Nigeria’s ransom crisis: Funding the terror we fight By Guardian Editorial Board on January 29, 2026: Recommended Nigerian Newspaper Report 24
The United Nations expressed concern over the spate of indiscriminate abductions in Nigeria recently, with Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, lamenting, “Students, young people, young men, young women continue to be detained by armed groups.” Coming against the backdrop that abductors collected ₦2.57 billion in ransom payments within a single year, the UN’s voice is a sobering wake-up call that, in the absence of demonstrable state capacity to protect citizens, Nigeria might continue to face a vicious cycle of mass abductions propelled by the lucrative business of ransom collection.
Nigeria’s counter-terrorism efforts ought to have been bolstered by the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, legislation intended to cut off financial oxygen to the “kidnap-for-ransom” industry. It is a painful irony, however, that since the law was signed by President Muhammadu Buhari, the tide of mass abductions has shown no signs of abating. Rather than stifle the despicable economy, the continued circulation of ransom payments has worked as a life-support system, sustaining the very criminal enterprise the law was designed to suffocate.
Payments by government intermediaries inadvertently become seed capital for future attacks, as emboldened criminals stockpile more weapons and expand their operations. The government will have to clarify what end it hopes to achieve by fighting terrorists and kidnappers on one hand, while simultaneously empowering them financially through ransom payments on the other hand.
The abductions in November 2025 should prove a point. Armed men stormed the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, abducting at least 25 students and killing a teacher. This was followed by the seizure of over 300 schoolchildren and teachers from St Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Niger State, and the kidnapping of 38 worshippers from a church in Kwara State. Within days, virtually all the victims had been released and returned to their families.
The authorities have emphatically denied that they tipped the abductors. Kebbi State Governor Nasir Idris affirmed, “No ransom was paid. The Kebbi State Government did not pay a kobo, and neither did the Federal Government. The rescue was achieved solely through the efforts of the security agencies.” Similar assurances were offered concerning the Kwara State victims. Also, Senate spokesperson Yemi Adaramodu insisted the Federal Government paid nothing to secure the release of kidnapped schoolchildren in Kebbi and Niger. He explained that while there may have been contact with bandits, such contact could be “forceful, persuasive or a mix of both”.
These official clarifications do not add up. Despite the rebuttals, the absence of any reported exchanges of fire, tactical raids or military operations raises legitimate questions about the means through which these ‘safe releases’ were secured. Kidnapped victims simply appeared at government houses and were thereafter returned to their families, a contradiction that undermines public confidence in the very rationale for Nigeria’s security architecture.
Although unverified by official channels, claims circulating within government circles suggest that money may have been offered. One insider alleged that over ₦1 billion was provided as ransom for some students at St Mary’s Catholic School. The consequences of this approach, however, go beyond the immediate financial cost. With the abductors’ sacks brimming with cash, it is only a matter of time before the next mass abduction occurs. The kidnap-for-ransom business model is way too juicy to abandon, particularly when the government’s readiness to acquiesce is predictable.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Waidi Shaibu, recently directed troops to “intensify offensive operations and decisively flush out all criminal elements”. President Tinubu also ordered the establishment of security cordons around forests in Kwara, Kebbi and Niger states, alongside air surveillance. These counter-measures project strength rhetorically, but they have so far proved ineffective in stopping criminal groups. Directives, however well-intentioned, cannot, by themselves, address the intrinsic flaw in Nigeria’s security architecture: its inability to safeguard its citizens proactively. The result is a cycle of reactive interventions that invariably culminates in ransom payments.
The broader social implication of this security failure is illustrated in the closure of 47 Federal Unity Colleges, all schools in Niger State, and in states around the region, following the November 2025 kidnappings.
Faulting these closures, Human Rights Watch warned that they stunt students’ academic development and deny them the psychological support schools are designed to provide. It stressed that educational institutions should be “free from fear and violence” and called for immediate international pressure to ensure their protection from future attacks. This is laudable. However, unless authorities make major changes to the security structure, such calls will continue to remain mere expressions of hope.
There must be an acknowledgement of hard truths to move past the cycle. Laws and official admonitions banning the payment of ransom will remain ineffective unless the government demonstrates a clear capacity to safeguard the lives and property of ordinary Nigerians. This capacity will neither come through repeated declarations nor periodic military offensives that only disrupt criminal networks briefly before they are reconstituted. There is a requirement for sustained investment in intelligence gathering, community-level security partnerships, the hardening of vulnerable targets such as schools, and rapid response capabilities. Most importantly, there must be political will to resist paying ransoms even when doing so might secure immediate releases.
President Donald Trump’s claims about Christian persecution in Nigeria and the recent military intervention against the Lakurawa sect in Sokoto State add an international dimension and further complexity to the security situation. Nigeria should not allow its internal security challenges to become justifications for external intervention or international opprobrium. The narrative emerging from repeated mass abductions and questionable “rescues” undermines Nigeria’s standing as Africa’s most populous nation and damages investor confidence in the country’s stability.
The cost of nonchalance is huge. Residents live in constant fear, children’s education is disrupted, and economic stagnation sets in as businesses relocate. That is not to mention the psychological trauma. Also, trust breaks down between citizens and the state, as promises of improved security are no sooner followed by more daring kidnappings. Meanwhile, each “rescue”, when it happens, has the semblance of a negotiated deal rather than a genuine military engagement.
Until Nigeria breaks the cycle of ransom-mediated releases camouflaged as security victories, the terror industry will continue to thrive. With every naira paid, the authorities unwittingly support the infrastructure of terror, tacitly approving the business model of abduction, and guaranteeing the next wave of victims. The ₦2.57 billion collected by kidnappers between July 2024 and June 2025 represents the embarrassing price a nation must pay for its security failure. Nigeria must stop funding the very terror it claims to fight.
Research Credits
*This compilation series was first researched, written, poster designed and last updated by Toju Micheal Ogbe.
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Nigeria’s ransom crisis: Funding the terror we fight By Guardian Editorial Board is a report series by PositiveNaija aims to amplify and preserve the truth as done on the editorials of various Nigerian newspapers.
