Kidnappers’ trillion-naira paradise

PUNCH

THE new National Bureau of Statistics report that Nigerians paid a whopping N2.23 trillion ransom to secure the release of their kidnapped relatives between May 2023 and April 2024 is proof that kidnappers and other violent non-state actors have found Nigeria a fertile ground to operate. This is alarming.

This a staggering sum. Among the 36 states, it is only the budget of Lagos that is double the sum. In the 2025 federal budget, health received an allocation of N2.4 trillion.

Since Mohammed Yusuf assembled the bloodthirsty Boko Haram group in 2002, neither his death in 2009 nor the internal dispute resulting in the breakaway of the Islamic State’s West Africa Province has tamed the terrorists’ lust for blood and wanton destruction of property.

In 2015, Transparency International estimated Boko Haram’s membership at 15,000. Other non-state actors like Ansaru and bandits have entered the fray, causing immense havoc.

Lakurawa, which was a wolf in sheep’s clothing for years among some communities in the North-West, showed its true colours.

In November when the insurgents killed 15 persons in a village in Kebbi State. They reign as judges, police, and tax collectors. They find Nigeria a good ground to proliferate.

Non-state actors have killed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions, forced trillions of naira out of their victims, and razed countless properties.

Nigeria rates an alarming 8.7 points on the Global Terrorism Index, which measures the direct and indirect impact of terrorism, especially in lives lost, injuries, damaged properties, and psychological aftereffects. The index is calculated from zero (no terrorism impact) to 10 (highest terrorism impact). This shows that Nigeria’s terrorism impact is high. It needs to change.

An estimated 51.89 million crime incidents were recorded across the country over the 12 months, per the NBS Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey report, released on December 17.

The North-West recorded 14.4 million cases, the highest, followed by the North-Central with 8.88 million, and the South-East with 6.18 million.

Many homes were broken into and robbed but that pales in significance compared to the spread and depth of kidnapping for ransom that has spawned a stunning N2.23 trillion kidnap economy.

Nigerian households coughed up that huge sum to secure the release of their loved ones at a time when the country is reeling under harsh government policies.

The inflation rate is 34.60 per cent and food prices are beyond the reach of most Nigerians.

Sixty-five per cent of the affected families were forced to pay N2.23 trillion. The average ransom was N2.67 million. This is too much of a burden for a struggling populace.

It is difficult to ignore the growing kidnap economy. Some people render various services to the kidnappers, from arms to information, food, and water supply, to fuel and financial services. Without this ecosystem, the kidnappers will be out of business.

The self-styled Department of State Services should dismantle it. The country has not invested enough in the police. The officers remain poorly housed, miserably kitted, and woefully remunerated. The morale of the average police officer is low. This encourages them to resort to dishonest acts to survive. They could also do with more training and retraining.

Between 2020 and 2024, N9.17 trillion was allocated to seven security units. These are the Army, Air Force, Navy, police, Defence Headquarters, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and Ministry of Defence.

The NBS statistics show the alarming growth and atrocities of non-state actors and the huge financial burden they put on suffering Nigerians.

The government must do more to secure the citizens. A lot needs to change.

According to the NBS report, armed robbers and kidnappers attacked the rural dwellers more than they did their counterparts in towns and cities.

This is due to vast ungoverned spaces, especially in the North. There are too many communities without police or any government presence. There should be more government presence to thin down those ungoverned spaces.

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