The dark patches Top Tinubu government official: “We are in control of the situation.” While we are working, the end of kidnapping will take some time.

By Dayo Johnson, Omobola Dickson, Samuel Oyadongha, Peter Duru, Wole Mosadomi, Chioma Onuegbu, Ike Uchechukwu, Chinonso Alozie, Idris Salisu, Marie-Therese Nanlong, Umar Yusuf, Demola Akinyemi, Femi Bolaji, Rotimi Ojomoyela, James Ogunnaike, Ibrahim Hassan-Wuyo, Laolu Elijah & Adeola Badru

National outcry quickly followed the August 15 kidnapping of some medical students from the Universities of Jos and Maiduguri who were travelling to Enugu State. The victims were taken by kidnappers on the Otukpo-Ugbokolo-Otukpa-Orokam Road and taken into a nearby bush. The detainees were kept in custody until their release on August 23. If a ransom was paid to release the pupils, it was unclear. Prior to that, at about the same time last year, a group of armed men abducted nine prospective National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members as they were making their way from Akwa Ibom State to Sokoto for orientation. They were taken somewhere in the vicinity of Gusau, the capital of Zamfara State. Some of the released detainees’ parents stated they had paid a ransom.

As of press time, Sunday Vanguard was unable to verify whether or not every former undergraduate had reconnected with their relatives. The two events demonstrate how unsafe our highways have become due to kidnappers demanding ransom. The threat is not localised in any one area of the nation. Travellers are abducted by bandits or kidnappers and are held captive from Ondo State in the south-west to Imo in the south-east, Akwa Ibom in the south-south, Kwara in the north-central region, Zamfara in the north-west, and Plateau in the north-east. The kidnappers demand a ransom in exchange for their release. Some of the rivers are also used by the thugs. We listed a few of the roads where kidnappers acted like kings in a report from 2019. However, since then, kidnapping incidents seem to have increased. Our correspondents have provided numbers of kidnap places across 17 states in this article.

As they work to ensure the safety of the roads and waterways, the police claim to be in control of the situation. According to a top security official in the Tinubu administration, kidnapping people for ransom has become more popular than armed robbers, who lost appeal when the cash-less regime took effect and people stopped carrying large amounts of cash. This was revealed to Sunday Vanguard recently. The official acknowledged that kidnappings continue to occur. “It’s ongoing,” he declared. “Robberies involving weapons, highways, and the like are similar to kidnapping. The majority of these items are now considered economic crimes. It takes place in small areas.

And we take action whenever we hear something.We head over right away and react. Most of the time, it has been effective. Not a single schoolchild has been taken in a long time in Katsina. We walked in and fought some medical students that had been taken a week prior. We went back and got every one of them. Such occurrences are not infrequent. I believe it will take some time for us to entirely eradicate abduction because it is not an easy task.We are putting in a lot of work. Kidnapping is an extremely cowardly approach to get away with murder without actually having to take a victim hostage. This is due to the fact that victims or their families provide financial support to the kidnappers.

They find it to be rather alluring, simple, and low-risk. Although it is still a force, I can guarantee you that it is losing ground in the North-East, Taraba, and Adamawa. The guy at the top of the slope is much the same. Although this area seems to be the safest, kidnappings are nonetheless occurring there. It appears sometimes. We are working hard, even if it could take us a little longer than it does to reach the top of the hill.

Benue
Undoubtedly, incidents of insecurity have plagued various villages in Benue State.
In addition to the nearly weekly reports of banditry and attacks by herders in some regions of the state, abduction has grown to be a significant problem.

Not to mention notable individuals, tourists, and even security guards were among the fatalities.

However, one striking aspect of these vile incidents is that the criminal groups behind the shady enterprises have designated specific regions of the state as their strongholds.

These locations have documented and still document kidnapping events in spite of constant promises from security services that their operations have been monitored.

The Makurdi-Naka Road, the Otukpo-Ugbokolo-Otukpa-Orokam routes, and the Katsina-Ala, Ukum, and Logo Local Government Areas—also referred to as the Sankera axis—remain hotspots for abduction in Benue.

On August 15, twenty medical students from the Universities of Jos and Maiduguri were kidnapped by armed men and taken into a neighbouring forest on that axis, which is close to Otukpo. The students were on their way to Enugu State.

On August 24, the students were freed, and two members of the kidnapping group were taken into custody.

Prior to the event, on July 12, armed men also kidnapped Dr. Emmanuel Barki, the acting rector of Benue State Polytechnic in Ugbokolo, along with a few other employees of the university. Since then, they have been made available.

On May 29, along the North Bank-JoSTUM Road, two students from Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University Makurdi, JoSTUM, also fell into the hands of kidnappers. Eventually, they were set free.

