear. Farming has collapsed in many areas because farmers are kidnapped on their own land.
*North Central*
The Middle Belt is bleeding. In 2023, the Abuja-Kaduna highway became notorious for “one chance” kidnappings. Travelers are picked up, driven into the bush around Rijana and Katari, and held for ransom.
In Niger State, bandits have repeatedly attacked communities in Shiroro, Rafi and Munya Local Government Areas. In March 2021, thirty nine(39) students of Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, Afaka, Kaduna were taken. In Kogi, travelers on the Lokoja-Okene-Abuja road are regularly ambushed.
*North East*
Boko Haram and ISWAP turned kidnapping into a weapon of war. The Chibok girls in 2014 — 276 schoolgirls taken from Borno — remain the symbol of this tragedy. Though some have returned, many are still missing.
In Yobe, 110 girls were abducted from Dapchi in 2018. Beyond the big numbers, daily abductions happen in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa. IDP camps, highways, and even humanitarian workers are targets.
*South West*
For years the Southwest thought it was insulated. That illusion is gone. The 2020 killing of Mrs. Funke Olakunrin, daughter of Afenifere leader, Pa Fasoranti on the Ore-Benin highway shocked the region.
Ondo, Ogun, Oyo and Ekiti have all recorded cases. Farmers in Ibarapa, Oyo have been attacked. Students and lecturers are targeted around kidnapping-prone highways. The recent Oyo abductions show that even states with strong cultural institutions are not immune.
*South East*
The Southeast has seen a rise in politically-motivated and ransom kidnappings. Traditional rulers, politicians, businessmen and travelers have been taken. The Enugu-Port Harcourt and Onitsha-Owerri roads are hotspots.
In 2022, the Methodist Prelate, Samuel Kanu-Uche, was abducted in Abia and released after ransom was paid. Sit-at-home days have also created opportunities for criminal gangs to operate under cover.
*South South*
This was where modern kidnapping in Nigeria started — with the abduction of oil workers in the Niger Delta in the early 2000s. While militancy has reduced, criminal kidnapping has not.
In Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta, expatriates, contractors and wealthy indigenes are targets. The East-West Road and waterways are used by gangs to move victims. Pipeline surveillance jobs and poverty have created a recruitment pool.
*Why Reactive Measures Are Failing*
1. *It is profitable*:
As long as ransoms are paid, kidnapping will continue. It is low risk, high reward.
2. *Poor intelligence*:
Criminals know the terrain better than security agencies. Our forests — Sambisa, Falgore, Kamuku, Omo — have become safe havens.
3. *Slow justice*:
Arrested suspects spend years awaiting trial. There is no real deterrence.
4. *Porous borders and unemployment*:
Young men with no jobs are easy recruits. Small arms flow freely.
*The Proactive Roadmap: What Must Be Done Now*
*1. Intelligence-Led Security*
We must fuse technology with community knowledge. Drones, satellite tracking, and phone data analysis should be deployed in kidnap hotspots. At the same time, hunters, vigilantes, and traditional rulers must be incorporated, funded, and given legal backing. They are the first to know when strangers enter a community.
*2. Kill the Ransom Economy*
Government must work with banks, telecoms and fintechs to track ransom payments. A special financial crimes unit should focus only on kidnapping proceeds. Countries that criminalized ransom payment and enforced it saw cases drop. We can too.
*3. Swift Justice and Special Courts*
Every state should establish special courts for kidnapping. Cases must be concluded within 6 months. The penalty must be severe and enforced. Publicize convictions. Let potential kidnappers know the cost.
*4. Secure Schools and Highways*
The Safe School Initiative must be more than a policy. Fencing, security personnel, and emergency alert systems in all schools. On
highways, increase joint patrols, install CCTV at flashpoints, and create toll-free emergency numbers that actually work.
*5. Attack the Root Causes*
No amount of policing will work if we ignore poverty and joblessness. Federal and state governments must invest in agriculture, skills, and rural infrastructure. A young man with a farm or a trade is harder to recruit than one with nothing to lose.
*Conclusion*
From Chibok to Kuriga, from Afaka to Oyo, the story is the same: lives disrupted, families broken, and communities traumatized. The release of victims is always celebrated, and rightly so. But celebration without reform is an invitation for the next abduction.
Nigeria cannot police its way out of this crisis alone. We need a national, proactive strategy that combines intelligence, technology, justice, and development.
The forests must be cleared and dominated by the state, not by criminals. The money must be traced and blocked. The youths must be engaged and given hope.
To be proactive means to act before the next phone call comes at midnight. It means to choose prevention over negotiation.
The victims across Nigeria deserve more than our prayers after the fact. They deserve a country where they can go to school, go to the farm, and travel without fear.
That country is possible. But only if we decide, today, to stop reacting — and start preventing.