Nigeria’s number one man, President Bola Tinubu has boasted that Nigerian security has improved under his leadership.
Tinubu, who was represented by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, said this on Thursday in Abuja at the inaugural international lecture organised by the News Agency of Nigeria, narrating how the country’s security was worse in 2022 and up till 2023, when Muhammadu Buhari was the President.
The President added that Nigerians can now easily drive from the capital, Abuja to any part of the country without any fear of being attacked.
He said: “We have not been talking, we have been working. We work, we work less. And I can assure you that we are on the right track. Nigeria is getting to be stable. You will feel it, you will see it. Give us time.
“This is also a gentle reminder that to some of us who are, don’t forget the Nigeria of 2022. Here in Abuja, bad people and terrorists would come here and kill our soldiers.
“In Nigeria, people would come in and attack our prisons and remove the most dangerous persons from the prison; just 2022 up to 2023. They would attack a train and take hundreds of victims of kidnapping.
“That is Nigeria of 2022. And we came in, and I can assure you Abuja is secure. Today you can drive at night, and you can go to Kaduna, you can go to Lokoja, you can go to Minna. You can go to Lafia and you will feel safe, that is one year and four months. In Nigeria, you can travel to any part of the country and you dared not do it in 2022.”
Meanwhile, a recent report released by SBM Intelligence showed that no fewer than 7,568 people were abducted across Nigeria between July 2023 and July 2024.
The report noted that the security crisis had become increasingly complex, with armed groups and non-state actors exploiting the state’s weakened influence.
It was noted that some of the issues include Boko Haram’s resurgence in the Northeast, armed gangs in the Northcentral and Northwest, secessionist violence in the Southeast, and gang-related issues in the Southwest.
“Amid these diverse security threats, widespread kidnap for ransom has emerged as a common thread. Between July 2023 and June 2024, our research found that no fewer than 7,568 people were abducted in 1,130 incidents across the country,” the report says.
“In that same period, kidnappers demanded at least the sum of N10,995,090,000 (approximately $6,871,931) as ransom but received N1,048,110,000, a mere 9.5% of the money demanded, indicating that kidnappers have become less targeted in their victimology.
“Of the 1,130 reported kidnapping cases, Zamfara, Kaduna, and Katsina have the highest numbers of incidents and victims.”
The report also noted that Zamfara recorded the highest incident with 132 cases and 1,639 victims.
“Zamfara recorded 132 incidents with 1,639 victims, Kaduna had 113 incidents with 1,113 victims, and Katsina reported 119 incidents with 887 victims,” it says.
“These three states also have the highest number of civilian deaths. In the year under review in this report, kidnapping has become more lethal, with 1,056 people killed in 1,130 reported kidnap incidents. On average, someone is killed each time there is an attempted kidnap.”