The same day, four additional people and Mr. Matthew Chile, a staff member of Benue State University (BSU), were abducted by armed men on Makurdi-Naka Road.

Following almost a week-long confinement, the victims were set go.

A pregnant lady going from Imo to Adamawa was among the 12 passengers kidnapped in Jootar one month earlier on February 24. On March 24, ten traders from Wukari in Taraba State were kidnapped in Jootar, Ukum LGA of the state.

This occurred after nine further traders were abducted on January 11 along the Otukpo-Enugu Road and taken into the extensive woodlands that run along that route.

Fortunately, the military spike team known as Operation Whirl Stroke, or OPWS, came to their rescue.

Prior to that, Gideon Haanongon, the then-Chairman of Ukum LGA, together with his chauffeur and a police orderly, were also abducted along the Katsina-Ala-Zaki Biam Road. Nevertheless, they managed to escape themselves after being held captive for several torturous days.

Fortunately, every victim of these kidnapping incidents survived to tell their tale, and the majority of the syndicates responsible for the network have consistently avoided police capture—with the exception of the two that were recognised by one of their victims at an Otukpo parking lot when they attempted to board a car headed for Makurdi on the way to Nasarawa.
During their activities along the Otukpo-Enugu Road, the pair, who were reportedly herders, were also apprehended with a portion of the money they had collected from their victims.

Chief Emmanuel Odeh, one of the traditional rulers of Ogbadibo LGA in the state, was disturbed by the recent wave of kidnappings in his area. In January, he expressed concern that the axis had become dangerous for travellers and called for increased security in the area “to check the activities of the criminals of people plying the highway in the area.”

Mr. Steve Yabanet, the newly appointed Commissioner of Police for Benue State, promised to use his “wealth of experience to tackle crime and criminality in the state and ensure the safety of lives and property of the people of the state” upon taking office in April.

In addition, Governor Hyacinth promised that “no stone would be left unturned in the decisive move to ensure Benue enjoys maximum security” and that he would not hand the state over to criminal groups.

Plateau

In the past, kidnapping has occurred practically every day in several Plateau State towns.

Farmers, businesspeople, politicians, and traditional leaders had all been abducted by gangs and had to pay unknown sums of money as ransom to be set free.

But over the past eight months, there has been a decline due to a sharp decline in kidnapping instances.

It’s been a while since the information that state residents used to share on various social media platforms.

The recent year has seen a marked calmdown in communities that were once flashpoints, particularly in the Haske region of Jos North, Maigemu District in Jos East, Jannaret area of Mangu, and Namu area of Qua’an Pan local government areas of the State.

The achievement, according to DSP Alfred Alabo, Police Public Relations Officer of the State Police Command, may be credited to the public’s support for security personnel.
“Cases of kidnapping has greatly reduced in the state; recall that Jos East and Qua’an Pan used to be the flashpoints, but the incidents have reduced drastically,” stated Alabo during the period in question.

“There was no record from January until very recently, when we got a small number of cases that would soon be paraded. Kidnapping and crime rates have significantly decreased, with the exception of the recent occurrence in Bokkos. We applaud the public’s and media’s involvement; it has made our work easier.

The achievement, according to DSP Alfred Alabo, Police Public Relations Officer of the State Police Command, may be credited to the public’s support for security personnel.
“Cases of kidnapping has greatly reduced in the state; recall that Jos East and Qua’an Pan used to be the flashpoints, but the incidents have reduced drastically,” stated Alabo during the period in question.

“There was no record from January until very recently, when we got a small number of cases that would soon be paraded. Kidnapping and crime rates have significantly decreased, with the exception of the recent occurrence in Bokkos. We applaud the public’s and media’s involvement; it has made our work easier.

You never knew whose house might be the next, thus everyone was both a suspect and a victim in the past. “We were all living in fear, lecturers and retirees alike, but the area is okay now.”
Zamfara
According to reports, banditry operations in Zamfara State have increased since January of this year and have become so widespread on important roadways that several persons have been kidnapped or slain by bandits.

Magami – Dangulbi – Anka Road, Gusau – Magami – Dansadau Road, Kaura Namoda – Shinkafi Road, and Zurmi Road connecting to the Katsina border are additional black patches.
On these highways, bandits frequently abduct travellers as well as residents of communities, demanding ransoms amounting to hundreds of millions of naira.

Gusau-Funtua Road, particularly the section between Tsafe and Magazu, is thought to be the most kidnapping-prone area in Zamfara because to the high volume of traffic from Kaduna, Katsina, Kano, and other regions of the nation down to Sokoto.

Because of this, the state government has decided to restrict the road to traffic through Gusau between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m., despite the fact that security personnel are constantly monitoring the route.

