The rising number of kidnappings for ransom that have recently threatened the capital city and the rest of the country’s conflict-hit north has the Nigerian leader announcing on Tuesday that his administration will begin a “massive education” campaign among the young of the country as a means to combat this problem.
Last year, the West African nation’s security crisis was a campaign promise of President Bola Tinubu, who won the election. The city of Abuja has seen an uptick in kidnappings along main routes and in residences in the past few weeks, but brutal assaults, especially in the north, have continued.
Tinubu slammed the kidnappings as “disturbing, ungodly and sinister” and praised education as “the antidote to the troubles agitating the nation,” as stated by presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale.
“Learning is the most potent weapon against poverty,” the declaration declared. “Security agencies are acting with dispatch to immediately address the current challenge (while) all required resources, policies and plans will be rolled out soon for the massive education of Nigerian youths.”
On Friday, December 1, 2023, at Expo City in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria addressed the delegates at the second day of the COP28 climate summit. Getty Images/Hollie Adams/Bloomberg
Armed groups in northwest and central Nigeria frequently conduct mass killings and kidnaps, while Islamic insurgents in the northeast add to the list of enemies that Nigeria’s security services are fighting.
Gunmen from unstable neighboring states are allegedly responsible for a recent uptick in kidnappings with the demand for ransom, prompting some people living on the outskirts of the capital to start making plans to leave.
According to experts, Tinubu has done very nothing to resolve the security issue.
“Nigeria is drifting towards a failing state (with) non-state armed groups challenging the state authority,” stated Oluwole Ojewale, a scholar specializing in West and Central Africa at the Africa-focused Institute for Security Studies.
“No tangible improvement in (the) security situation yet,” Ojewale added, despite Tinubu’s assurance that his administration will “mobilize the totality” of Nigeria’s assets to safeguard residents.
