IT’s been over three weeks since seven teachers and 39 pupils were kidnapped during coordinated attacks at Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota, Community High School, Ahoro-Esienle, and LA Primary School in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, on Friday, May 15, 2026. Michael Oyedokun, a Mathematics teacher was brutally murdered few days later to show to the world that the terrorists meant business. Oyedokun was slaughtered like a goat and the video was shared on social media. On that same date, scores of school children were also kidnapped in Borno State.
The last three weeks have been that of anguish and fear for most Nigerians, particularly, parents. The South west that seemed to be relatively safe is now another vulnerable region in Nigeria. Suffice to say, the whole Nation is on the edge. Fear has pervaded the land. Anxious parents are no longer allowing their wards to attend schools. Parents themselves are living in fear. Somehow, we have returned to the stone age, where life was brutish and short. Human life means nothing to these terrorists. They have practically lived the most parts of their lives in the bushes, away from civilised community. But modernisation and the search for water and vegetation for their animals has brought them in contact with fellow humans, and their intention appears to be to dominate.
The kidnappers of teachers and pupils of Oriire, Oyo State, have forced their victims to record series of videos, pleading with President Bola Tinubu and Governor Seyi Makinde to accede to the requests of their tormentors and free them from their daily agony. It is indeed a terrible ordeal. Kids as young as 18 months old, still being breastfed, have been exposed to the elements in the bush for days now.
What these dare devil kidnappers are after is still unclear to the public. The kidnappers choose only to talk to Makinde. Makinde too, perhaps, due to security concerns, is saying little. This has given rise to dangerous permutations and conjectures on social media. One of their demands as presented on social media, which is unconfirmed by those in authority, is that the Shariah law should be allowed in the State. What that suggests is that there are several groups that are trying to create divisions in the South west by dividing Nigerians along religious lines. But they would not succeed.
Already, the Oyo State Muslim Community has distanced themselves from such a demand, insisting that terrorists cannot speak for them. The nation is, to borrow the American phrase, “in deep shit.” People are now openly calling for self-defence. Communities are mobilising to form vigilante groups to defend their territories. Where they feel that they are surrounded by bushes and self help may not really protect them, many have had a dialogue with their legs to move.
In Kwara State alone, 28 communities in Kwara South have deserted their ancestral homes due to insecurity. Some of the rural settlements such as Ganmu Alheri, Oloruntele, and Budo Idowu have become ghost communities having quietly fled their homes. The displacement has spread to Isin Local Government Area, affecting communities such as Oro-Ago, Omugo, Ahun, Oke-Oyan, Owa-Kajola, Owa Onire, and Oba. It is the same sad story in rural communities in Oyo, Ondo, Osun and Ogun State. Many farming communities have also been deserted. The effects of these abandonments would be telling in the next few months.
The terrorists are becoming more daring and their activities are carried out in broad day light. Just few days ago, the sister of the former Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu and her twin children were kidnapped while on her way to drop them in school. Security agents only succeeded in getting them back at the weekend.
A nation that pays scant regard to security and education is definitely a failed state. Nigeria pays little or no regard to education, particularly in the northern states. When you allow over 10 million school children to roam the streets doing nothing, increase in crime is what you should expect. The seed of banditry and kidnapping that is ravaging the nooks and crannies of the country today was planted 15 – 20 years ago when Northern states priortised Islamic education over western education. Children were born and left to fend for themselves once enrolled in Qur’anic schools.
The retort then was that western education is ‘bad’ and of no significance in a child’s development. That was the lie sold to the masses while the children of the rich were sent abroad for proper education. The consequences of that negligence has caught up with us and is what we are witnessing now. Those uneducated kids have now taken up arms against the State. Since they are not educated, they really don’t know the value of education and are ready to stop other children from pursuing theirs. The name Boko Haram loosely translates into book (or education) is forbidden in the Hausa language.
Last year alone, a Non-profit Organisation (NGO), Save The Children, reported that more than 1,680 students have been abducted in Nigeria since 2014. This has significantly contributed to deteriorating absentee statistics in schools, with one in three Nigerian children not in school according to UNICEF. Those children that we failed to educate several years ago are now forcing others out of the school system through fear and intimidation.
