Nigeria’s Kidnapping Crisis Deepens Despite Security Emergency

In one of Nigeria’s largest mass kidnapping incidents, 303 students and twelve teachers from a Catholic boarding school in Niger State were seized by masked gunmen. Since 2014, when the abduction of 276  schoolgirls from Chibok stunned the world, such attacks have become routine across the country. Total numbers of abductions are not known as the government is inclined to hold back the figures. However, a rough estimate of child abductions compiled by Amnesty and Save the Children puts the figure since 2014 at 1700. 

Kidnappings are done by different groups in different parts of Nigeria, an oil-rich nation where there are an equal number of Christians and Muslims. The abductions of Christians generally get more publicity world-wide because of the powerful church networks in the US and Europe. American evangelists, who form a large section of the Evangelical support base of the US President Donald Trump, have for years been campaigning against the persecution of Christians in Nigeria. So, it was not surprising to find Trump issuing a strong warning to Nigeria. As is customarily with Trump, the message to Abuja was issued from his social media platform. 

Trump said if Nigeria “continues to allow the killing of Christians”, “we’re going to do things to Nigeria that Nigeria is not going to be happy about and may very well go into that now-disgraced country, guns a-blazing,” he posted in Truth Social. 

Trump, however, had a one-dimensional view. As Nigeria explained, it was not just Christians who were affected, other sections, including Muslims, have become prey to gangsters hoping to make a quick buck. Issues of bad governance, desertification of large areas as well as ethnic and religious tensions plague a country that has about 200 ethnic groups living in a nation of 230 million.  

Analysts in the US say that Trump is unlikely to send in American troops to protect Christians in Nigeria. However, sanctions cannot be ruled out if the situation does not improve. The problem is that the police and the military are deployed by governors of states mainly to provide security to high profile politicians and government officials. Many of the politicians of the region, including governors of states, are in cahoots with the bandits and get a share of the booty.  

President Bola Tinubu has declared a security emergency across the country, following the abductions. He also instructed the police and the military to begin large-scale recruitment of personnel. He pledged the federal government’s support to states that have set up their own security networks to deal with the scourge of kidnappings.   

All communities country-wide are targeted by criminal gangs, normally referred to as bandits in Nigeria. Boko Haram and ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province) are the two outfits that are driven by Islamic ideology. Both groups operate from their bases in the North-east region of Nigeria. They carry out abductions to add numbers to their ranks. Sometimes they are used as bargaining chips to swap prisoner releases, especially of high-profile Islamic fighters imprisoned by the authorities. The ransom money helps to fund the group's activities. The Boko Haram and ISWAP, the two hardline Islamic outfits have long waged an insurgency against the government in an effort to establish a full-fledged Islamic caliphate. The insurgency has resulted in more than two million displacements in the last 15 years. 

According to Reuters, ISWAP captured an army general and executed him on November 14. The north-west and north-central regions of Nigeria have become the epicentre of non-ideological kidnappings carried out by armed bandit groups, who rely on ransom payment as their primary source of income. These groups exploit the vast forested terrain to retreat and hide after the mass abductions. The region’s weak security enables criminal gangs to sustain their operations through exorbitant ransoms. 

In the oil-rich South or Niger Delta, kidnappings historically targeted expatriates and oil workers. But incidents have declined in recent years due to increased security measures and the deployment of troops to safeguard critical oil infrastructure. 

The South-East has witnessed a troubling rise in abductions mainly for ransom, targeting wealthy individuals, travelers and religious leaders. 

One report noted that the region recorded the highest rate of ransom payments and collections among all geopolitical zones. Overall, the North-West remains the region with the highest number of kidnapping incidents and victims. The abduction of schoolchildren, in particular, is spreading across both the North-West and North-Central zones. 

President Tinubu has improved the economy and the oil-sector’s performance. The growth rate is projected to between 3.4 to 4.2 per cent. He is also going for economic reforms that has brought in foreign Investments to the country. However, all this will go down the drain unless he gets a grip on the security situation and deals with not just the Islamic insurgency, but criminal gangs that threaten ordinary citizens.