Banditry: When Nigeria fights back against insecurity

By SENATOR IROEGBU

Kidnapping and banditry stay among Nigeria’s astir pressing information challenges. From Zamfara to Kaduna and down to the South-East, this scourge has disrupted lives, displaced communities, and drained the system done ransom payments. Despite the grim headlines, caller coordinated information efforts are producing measurable results, offering cautious optimism for citizens, policymakers, and the planetary assemblage alike.

In a ideology that thrives connected dissent and scrutiny, pushbacks from groups similar SBM Intelligence and the Northern Elders Forum, NEF, should beryllium expected. Their critiques of caller incidents item the persistence of the occupation and the quality costs that statistic unsocial cannot capture. Still, challenges bash not erase progress: information is seldom perfect; successes are incremental and often fragile. What matters is whether Nigeria is moving guardant successful presumption of security. In galore respects, it is.

In precocious August, the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA, announced the rescue of 128 hostages successful Zamfara State—an accomplishment echoed elsewhere. According to the Defence Headquarters, information forces successful 2024 killed implicit 3,100 terrorists, arrested 2,500 suspects, and freed much than 1,600 kidnapped victims. Likewise, the Nigeria Police Force reported rescuing 1,581 hostages and arresting implicit 30,000 suspects for assorted offences.

Between May 2023 and aboriginal 2025, National Security Adviser, NSA, Nuhu Ribadu disclosed that much than 13,500 terrorists and equipped criminals were neutralised, portion implicit 124,000 insurgents and their families surrendered. Additionally, much than 11,000 individuals were rescued from captivity, and astir 3,843 amerciable refineries—key to the backing of insurgent and transgression activities—were dismantled nationwide. Collectively, these numbers underscore a displacement from antiaircraft responses to proactive operations, with a caller absorption connected dismantling networks of violence.

One of the astir innovative tools successful this effort is the Multi-Agency Anti-Kidnap Fusion Cell, MAAKFC, established nether ONSA and its National Counter Terrorism Centre, NCTC, successful concern with the UK’s National Crime Agency, NCA. The compartment pools intelligence, coordinates rescue missions, and tracks fiscal flows sustaining kidnapping syndicates. Since its motorboat successful precocious 2024, officials study an 80 per cent occurrence complaint successful anti-kidnapping operations.

This inaugural reflects an knowing that kidnapping successful Nigeria has morphed into a blase transgression economy, sometimes linked to violent financing. MAAKFC integrates military, police, intelligence, and judicial actors into a azygous platform. Beyond rescuing victims, its mandate is to dismantle the economical and operational infrastructure of kidnapping.

Concrete results are evident successful communities that erstwhile epitomised Nigeria’s insecurity. Southern Kaduna, agelong plagued by cycles of killings and abductions, is experiencing comparative calm. Zamfara, nether siege by bandit warlords, has begun stabilising. In the South-East, wherever “unknown gunmen” erstwhile paralysed regular beingness done unit and sit-at-home orders, a fragile normalcy is returning.

However, the North-West remains the hardest hit. Banditry has killed much than 12,000 radical and displaced full farming communities. Still, gains are besides disposable here. The apprehension of the Ansaru violent kingpins: Mahmud Muhammad Usman, the self-styled “Emir of Ansaru,” and his lawman Mahmud al-Nigeri (Malam Mahmuda)—and the elimination of notorious warlords specified arsenic Ali Kachalla, Halilu Sububu and Boderi, alongside the surrender of others nether non-kinetic initiatives similar the “Kaduna Model”, has reduced wide abductions. While isolated attacks continue, the frequence and standard of kidnappings person declined.

Yet, optimism indispensable beryllium tempered with realism. According to SBM Intelligence, Nigerians paid astatine slightest N2.57 cardinal successful ransoms betwixt July 2024 and June 2025, portion abductors demanded arsenic overmuch arsenic N48 billion. During this period, astir 5,000 radical were kidnapped, and implicit 760 were killed successful related violence. These figures underscore the ongoing challenges and the request for continued vigilance and action.

The NEF precocious ...