Insecurity In Nigeria -By Ogidigben Oghenetega Blinks

Insecurity in Nigeria has been a thing of concern since the early 2,000’s. We have experienced all forms of insecurity as a nation: kidnapping for ransom, raping of young girls in secluded environments, and then to the killing of innocent citizens in the country. Recently, we received one of the most heartbreaking news on insecurity in our nation: Thirty-nine students alongside seven teachers were kidnapped from school in Oyo State, amongst those children were, two, three, four years old, who were sent to school by their parents to learn and become educated. It’s so painful how that the country is not safe even to little children that were sent to school by their parents to learn basic knowledge.

Now it seems like we have lost all sense of our humanity as a nation to the extent that kidnappers are asking people on TikTok to drop their account number for their own share of bill and the same Nigerians that are speaking against the kidnappers are busy fooling themselves by dropping their account numbers on the comment section. Insecurity has become a norm in the country: how is it that kidnappers are on TikTok, flaunting their wealth from the ransom they took from innocent citizens of the country whose family are going through serious pain and the government cannot track their location.

We’ve seen insecurity in different levels, as far as the country is concerned. People cannot travel by road from the south to the north because of the fear of kidnappers that may be on the road. Parents are now scared of sending their children to school in certain part of the country because of the fear of what may happen to them.

It is believed that the quest for political power by politicians in our nation has led or contributed to the high level of insecurity that we experience in the country. Politicians in their quest to sell a narrative to the people that the current government is incompetent, are willing to be sponsors of the kidnappers. On the 18th of June, 2025, in Benue State, the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in his speech on insecurity in the state, affirmed that some of these insecurities are sponsored by political enemies. Over the years, we’ve seen massive display of insecurity during election periods. It is no longer news that during election period a lot of person’s go missing. As a result of this, we are no longer surprised when we hear that somebody is missing in a period like this. Oftentimes when election is approaching, we hear a lot about kidnapping in various parts of the country, to the extent that parents go the extra mile in protecting their children in an election season. During election period the entire nation, suddenly becomes conscious of the threat to their lives in regards to the high level of insecurity that we are going to be exposed to as a result of the election season.

Banditory is another issue of concern, in the year 2009 we started experiencing the rise of a terrorist group named “Boko Haram” they were stationed in the northern part of the country, and according to report, they were majorly in the business of kidnapping Christians for ransom. It began with the sense of a religious conflict that extended to be an ethnic issue, with the rise of the supposed “Fulani Herdsmen” that are killing farmers in the bush from the north and now to every part of the country. Now, we can’t tell of the group that are into terrorism in the nation because we have come to realize that there are different sect of kidnappers and terrorist in the Nation, terrorising both the Christian and Muslim community in the northern part of the Nation regardless of your ethnicity.

The Government should note that they have a major role to play in the curbing of insecurity in our nation. The citizens are in pain: some have lost their fathers, mothers and children. We are tired of the way people are being kidnapped and killed in the country. We want to see the government strategically taking up decisive move to clear insecurity from our nation, by going into deep investigation on the financial sponsors of insecurity, mapping out terrorist camp for smooth military attacks, and introducing technology to our security system in the country, by getting military surveillance drones, and training our military to be experts in using modern technology for security. As a nation, we are calling on the government to own up to their responsibility and make the country a safe place for the citizens. Some are even going as far as to protest against insecurity in the country.

Nigeria can be great again, if only our government can look into this high level of insecurity and get rid of it from the country once and for all. We look forward to having a country that is safe for traveling from one place to another. We look forward to having a country where our educational system will not be threatened by insecurity. We look forward to having a country that our children can be proud of.

Let’s make Nigeria great again.