Insecurity: TUC Says Kidnapping Has Become Booming Business in Nigeria

ABUJA — The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has described Nigeria’s insecurity situation as alarming, saying the country has been in a “state of war” for more than 10 years.

TUC President Comrade Festus Osifo said kidnapping and killings were still being carried out as a business in different parts of the country, warning that the situation was damaging the economy and discouraging investment.

Osifo spoke on Wednesday after the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja, where he urged the Federal Government to increase funding and equipment for security agencies.

He said the government needed to double its efforts to defeat terrorists, bandits and other criminal elements, stressing that economic development could not be sustained without security.

“We know very well, for a fact, that in some areas in our country—states like Zamfara, Borno, Katsina, even in the southern part of the country, and Nigeria in general—we have kidnappings still going on as a business.

“We have killings still going on. We have proposed at a time, as the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, that the government should even carry out what we call virement in the budget to move funds to that area to procure the necessary equipment, to procure all the necessary gadgets to wipe out these people once and for all, because Nigeria has been in a state of war for over a decade, and we must stamp this out once and for all.”

According to the TUC president, the insecurity crisis has made it increasingly difficult to attract foreign investment and has also discouraged local investors from committing funds to the economy.

“It is very difficult to attract foreign investment. It’s very difficult to even get local investors to put their money into the economy where there is this level of uncertainty and this level of insecurity,” he said.

Osifo urged the government to prioritise the protection of lives and property while continuing its investments in infrastructure, education and other sectors.

“So the protection of life and property should be paramount to any government. Yes, we could see that a lot is being done, but we are encouraging them to do much more.”

TUC Wants Stronger Naira

Beyond insecurity, the TUC called for measures to strengthen the naira, with Osifo saying the currency should trade between ₦700 and ₦800 to the US dollar.

He said the exchange rate remained central to the rising prices of goods and services, including the cost of petrol.

Osifo acknowledged improvements in some macroeconomic indicators, including inflation and the exchange rate, but said the government could still achieve more.

“We cannot be tired of talking about the exchange rate because it is central to literally everything. Today, the official rate is just a little above ₦1,300 to the USD, but we see that the government can still do better,” he said.

“We commend CBN Governor Cardoso for the great work he is doing at the Central Bank, but we can still do much more because we still believe that ₦1,300 to $1 is still undervalued.”

He added:

“From all international commentators, from economic think tanks, both local and international, and from scholars, currently our naira is undervalued and is not trading at the strength it should.

“Yes, we knew that before, when it was around ₦400, it was overvalued, but today at ₦1,300 it is still undervalued. So the government should do everything possible to move the naira to the right value,” Osifo said.

Osifo Condemns Niger State Incident

The TUC president condemned the Niger State incident that resulted in the deaths of about 37 people in NSCDC custody, describing it as an aberration.

He welcomed the Federal Government’s decision to establish a committee to investigate the incident but warned that its report must not be ignored.

“We are quite happy that the government immediately swung into action by setting up a committee, but we don’t want the committee’s report to just be another report gathering dust. Whoever is culpable, no matter how highly placed, must be decisively dealt with according to the letter and spirit of the law,” he said.

Osifo also commiserated with families of security personnel killed in recent incidents, noting that one of the pilots involved had gotten married only weeks before his death.

He commended the DSS leadership for recent convictions and arrests made without ransom payments and praised the National Security Adviser for efforts to address the country’s security challenges.

However, he said the situation in areas including Bakin Ladi in Plateau State, Zamfara, Borno and Katsina remained concerning.

On the dispute involving JOHESU members, Osifo said the TUC would write to the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare to urge faster action on the workers’ demands.

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