By Ogungbayi Adeyemi S. | adeyemi@ddnewsonline.com
Editor, DDNews |
By Ogungbayi S.A. Adeyemi
Editor, DDNewsOnline
June 1, 2026
Nigeria is bleeding. Not from war in the classical sense, but from an epidemic of kidnapping for ransom that has turned our country into one of the most dangerous places on earth for ordinary citizens, students, farmers, and travellers. The question that must be asked loudly and without fear is this: Has kidnapping now become a convenient political tool among our politicians, or is it merely the accidental byproduct of leadership failure and systemic collapse?
From the era of former President Goodluck Jonathan to the current administration of President Bola Tinubu, the data tells a damning story of escalation, not coincidence.
The Evolution of a National Nightmare
During the Jonathan administration (2010–2015), kidnapping was largely confined to the Niger Delta militancy and the deadly rise of Boko Haram in the Northeast. The abduction of the Chibok 276 schoolgirls in April 2014 remains a painful symbol of governmental helplessness. It was a mix of political protest, ideological terrorism, and criminality. Ransoms were paid, but the scale was nowhere near what we witness today.
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Then came the Buhari years (2015–2023). What started as a war against insurgency gradually morphed into a full-blown criminal industry called banditry. Mass school abductions became normalized. Northwest states like Zamfara, Kaduna, and Katsina turned into hunting grounds. Hundreds of students were taken in single operations. The message was clear: the state had lost control of large swathes of territory.
Now, under President Tinubu, the crisis has not only persisted but, in many ways, intensified. According to the latest SBM Intelligence report covering July 2024 to June 2025, 4,722 Nigerians were abducted in 997 incidents. Kidnappers demanded around ₦48 billion in ransom and successfully collected at least ₦2.57 billion. In the same period, 762 people were killed in abduction-related violence. These are not abstract numbers they represent destroyed families, traumatized children, and a nation living in fear.
The Southwest, once relatively safer, is now seeing infiltration. Forests in Oyo, Ogun, and Ondo have become criminal enclaves. No region is truly safe anymore.
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DDNews Verdict: A Toxic Mix of Criminal Enterprise and Political Complicity
Let me be direct and unambiguous in my editorial opinion: Kidnapping in Nigeria today is primarily a profit-driven criminal enterprise, fuelled by poverty, unemployment, easy access to weapons, and a compromised security architecture. However, it has become dangerously entangled with politics.
Politicians on all sides have armed and used criminal elements during elections, only for those same elements to turn into full-time kidnappers and bandits when the campaigns end. Some high-profile cases raise uncomfortable questions about sponsorship and selective response by security agencies. Insecurity has also become a potent political weapon used to discredit opponents, justify budgets, or mobilise voters along ethnic and regional lines.
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This is not accidental. It is the direct consequence of decades of leadership that prioritises personal and partisan interests over the security and welfare of citizens. When ransom payments continue to flow despite official warnings, when arrested kingpins are sometimes released quietly, and when responses to mass abductions remain slow and reactive, the people have every right to suspect deeper compromise.
We have allowed a situation where human lives have a price tag in naira. This is moral bankruptcy.
Enough is Enough
DDNews calls on the Federal Government, state governors, security agencies, and all well-meaning Nigerians to treat this as the national emergency that it is.
End the ransom economy decisively. Paying kidnappers only breeds more kidnapping.
Strengthen rural intelligence and community policing.
Tackle the root causes: massive youth unemployment, porous borders, and corruption in the security sector.
Politicians must stop playing politics with the blood of Nigerians.
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To our leaders: History will not be kind if you continue to treat the lives of citizens as collateral damage in the game of power. The blood of the abducted and the tears of their families cry out for justice.
Nigeria deserves better. Our children deserve to go to school without fear. Our people deserve to travel without looking over their shoulders.
The time for excuses is over. The time for serious, coordinated, and results-oriented action is now.
DDNewsOnline – Lagos
By Ogungbayi Adeyemi S. (Beedee)
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