On rescue of kidnaped students…

As the practice of kidnapping for ransom in Nigeria appears to continue unchallenged, President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the military, police and intelligence agencies to ensure safe and early release of all kidnapped victims.

Specifically expressing his concern over spate of kidnappings in Kaduna and Niger states, with the practice largely targeted at students, the President said the menace of kidnapping must be halted.

While stressing the ongoing deployment of additional security personnel to all troubled areas, the President urged security outfits to “act swiftly” to rescue all school boys and girls in the affected states and ensure their safe return.

According to the President, the ugly practice of kidnapping students, mostly in the Northern states, threatens the country’s efforts to boost school enrolments, especially in states adjudged to be educationally backward.
And, indeed, most states in the North, compared with their counterparts in the South are, indeed, far behind as far as Western education is concerned.

Although the President has tried to paint the ugly picture of the state of education in the North, truth be told, he is modest in his description of the dismal situations of education and the criminality called kidnapping in the region, in particular, and Nigeria, in general.

The truth is, there are simply no words to convey Nigerians’ horror at the endless cycle of kidnappings while extremist violence, communal clashes and rising criminality are producing an epidemic of insecurity.

The latest alarming trend is a wave of mass kidnappings of students, endangering millions of children’s future as, for example, on February 26, armed gang kidnaped 317 girls from Government Girls Science Secondary School in the town of Jangebe, in Zamfara state and, on June 5, students, numbering 121 were kidnapped from a secondary school in Kaduna.

With these numbers, it is with little or no wonder that the President has described kidnapping as a cowardly and despicable act and condemns it as an assault on affected families and the nation.

In between these incidences, many other cases of schoolchildren kidnappings have occurred in different schools and at different times with all cases leaving in their wake heartache and anguish among parents and loved ones of the kidnapped kids.

Thus began a phenomenon that has become the new normal and has kept getting worse. Since December, more than 800 students and their teachers have been reportedly abducted in some states, with heavily armed men breaking into public schools, shooting sporadically and marched the students into dark forests.
Of course, people from other segments of the society too are getting kidnapped with victims held in inhumane conditions and freed after days or weeks upon the payment of ransom. The situation is even worse than coverage suggests. For every incident that makes headlines, many more involving fewer children or groups that do not fit a media narrative go unnoticed.


Regrettably, Kidnap-for-ransom is a daily phenomenon that is rapidly becoming Nigeria’s most thriving industry, earning perpetrators huge sums in an economy reeling from the pandemic downturn.
To pay ransoms, ordinary Nigerians tend to liquidate their businesses, sell homes and farmlands or incur huge debts. Communities have formed vigilante groups to defend themselves, but the criminals appear to have greater firepower.
The impacts exceed the initial human and financial costs. Freed children receive inadequate psychosocial support or none at all. According to Amnesty International, more than 600 schools have closed since 2014 over safety concerns, while the Ministry of Education reports that the number of out-of-school children rose by over three million to more than 10 million in the first quarter of this year.


For some girls, this is the end of the road in their education pursuit because they are married off during the school closures by parents who have always regarded education as an inconvenience. Even where schools remain open, fear and apprehension impact effective teaching and learning. Nigerian children, struggling to catch up from COVID-19 lockdowns, lag even further, risking a lost generation.
Poverty, unemployment, connection with Boko Haram activities and political opposition are said to be some of the major reasons kidnapping thrive. But, at least for now, with the culprits almost never arrested and prosecuted, it has dawned on the criminals that crime pays.
Despite repeated promises to control the situation, the government’s efforts are falling short. Around 350,000 police officers, a significant portion of whom are permanently attached to politicians as personal guards, struggle to defend themselves. The military is also thinly spread in active deployment to majority of the states.


Unfortunately, both the police and military face basic logistical challenges in the face of allegations of corruption against their personnel.
Lacking federal leadership, state governors pursue inconsistent, even contradictory, approaches. Yet, even more unfortunate is the fact that some criminal groups appear to be in control of many parts of rural areas and its highways.
Thus, to say that the situation is dire would be an understatement, and matters could get even worse. It’s, therefore, in this light that the recent order by the President to the security agencies to intensify their efforts geared towards release of all kidnapped people should be appreciated.
Of course, the President’s call on state governments to ensure compliance with the UN-supported Safe Schools Programme, which his administration has adopted, must not go unnoticed.

After Chief of Army Staff decoration, what next?

In an action that can be described as both regrettable and historic, President Muhammadu Buhari, this week, decorated a new Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Faruk Yahaya, with his new rank of Lieutenant-General.
It is historic because the President has had to perform that function for the second time in a year and it is regrettable because, firstly, he had to do so because another COAS, Ibrahim Attahiru, had to die in a plane crash in March to pave way for the decoration of Yahaya with his new rank.


The decoration event took place shortly before the commencement of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC).
Addressing journalists after the event, General Yahaya said the military would give its best to address the current security challenges in some parts of the country.
However, while wishing Yahaya successes in his new assignment, it seems he is setting an agenda for the military.
Truth be told, Nigeria is not spending enough on its security and the result of this inadequate spending is evident.
In terms of numbers, security personnel are inadequate and, in terms of equipment, there are not enough while in terms of training, they are not better.


Thus, the government should devote more money to the troops in the frontline, their welfare should be taken into consideration and there should be adequate funding, especially for the frontline personnel fighting the war.
For now, there is no doubting the fact that the Boko Haram insurgents and bandits and other criminal elements appear to have come to the conclusion that the government does not have enough security personnel to dislodge them from their hideouts.


But, other than the numbers, the government needs to provide the military and other security personnel with the necessary equipment to fight the criminals, especially an aircraft specially equipped with thermal cameras that can penetrate and pick body heat of human beings in the forests and bushes.
The use of intelligence in the fight against crime is, unarguably, the best option, and doings so successfully requires a lot of things, including manpower, preparation and finance. The use of credible intelligence sources to counter criminals had always given security personnel tactical advantage.
Intelligence, no doubt, plays a vital role in preventing crime from happening and hunt down suspects, including kidnappers, insurgents and their sponsors, if there are.