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The recent abduction of school children in Ahoro-Esiele community, Orire Local Government Area of Oyo State remains deeply distressing. On May 15, 2026, ruthless kidnappers abducted 38 schoolchildren, killing one teacher in a heinous attack on our nation’s security and education system.
Nigerian Union of Teachers and Students across the country took to the streets to protest. The action is understandable. However, this and other similar tragic incidents should never be used as political fodder, especially in the midst of our country’s difficult security situation.
Anyone who has been a victim of kidnapping or is a close relative of a victim will appreciate the enormity of the pain and trauma involved. I know how it feels because I experienced a similar trauma in April when my cook, who had a phobia of air travel, was kidnapped in broad daylight in Kabba, Kogi State, while traveling from Lagos to Abuja. He was one of 18 passengers of a Chisco Transport Company bus kidnapped at gunpoint along with their driver by daredevil bandits on April 15. He spent 13 days in captivity before we secured his release through a joint effort coordinated by the Kogi State Commissioner of Police. The ordeal he described — at the hands of kidnappers, mostly Fulani, only one of whom could speak even basic English — was harrowing. What the families of the 18 abductees had to endure to secure their release is best left unsaid.
With the increase in kidnapping cases making headlines, some feel that the government is helpless and is not doing enough to combat this scourge. This perception is simply inaccurate.
President Bola Tinubu sees the security situation as an existential threat. He is doing all he can, leaving no stone unturned, to stifle the security monster and ensure that the safety and security of Nigerians – the raison d’être of government – is guaranteed.
After Orire’s abduction, the President sent a high-level delegation led by his Chief of Staff, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, including the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu and the Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa, among others, to empathize with the families and relatives of the victims and comfort the leaders and people of Ogbomoso and Orire communities. The visit added to ongoing efforts by security agents to track down and arrest the kidnappers, secure the release of the abducted students and teachers, return them to their families and bring the criminals to justice.
There are indications that the government is close to ensuring the safe release of the abducted children and teachers. The government has not abdicated its responsibilities and continues to work tirelessly to strengthen security across the country. For those who sponsor or exploit kidnapping and banditry for political gain before 2027, your days are numbered: the government will find you and bring you to justice.
This new security challenge presents a significant opportunity to reaffirm what the Tinubu administration has done to address insecurity in the land, protect Nigerian citizens and end the security problem once and for all. These efforts have already produced some positive results. The complete desired result will emerge soon.
President Tinubu’s security strategy against kidnapping, banditry and terrorism, for the avoidance of doubt, has two legs: kinetic and non-kinetic. From the kinetic perspective, where intelligence gathering and the use of force are involved, the administration has shifted from capacity building to precision targeting. The country’s national security architecture was recently reset, with a new counterterrorism doctrine anchored in unified command, intelligence gathering, community stability, and counterinsurgency. Nigeria has partnered with the United States on this security challenge. And since May 2023, security cooperation between Nigeria and the United States has shifted from training and equipment provision to real-time intelligence fusion, precision strikes, and targeting of high-value terrorist commanders. The Nigeria-AFRICOM (United States Africa Command) model emphasizes fewer bombs, greater precision and other measures.
In 2024, according to official sources, the Nigerian Air Force’s strike accuracy rose to 67% compared to 41% in 2022. A case in point is the recent joint Nigeria-US strike in Arege, Borno State, which damaged the ISWAP command center, reducing attacks on military outposts and civilian communities. According to reports, 21 suspected ISWAP terrorists were killed in that joint operation. Credible sources had revealed that three of the 21 eliminated terrorists were mid-level commanders responsible for coordinating the raids in Monguno and Damasak.
On May 16, 2026, both President Tinubu and President Trump confirmed that Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, supposedly the second-in-command of ISIL (ISIS) globally, was killed in a joint counter-terrorism operation conducted by Nigeria and the US military against terrorists in the Lake Chad area. Last year, the Defense Headquarters announced that between 2024 and 2025, the armed forces in various theaters neutralized over 13,000 terrorists, arrested 4,375 suspected terrorists, convicted 124 terrorists and insurgents, and over 124,000 fighters and their families surrendered to the authorities.
In November last year, President Tinubu declared a national security emergency and designated the bandits as terrorists to enable tougher responses, with the firm words: “Terrorists lurking in our forests will have no more hiding places.” He ordered the police to recruit an additional 20,000 officers, bringing the total recruits to 50,000, as well as new recruits into the army/DSS. Only last week, the President also approved the recruitment of 1,000 forest guards for Oyo State following the abduction of Orire.
President Tinubu reiterated that the police remains the frontline agency in internal security. But they must work with the military, Directorate of State Services, National Security and Civil Defense and other security agencies, explaining that cooperation between security agencies is “vital to eliminate banditry, kidnapping and armed robbery”.
It is also known that President Tinubu has allocated huge funds for security operations. There has been an increase in the budgetary allocation for the armed forces. For example, the 2026 budget allocated $5.41 trillion for Defense and Security – the largest single allocation – to procure modern equipment and increase operational capacity.
But strength alone is not enough. Non-kinetic strategies – stakeholder engagement, crime prevention and deradicalisation – remain active, with more than 124,000 rebels and dependents exiting through Operation Safe Corridor by 2023.
President Tinubu characterizes insecurity as “alien to our culture” and an economic drag, a belief underlined by tying security to the Renewed Hope Agenda, which prioritizes economic diversification, productivity and human capital to weaken the factors that drive violence.
This recent security issue also provides an opportunity to address the controversy following the appointment of General Adeyinka Famadewa (rtd) by President Tinubu as Special Adviser on National Security. Some have suggested that the appointment was an attempt to weaken the influence of national security adviser Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.
Famadewa’s appointment was driven by the need to do more to tame insecurity and bring terrorists and bandits to justice. This is neither an attempt to curb the powers of NSA Ribadu nor to curb the influence of top Northern figures in the government, as some writers have insinuated. The president has often said he would do whatever was necessary to end insecurity in the country, including putting more men to work and more men on the ground. The NSA has always been a key ally of President Tinubu. It still is today. He remains one of the people closest to the President and, in my opinion, nothing has compromised him. Mallam Ribadu, as NSA, remains responsible for the country’s national security architecture. Indeed, all good hands must be in action to put an end to this menace.
*Rahman is Senior Special Assistant to President Tinubu on Media and Special Duties.
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