Tinubu's Struggles with Insecurity: Why Seek Another Term?

A country that drafts its graduates for service cannot allow them to be kidnapped on a highway and call it a rescue later.

Recently, thirty prospective corps members left Oyo for the East. Twenty were kidnapped near Owerri on the Owerri-Onitsha road at Umunoha. Ten managed to escape. Local people saw the abduction and were frustrated with the lack of action from security agencies. They blocked the road to push for a chase. The situation feels hopeless.

After some time, the police claimed their drones had found the hostages and their captors. They made it seem like they had the area surrounded. People hoped these corps members would be luckier than the Chibok girls, who were taken without the government knowing where the terrorists went. The Owerri police said they couldn't rescue the hostages right away because the area was mined. This news did not inspire any hope. The nation listened with resignation.

Youth corps members are supposed to be the federal government's priority. The government cannot force young people into national service in remote areas and fail to keep them safe. The mass kidnapping of citizens, especially corps members, should alarm any responsible government. But maybe not a government that cares more about appearances than real leadership. The sad truth is that the government has lost any sense of shame.

A few days after the kidnapping, the government proudly announced they had rescued the corps members. They credited a joint security team and insisted no ransom was paid. While the government celebrated, pictures showed the terrified corps members walking alone on a village street. Were they really rescued or just let to walk home?

The parents then spoke on television. They had scraped together, borrowed, and paid a ransom. The initial demand was ₦50 million per person but was bargained down to about ₦5 million or ₦6 million, some in dollars. The government that claimed to monitor the captives and captors from the sky had not noticed the families negotiating and gathering money to fly to Owerri. They also did not see the captives leaving. The Imo commissioner of police says he knows nothing of any ransom. Claiming a rescue while families are on television is worse than silence. It is complicity.

Orire followed a similar path but with a worse outcome. On May 15, forty-four pupils and teachers were taken from Oriire in Oyo and held for fifty-six days. The presidency said security forces rescued them, arrested eight, killed some, and paid no ransom. A surviving teacher, Zaccheaus Olatunde, shared a different story. Two teachers were killed. Some negotiation took place. No fighting happened. The survivors were simply shown the way home. No official explanation has connected the dots to a captured camp. Another ‘miraculous’ rescue was claimed.

The terrorists behind the Oriire kidnapping are not invisible. The Oyo government hinted at this. In the Owerri case, two types of bandits operate where the kidnapping occurred. Unknown gunmen have a camp controlling one side heading into Owerri, while rogue Fulani herdsmen operate in the forest on the other side. Security agencies know about these groups. The Governor of Zamfara mentioned the same thing. This is why the locals at Umunoha were angry when the corps members were taken and the agencies hesitated to act. What exactly is Tinubu’s plan to deal with this growing insecurity?

So, what is the strategy? Mass kidnappings are now followed by releases, which are then claimed as rescues. The exchanges involve ransom. Kidnappers keep the money and control the camps. Security agencies have not learned how to handle hostage situations, and the public is asked to believe a story contradicted by the families who paid. This kind of trade can only encourage more crime. Ransom is not a rescue. The problem is getting worse.

Recently, it was reported that NNPC recorded ₦11.2 trillion in receivables for advances and protecting oil and gas assets. We pay local mercenaries and shady individuals huge sums to do the basic jobs of the police and military, which are poorly equipped and understaffed. Why have we made being a criminal so profitable? Why is the nation-state so weak? We can't keep living by random ransoms.

Tinubu’s first term has been plagued by insecurity. Yet, he wants a second term without any clear plan to address it. Nothing from the first term shows a strategy. Mass kidnappings, stories for a week, releases, denial of ransom, and no convictions: that is the current model.

Tinubu accepted this model. He has not changed it. The unknown gunmen in the South-East and the bandits in the North-West are known to local security agencies. But they are not dealt with. The police are too few for the area. The army is busy with internal duties it was not designed for. The pipelines are handed over to mercenaries paid billions, who seem to be helping the reelection efforts. What new ideas does Tinubu have?

Tinubu seeks a second term anyway. Nothing from the first term shows a plan that would make the second different. Kidnappers cannot keep taking money while the government boasts. What, exactly, would he return to do?