Speaking with our correspondent, ASP Yazeed Abubakar of the state Police Command’s Zamfara State Public Relations was unable to promptly provide the number of suspected kidnappers/bandits who had been apprehended as well as the number of people who had been kidnapped or rescued in the state.

Niger
Since 2015, 18 of the 25 local government areas of Niger State have been under regular bandit raids, resulting in dozens of people—mostly women and children—being killed, injured, or kidnapped.
Aside from the bloodshed that occurs in villages, a lot of communities have been looted by bandits who have set barns and houses on fire, leaving the residents with nothing to start again or rely on.

The following LGAs are commonly assaulted at the beginning: Paikoro, Munya, Wushishi, Lapai, Agaie, Kontagora, Rijau, Rafi, Mariga, Mashegu, and Wushishi.

The state’s federal highway system is one of the elements that fuels bandit attacks in Niger.

With 1,477 km of federal road space distributed throughout 15 of the 25 LGAs, Niger has the longest federal road network in the nation.

Of total, 1,115 kilometres, or 80%, are Trunk A highways; nevertheless, they are in a terrible state and allow bandits to operate freely on the roadways because cars move at a snail’s pace.

In order to stop banditry and kidnapping, Governor Abubakar Sani Bello was compelled by the circumstances to set up permanent security camps on parts of the highways.

The action decreased the threat to around eight LGAs by 2021.
200 communities could have gone to sleep with their eyes closed during the height of the attacks, including those in the eight impacted wards of Shiroro, 60 in Rafi, 54 in Munya, 15 in Paikoro, 12 in Mariga, and an unknown number in Kontagora, Rijau, Wushishi, and Mashegu.
The largest attacks and kidnappings in Niger occurred when 128 students from the Islamic Primary School in Tegina and Government Science College in Kagara, both in the Rafi Local Government Areas, were taken captive.

Before being set free, the hostages were held captive for roughly ninety days.

In a similar vein, 47 passengers aboard a bus operated by the Niger State Transport Authority (NSTA) were kidnapped near Kundu village on the Zungeru-Tegina Road.

Data from the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) shows that between April and September 2023, attacks on different settlements in Mariga, Rijau, Wushishi, Paikoro, Rafi, Shiroro, Mafama, Munya, and Mashegu resulted in the deaths of 152 farmers and the kidnapping of 355 others.
It’s possible that more people have been killed, kidnapped, or displaced in recent months.
Numerous communities in the impacted LGAs reportedly had to leave due to the attacks.

The development then delivered a severe hit to food production, resulting in a shortage of food and a sharp increase in prices.

Kaduna
The hub of banditry in Nigeria has been identified as the North-West area.
Life in the region is frightening, difficult, and dangerous, especially for those who live in rural areas, despite the government’s gradual mobilisation of security forces along the Kaduna, Niger, and Zamfara inter-boundary axis that connects the notorious forests where bandits operate with impunity. Killings, kidnappings, and other criminal activities have persisted in the area.

Kaduna
The North-West region of Nigeria has been regarded as the centre of banditry.
Despite the government’s gradual mobilisation of security forces along the Kaduna, Niger, and Zamfara inter-boundary axis that connects the notorious forests where bandits operate with impunity, life in the region is terrifying, difficult, and dangerous, especially for those who live in rural areas. Crime has continued in the neighbourhood, including killings, kidnappings, and other crimes.

Once renowned for producing hundreds of tonnes of corn annually, the region’s farming operations have suffered greatly as native farmers have abandoned their land out of fear of being assassinated.
Since the jihadists enforced strict conditions before the villagers could access their crops, some have moved to the neighbouring state of Niger.

Terrorists also operate out of the Galadimawa-Giwa axis, portions of Kaduna Central, and the local government areas of Chikun, Kajuru, and Igabi.

The Kaduna-Birnin-Gwari and Birnin-Gwari-Funtua routes in the state are now considered hazardous to ply due to bandit attacks, despite the fact that military frequently escort commuters who have to use the roads to get to their destinations.

While there have been less intercommunal conflicts and increased security in Zangon Kataf and Sanga Local Government Areas, bandits have still attacked and killed people for ransom.

Drivers and commuters were afraid of the Rijana and Kudaru forests, as well as some sections of the Kaduna-Abuja highway, particularly between Greenfield University and Olam. Even with security personnel on duty, robbers still hide out in these locations.

Even though they were close to the state capital, Kaduna’s outskirts—such as Danhonu in the Millennium City or the suburbs around Gorin Gora—were not immune to criminal activity.
There is no reliable data on the number of deaths from banditry or kidnapping because the practice of the state commissioner for internal security and home affairs presenting reports of the state’s security status on a quarterly basis has been discontinued.

Meanwhile, since January 2024, bandits have attacked multiple places in Kaduna, causing a range of injuries and fatalities.