Students are not the only ones bearing the burden of the crisis. Travellers, businesspeople, priests, and those perceived as being well-off are also often targets. Kidnappings have become a sub-economy of sorts, as abductors rake in millions of Naira in ransom payments. Social media is also littered with public requests from people soliciting funds to ‘buy’ the freedom of their abducted relatives and friends.
Since 2019, there have been 735 mass abductions in Nigeria, according to the socio-political risk consultancy firm, SBM Intelligence. It stated that between July 2022 and June 2023, 3,620 people were abducted in 582 kidnapping cases, with about N5 billion ($3,878,390) paid in ransoms. This year alone, SBM Intelligence said there have already been 68 mass abductions.
The root of hostage-taking in Nigeria can be traced back to the 1990s in the Niger Delta, where the country gets most of its oil. At the time, armed groups started abducting foreign oil executives as a way to pressure the government to address their concerns about oil pollution in their communities.
But in recent times, hostage-taking has become a booming industry. Perpetrators now mostly target socially classified vulnerable groups such as children and women, to elicit public anger and press their demands for ransom payments or the release of their arrested gang members.
When a ransom is demanded, the payment is expected to be made by the victims’ relatives, or in some cases, the government, and delays or non-payment can often times have deadly consequences. One of five sisters kidnapped in Abuja few months ago was brutally killed after a ransom deadline passed, sparking a national outcry. Although the Nigerian government has said it does not negotiate with terrorists in dealing with the spiralling security crisis, the persistence of occurrences has made many Nigerians to be skeptical. If the ‘industry’ is not being oxygenated, why is it thriving? Many State governors in the North have paid ransom to kidnappers to get school children out of their custody.
Towns and communities are now paying taxes and other forms of royalties to bandits and terrorists so that they would not be attacked. Farmers up North have had to enter a deal with bandits to share the proceeds of their farming activities during harvest.
In all of these, the federal government seems helpless. Several billions of Naira have been allocated to the security sector with little or no progress made. Although it recently sought help from the United States of America which launched coordinated attacks on the terrorists’ enclaves, there hasn’t been much gain from the move as the terrorists rather seem emboldened to continue their dastardly acts.
Those in government are now insinuating that the recent upsurge in kidnapping and banditry in the country is being coordinated by powerful opposition figures to discredit the government and gain the trust of the people so that the ruling party would be chased out of power in next year’s general elections. But the people seriously doubt the government as more believe that they are being lied to rather than being told the truth.
However, the Tinubu administration has made efforts to establish State Police which they believe would tackle the problem of insecurity once established. Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President, alluded to this recently, following a high-level meeting on the operationalisation of State police as well as the development of the legal framework that would guide its establishment.
Despite this, a traditional ruler has called on Nigerians to rise and defend themselves. In his view, the government lacks the capacity to defend Nigerians and communities should come together to protect themselves against marauders. That man is the Emir of Argungu, Muhammad Mera. He has urged communities within his emirate to legally acquire weapons for self-defence amid persistent attacks by bandits and other criminal groups. The monarch made the call during a meeting with district, village, and ward heads at his palace in Argungu, where he stressed the need for communities to remain vigilant and take proactive steps to protect themselves.
According to the Emir, residents should consider pooling resources to purchase legally approved weapons and strengthen local security arrangements in collaboration with relevant authorities. He said communities that possess lawful means of self-defence could discourage attacks by making criminals aware that residents are capable of protecting themselves. “If you acquire such weapons legally, make sure the bandits know that your community has the means to defend itself. This alone can serve as a deterrent,” he said.
It leaves many in wonder: In a country where there is a government?! Are we moving forward or retrogressing? Nigeria is haemorrhaging and it is time for President Tinubu to find a lasting solution to insecurity if he hopes to preside over a united Nigeria beyond 2027. The Yoruba that I know and which I’m proud to be a part of won’t fold their arms and allow strangers to take over their land.
When push comes to shove, they would defend themselves and the result may not be palatable. Already, Sunday Igboho is planning to form his own security network to be known as Iru Ekun (Leopard’s tail). The Oodua Peoples Congress are also mobilising hunters to comb surrounding bushes of their landmarks. The outcome of all these may not bode well for the cooperate existence of Nigeria if non-state actors start defending their territories. Now is the time for President Tinubu to push politicking aside and tackle the insecurity challenges we are facing once and for all. I wish him well.
See you next week.
- Akintunde is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Glittersonline newspaper. His syndicated column, Monday Discourse, appears on News Point Nigeria newspaper on Monday.