That Nigeria may not become a federal republic of kidnappers

NIGERIA is not yet a Federal Republic of Kidnappers. Yet every day that kidnapping becomes more profitable than honest work, every day that communities are forced to raise ransom money instead of expecting rescue, and every day that criminals dictate terms to citizens while the state struggles to impose its authority, it moves dangerously close to that description. The recent wave of kidnappings across the country should alarm every Nigerian, regardless of tribe, religion, or political affiliation. In Ekiti State, more than 30 worshippers abducted during a prayer gathering reportedly remained in captivity even after their families and community members raised millions of naira, food items, and other demands imposed by their captors. In Zamfara, students were abducted from an off-campus hostel. In Oyo State, prominent citizens continue to fall victim to kidnappers. Across the country, stories of abduction have become so frequent that many no longer make national headlines.

That may be the most dangerous development of all. A society is in grave trouble when its citizens become accustomed to evil. There was a time when a major kidnapping would provoke national outrage, emergency meetings, media saturation, and intense pressure on government institutions. Today, an abduction barely survives a single news cycle before public attention shifts elsewhere. The outrage has weakened. The shock has faded. The abnormal is gradually becoming normal. That is how nations lose the battle against criminality. The purpose of terrorism, banditry, and kidnapping is not merely to collect ransom. It is to establish fear as an alternative authority. It is to convince ordinary citizens that criminals are more powerful than the state. Once that perception takes root, the damage extends far beyond the immediate victims. Farmers abandon their farms. Investors avoid vulnerable regions. Schools become targets. Communities become prisons. Citizens begin to organise their lives around fear rather than freedom. When this happens, the economic and social consequences become as destructive as the crimes themselves.

To be fair, the military and security agencies have recently increased pressure on criminal elements in several parts of the country. Air and ground operations have intensified. Some notorious camps have been disrupted. Security forces have recorded important successes under difficult conditions. That pressure must continue. Criminal networks thrive when they are given breathing space. They weaken when confronted relentlessly. The current momentum must not be reduced, as every pause gives violent groups an opportunity to regroup, recruit, and rearm. However, military operations alone cannot solve what has become a national security crisis. Political leadership must show the same urgency that security personnel display on the front lines. The Presidency cannot afford to treat insecurity as one issue among many competing priorities. No government responsibility is more fundamental than protecting life and property. Roads, bridges, budgets, and elections lose their meaning when citizens cannot travel safely on highways, cultivate their farms safely, send their children to school safely, or worship safely in their communities.

READ ALSO: FG designates kidnappers, bandits as terrorists

The Federal Government possesses constitutional powers that can be deployed more aggressively. It can issue firmer marching orders to security agencies. It can strengthen intelligence coordination. It can disrupt ransom networks and criminal financing. It can compel greater accountability across all levels of government. It can take extraordinary measures where circumstances demand them. State governments must also accept their share of responsibility. Too often, insecurity is discussed as if it were exclusively a federal problem. Governors control significant resources, influence local security architecture, and possess intimate knowledge of their territories. Yet in many places, the response has lacked the urgency and innovation required by the scale of the threat. The political class as a whole must confront an uncomfortable truth: while politicians focus on the next election, criminals are focused on the next abduction. Unfortunately, the latter often appears more organised. Perhaps most worrying is the growing attempt to normalise terrorism and kidnapping in parts of the South-West and other regions previously considered relatively secure. The belief that insecurity belongs elsewhere has repeatedly been proven false. Criminality respects no geopolitical boundary. Once left unchecked in one area, it inevitably migrates to another.

History offers a clear lesson. Societies that decisively confront organised violence in its early stages usually pay a manageable price. Societies that hesitate often pay a much heavier one later. The objective of government should not simply be to respond to kidnappings after they occur. It should be to create such overwhelming consequences for kidnappers that others are discouraged from joining them. A state demonstrates its authority not merely by condemning crime but by making crime unprofitable. The certainty that criminals will be hunted, arrested, prosecuted, and punished remains one of the strongest deterrents available to any government. More importantly, the country must begin to make unmistakable examples of those who have turned kidnapping into an industry. The law must be seen to work. The consequences of terror must be visible. Potential offenders must understand that kidnapping is not a pathway to wealth but a direct route to ruin. A government that consistently imposes consequences on violent criminals sends a message far beyond the courtroom or the prison walls.

Nigeria must therefore send an unmistakable message to every kidnapper, bandit, terrorist, financier, collaborator, and informant: the era of operating with impunity is coming to an end. The military has begun to increase pressure. The security agencies are making efforts. That pressure must be sustained. That pressure must be intensified. The political leadership must match words with action. No nation can build prosperity on a foundation of fear. No economy can flourish when highways become hunting grounds. No society can achieve its potential when citizens live at the mercy of criminals. Nor should any country become comfortable with the sound of its citizens crying for help while criminals negotiate from a position of strength. Nigeria is not yet a Federal Republic of Kidnappers. But the time to ensure it never becomes one is now.