The scary and unfortunate reality of life in Nigeria right now is that kidnapping is big business. It鈥檚 become a billion-naira industry, and under Tinubu, the business has boomed a great deal. But it鈥檚 Nigerians who are paying the price of the seeming normalisation of kidnapping.
Maximising shareholder value
According to security research consultancy SBM Intelligence, the numbers have been tracking in a manner that would make any shareholders jump for joy.
- Between : 3,420 people abducted; 鈧653.7 million paid in ransom.
- Between : 3,620 people abducted, 鈧302 million paid in ransom.
- Tinubu gets sworn in as president .
- Between : 7,568 people abducted (more than twice the previous year); 鈧1.048 billion paid in ransom (kidnapping becomes a billion-naira business).
- Between : 4,722 people abducted; and 鈧2.56 billion paid in ransom (that鈥檚 a 144% year-on-year growth).
Locking in for the last quarter
There鈥檚 a real human cost to the growth of this violent industry, and we鈥檝e really seen it play out in the last quarter of 2025. In the second half of November, we witnessed that we will not forget any time soon:
- On Saturday, November 15, 2025, at Fegin Baza village in Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
- On Monday, November 17, from Comprehensive Girls鈥 Secondary School in Maga community of Kebbi State.聽
- On Tuesday, November 18, at the Christ Apostolic Church parish in Eruku, Kwara state.
- On Friday, November 21, of the St Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger state were kidnapped.
Sadly, the kidnappings have not stopped. In fact, as the year comes to a close, they appear to be ramping up. But in a news cycle that feels like it鈥檚 moving at 200 miles per hour, these kidnappings can get lost in the constant noise. So here鈥檚 a list (that is by no means comprehensive) of some of the recent incidents you might have missed.
13 Women kidnapped in Mussa, Askira/Uba Local Government Area of Borno
On Saturday, November 22, 2025, in Mussa, Askira/Uba Local Government Area of Borno state. The kidnappers let one of them go after she told them she had a newborn that still needed breastfeeding.
The remaining 12 were released a week later on November 29. According to Abubakar Mazhinyi, the president of the local Askira-Uba council, it was the parents of the victims who went into the bush to speak with the kidnappers and . But Mazhinyi claims that no ransom was paid because the kidnappers realised the army was in pursuit.
鈧300 million ransom demand in Isapa, Kwara state
On Tuesday, November 25, 11 villagers were kidnapped from the Isapa community in Kwara state. The kidnappers as ransom.
They gave the community a deadline of December 10 to pay the ransom and refused the 鈧5 million offer the community members offered. There have been no further updates and it鈥檚 unknown if the victims are even still alive.
The Red Wedding of Sokoto
On the night of Saturday, November 29, armed attackers in the village of Chacho in Wurno LGA, Sokoto State. A bride and ten of her bridesmaids were among those abducted.
Two days after the abduction, the kidnappers , demanding to speak with the traditional ruler of the community. He refused to speak with them, and the kidnappers have declined to negotiate with anyone else. There have been no further updates since.
Snatching royalty in Ifelodun LGA, Kwara
On November 29, Kamilu Salami, the Ojibara of Bayagan-Ile community in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State, . The community has accused security agencies of not doing enough to rescue him, which has left the people feeling afraid and uncertain.
Cherubim and Seraphim Church in Kogi
On Sunday, November 30, a newly established Cherubim and Seraphim Church in central Kogi . About 20 people were taken by the attackers, including the pastor and his wife. The attackers are .
Attack on ECWA Church in Kogi
During the morning Sunday service on December 14, armed men Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in the Ayetoro Kiri area of Kogi state. They took over 30 worshippers away. The kidnappers contacted the community on December 16 to demand a ransom of 鈧600 million.
It鈥檚 someone鈥檚 job to stop this, right?
We have security agencies whose job it is to stop this kidnapping epidemic, and those agencies all answer to one person: the Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (GCFR). In other words, President Tinubu.
So what has Tinubu and his administration been doing about all of this?
Officially, there is fire on the mountain
As we鈥檝e already made very clear at this point, things are not looking good. It鈥檚 been looking bad for a while. But the widespread coverage of the incidents between November 15 and 22 seemed to help our dear president realise what everyone could already see: there is fire on the mountain.
They say whenever you wake up, is your own morning. Tinubu鈥檚 morning apparently came on November 26 when he He announced a number of steps to address the situation.
- The police are to recruit an additional 20,000 officers.
- Police training facilities are to be upgraded, and they can also use National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) camps as training depots.
- Police officers serving as security for VIPs are to be withdrawn and deployed to security-challenged areas of the country.
- The DSS are to recruit more forest guards and deploy those who have already been trained as such.
- The Federal Government will support state governments that have set up security outfits at the state level.
- The National Assembly is to begin reviewing our laws to allow states that need state police forces to establish them.
- Mosques and churches in vulnerable areas can request police protection during gatherings.
Who鈥檚 worth protecting?
The withdrawal of police security from VIPs has probably been the most talked-about item on that list of emergency responses.
Members of the National Assembly have complained about the withdrawal of their police orderlies, especially when they can see the directive is being selectively enforced.
On Tuesday, December 9, Senator Abdul Ningi about the withdrawal of his police orderly. He called out the selective enforcement of the directive, claiming he had seen certain groups retain their own police protections while senators were being stripped of theirs.
