A Nation Held Hostage: If You Can Track Stolen Phones, Why Can’t You Track Terrorists? —By Muhammad Bashir Abdulhafiz

I am a young Nigerian. I love my country. I believe in the promise of our great nation, in the resilience of our people, and in the beauty of our diversity. But like many of my generation, my heart is heavy. It is weighed down by a persistent, bleeding wound on the body of our nation: the scourge of kidnapping and banditry.

We are a people living in a shadow. The shadow of fear. Fear of travelling on our own roads, fear of sending our children to school, and fear of the dead of night when unknown gunmen might descend on our communities. Every headline is about another kidnapped victim, another village razed, and another community living in perpetual terror is a stab at our collective soul. It tears at the very fabric of our peace, unity, and harmony. How can we be united in fear? How can we have peace when our sleep is disturbed by the crack of gunfire?

This is a crisis that challenges our identity as Nigerians. We are known globally for our spirit, our hustle, and our joy. Yet, this image is being replaced as one of the nation under siege, and a place where life has become terribly cheap.

And this brings me to a paradox that puzzles and infuriates me and many of my fellow citizens. It is a paradox of priorities. We have all heard the remarkable stories. A phone was once stolen somewhere around us, and within days, thanks to modern technology and the diligent work of military or law enforcement personnel, the device was tracked, and the thief was apprehended, sometimes even in a remote corner of the country. Aside this, many phones were stolen and tracked, but not even a single terrorist have been tracked and apprehended. The same technologies use in tracking IMEI numbers, geolocation, and digital forensics can be use to track bandits and terrorists, and surely this will work with impressive precision. We celebrate these victories because they give us a sense that justice is possible.

But then, we are forced to ask the uncomfortable question: if we can track a single stolen phone with such accuracy, why can’t we track the bandits and terrorists who ride in convoys of dozens of motorcycles, armed with sophisticated weapons, terrorising entire local government areas? Why can’t we locate the kidnappers who hold our citizens for months in forests, communicating with families for ransom? Where is the technological efforts to apprehend the suspects?

It creates a bitter taste in the mouth. It feels as though the system prioritises the recovery of property over the protection of life. It suggests a failure not of capability, but of will and strategy. The technology exists. The personnel exist. The unanswered question that lingers in the air is: why is it not being deployed with the same ruthless efficiency against those who are literally dismantling our nation?

We see the reports of bandits using sophisticated communication devices. Surely, these signals can be intercepted. We hear of their camps in vast forests. Surely, satellite technology can pinpoint these locations. We know their supply routes for arms and ammunition. Surely, intelligence merge with effective policing can disrupt them.

The silence from those in authority on this specific question is deafening. And in that silence, conspiracy theories are born. Citizens begin to wonder if the will to fight this war truly exists. This lack of trust is a dangerous thing. It erodes the unity between the people and the government, which is the first line of defence against any enemy.

So, as a young Nigerian who refuses to give up on his country, I wish to offer this advice to those in authority, not as an enemy, but as a stakeholder in our common future:
1. Declare a Total War, Not a Slogan: This is not a battle that can be won with press releases. It requires a total, coordinated national effort. See this for what it is: a direct assault on Nigeria’s sovereignty. Treat it as such. Let the military, the police, the intelligence agencies, and even local vigilantes (properly vetted and supervised) work from a single, and unified playbook.

2. Deploy Our Best Technology: The same way the EFCC and others can freeze bank accounts and track financial transactions, deploy our best technological minds to create a security grid. Use the satellite technology, the tracking software, the drone surveillance, and the communication intercepts. If we can build a database of every SIM card, we can build a database of terrorist movement patterns. Make the tech agencies answer the question: why can’t they be tracked?

3. Fix the Intelligence Pipeline: Too often, intelligence is gathered but not acted upon, or it gets leaked. Protect your sources. Create safe channels for villagers and locals who are often the first to see the bandits, to report information without fear of reprisal. A community that trusts its security forces is the best intelligence gathering asset a nation can have.

4. Address the Root Causes with Urgency: Kidnapping and banditry thrive where there is poverty and hopelessness. A young man with no job and no future is a recruit for any criminal who offers him a gun and a share of the ransom. It is not an excuse for their crimes, but it is a reality we must address. Alongside the bullets, we must also provide books, jobs, and a sense of purpose. Develop the rural areas. Give young people a reason to choose life over crime.

5. Be Transparent and Build Trust: The government must communicate clearly with its citizens. Tell us what you are doing. Show us the successes. Acknowledge the challenges. When people feel they are being kept in the loop, their patience endures. When they are left in the dark, their imagination fills the void with distrust and despair.

My fellow Nigerians, our nation is at a crossroads. We can choose to let the bandits and kidnappers win, to let them define us as a failed state. Or we can choose to fight back. We can choose to demand that the same technology used to find a missing phone is turned with full force against those who seek to steal our peace.

We have the tools. We have the people. We have the spirit. What we need now is the will. Let us not be a country that prioritises property over people. Let us be a nation that fights for every single one of its citizens. The time for half measures is over. The time for action is now.