In yet another grim chapter of Nigeria’s deepening insecurity, suspected terrorists and armed bandits have carried out coordinated abductions that further expose the federal government’s inability to protect its citizens, even as official reassurances echo unfulfilled promises.
Late Sunday night, more than 55 villagers — including elderly infirm individuals and children — were abducted from Kutaho Gida and Kujir villages in Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna State, according to a prominent law teacher and former Chairman of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission, who broke the news on X. “Do not allow anyone to deny this one too!” the rights advocate warned, underscoring public distrust in official narratives.
This latest mass abduction follows an unsettling pattern in northern and central Nigeria where criminal gangs have elevated kidnapping from sporadic crime to an entrenched national crisis.
Church Worshippers Snatched, Soldier Shot Dead
In Benue State, police have confirmed that nine worshippers were seized during a night vigil at St. John’s Catholic Church in Ojije, Utonkon, Ado Local Government Area. Police spokesperson DSP Edet Udeme said tactical teams have been deployed to secure their release, a now familiar refrain after every such attack.
Also in Benue, a retired army officer, Sgt. Chiayongo Jem’m, was gunned down in a suspected bandit ambush in Anem Village, Ikyurav-Ya, Kwande LGA, as investigators comb nearby forests for the assailants.
Family of Four Taken at Midnight in Kaduna
In another chilling incident just after midnight on February 9, gunmen stormed a home in Danhono 2 village, Millennium City, Kaduna, abducting four members of the Abdulrazak household, including two young children aged 13 and 10. Security forces, including the Nigerian Army Strike Force and Special Police Unit, were deployed to track the kidnappers and rescue the victims.
These latest attacks arrive against a backdrop of staggering national kidnapping figures that paint a horrifying picture of insecurity:
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey (May 2023–April 2024), an estimated 2.2 million Nigerians were kidnapped nationwide in just 12 months, with the majority in rural areas and the North-West region leading all zones.
Ransom payments during this period reportedly reached over ₦2.2 trillion, with households paying an average of roughly ₦2.7 million per case — a massive economic burden on families already under siege.
Other analysts note a similar trend: between July 2023 and June 2024, at least 7,568 people were abducted in 1,130 incidents, spread across states such as Zamfara, Kaduna, and Katsina. (
The scope of violence deepens when mass kidnappings are considered. In recent years, heavily reported school abductions — like the November 2025 seizure of 303 students and 12 staff at a Catholic school in Niger State — have drawn international attention to Nigeria’s insecurity crisis. (
Experts Sound the Alarm
Security experts and analysts say the situation has evolved far beyond isolated conflict into a sprawling economy of fear and ransom.
Confidence McHarry, a policy researcher at SBM Intelligence, told Newsweek Nigeria that the cycle has become self-reinforcing:
“Kidnapping has become a profitable enterprise. Gangs now operate sophisticated networks across states — with entire communities paying huge sums as ransoms. Government responses often follow attacks rather than prevent them, creating a sense that authorities are always one step behind.”
McHarry noted that even when hostages are freed — as in the case of 166 churchgoers released recently in Kaduna — the absence of transparent rescue strategies fuels scepticism about government efficacy.
Another analyst, Kenn Maduagwu of Nextier’s Nigeria Violent Conflict Database project, warned that violent conflicts, including kidnapping, accounted for thousands of casualties and displacements between 2023 and 2024, offering a broader context of escalating threats alongside banditry and terrorism.
Public Trust Plummets, Fear Rises
For many Nigerians, the repeated cycle of tragic headlines and delayed responses has eroded public trust.
In rural and urban areas alike, families now employ private guards, negotiate ransom payments, or abandon farmlands and schools — decisions driven by sheer survival rather than confidence in state security forces.
Critics argue that despite periodic government declarations — including a national emergency response and plans to recruit tens of thousands of security personnel — tangible improvements have remained elusive.
While authorities continue to deploy troops and tactical units after headline-grabbing kidnappings, the sheer scale of abduction figures and rampant ransom economy suggests the crisis has metastasised into a systemic failure of security policy and enforcement.
The question for Nigeria now is stark: Can a nation under siege reclaim its streets, churches, and homes — or will insecurity become the country’s new normal?