Ningi , 鈥淚t should be done across the board. Let us see what happens from the office of the President to the Vice President, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House, ministers, governors, business concerns, and even the sons and daughters of political office holders.鈥
Added to Ningi鈥檚 comments, Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, recently Tinubu鈥檚 son, Seyi Tinubu, for moving with a security team large enough to 鈥渢ake over a small country.鈥
Honestly, we see the good intentions behind the directive. But it makes no sense for elected lawmakers to be stripped of protection while the President鈥檚 son goes about with a small army.
The karate instructor as Defence Minister
I鈥檝e never been president before, so maybe I just don鈥檛 know what I鈥檓 talking about. But I think that when you have to declare a nationwide emergency because kidnappers are carrying hundreds of school children away at a go, it鈥檚 a sign someone at the Ministry of Defence is slacking.
But I guess Tinubu sees it differently because he didn鈥檛 sack the Minister of Defence, Badaru Abubakar. Instead, Abubakar on Monday, December 1, 2025, citing health issues.
Still, it offered an opportunity for Tinubu to bring in fresh blood, fresh eyes and fresh impetus. So what did he do? He the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, retired General Christopher Musa.
It feels too much like Tinubu rewarding another ally with an appointment, just like he鈥檚 doing by like Femi Fani-Kayode, Reno Omokri, and former INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, for ambassadorial positions.
While he was still Chief of Defence Staff, General Musa advised Nigerians to learn martial arts like karate to protect themselves from bandits and kidnappers; the same ones the Forgive me if I鈥檓 struggling to be excited that he鈥檚 been appointed Minister of Defence.
When asked how these karate skills would protect against bullets, Musa said Nigerians should 鈥渁void where bullets are flying.鈥 I鈥檓 still wondering whether the schoolgirls in Kebbi and Niger should have avoided their school in order not to be kidnapped.
Well, from the actions the government is taking, it appears the answer to that is yes.
The “holiday” no one asked for
Between Wednesday, November 19, 2025 and Saturday, November 22, several states full or partial closure of schools or boarding houses:
- Kwara State
- Plateau State
- Katsina State
- Taraba State
- Yobe State
- Niger State
On a federal level, the Ministry of Education has 41 of the 104 federal government colleges. By November 26, when the nationwide emergency was announced, had been closed indefinitely.
You have to catch them first
One of Tinubu鈥檚 security emergency directives was for the National Assembly to work on laws to establish state police forces. But the Senate has decided that what needs immediate attention is increasing the punishment for kidnapping.
The Senate is amending the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act to classify kidnapping as an act of terrorism. If the amendment bill gets passed, it will make it possible to sentence offenders to life imprisonment.
This implies our lawmakers think that kidnappers are not afraid enough of the current punishment. But I鈥檒l argue that these kidnappers are not afraid of being caught. They are boldly posting videos on TikTok. That鈥檚 not the behaviour of people who think they are about to be arrested anytime soon.
So while the Senate鈥檚 amendment is good in theory, does it really achieve anything if the kidnappers are never caught in the first place?
“I will look for you, but I will not find you”
So how鈥檚 the hunt for these kidnappers going?
Liam Neeson鈥檚 character in the Taken franchise might have had a very particular set of skills, but it seems all the Nigerian government has is a particular set of excuses.
Despite the fact that we have bandits and kidnappers posting like content creators on social media, the federal government claims it cannot track them. The explanations for this failure vary depending on which official you ask.
Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, it鈥檚 because they use the , and that makes it impossible for the Nigerian government to track them.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, over multiple cell towers using special technology.
Yet somehow, according to presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, security agencies were able to secure the release of the 38 worshippers from Eruku .
And though they could track this group of kidnappers, the security agencies did not pursue and arrest them after they released the worshippers. Apart from the crime of kidnapping, they killed two people in their attack on the church, yet they are allowed to continue roaming free.
This is Nigeria
We can鈥檛 deny that the government is making moves to address the insecurity in Nigeria. It鈥檚 just so sad to see the same nepotism, corruption, incompetence and all-around anyhowness that have come to define life in Nigeria show up in each of these moves. One can see them in:
- The directive to withdraw police security to fight insecurity is being selectively enforced.
- The new defence minister is the old Chief of Army Staff under whom kidnapping became a billion-naira industry. As though that’s not bad enough, his solution is for Nigerians to learn karate and avoid bullets.
- We鈥檙e passing laws to increase punishments when we can鈥檛 even track and arrest the criminals.
- We cannot track kidnappers because they use Starlink and bounce their calls, except when the case is high enough in profile, then suddenly we can track them in real-time.
The bottom line
It is hard to decide what鈥檚 scarier: the fact that kidnapping has become a billion-naira industry with a growth rate to rival tech unicorns, or that the people paid to stop it think “avoiding bullets” is valid advice.
While the “shareholders” of the abduction industry continue to see record-breaking returns, it鈥檚 ordinary Nigerians who pay the dividends in trauma, ransom, and lives. We are watching schools close, churches and homes turn into crime scenes, and roads become no-go zones.
Meanwhile, the government plays musical chairs with security appointments and suggests we karate-chop our way out of a national crisis.
Unless this government fixes up or gets replaced by an actually useful one, the only “booming” business will be the snatching and trading of people.
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If you or anyone you know have been affected by the epidemic of kidnapping or any of Nigeria’s many problems, share your story with us . We鈥檇 love to hear from you!
