Editorial
Kidnapping: Checking The Upsurge
At a time when Nigerians are eagerly awaiting the final demise of the terror group, Boko Haram, and have restored relative normalcy in the Northern part of the country, the upsurge in kidnappings in parts of the South should worry the security community and indeed Nigerians.
In the past two or so months, reported cases of kidnap have become most alarming. From that of the former secretary to the Government of the Federation, chief Olu Falae to the Vanguard Newspaper colomunist, Donu Kogbara, to date, no week passes without a tale of one abduction or the other.
Only last Sunday, Treasurer of a local government area in Rivers State was abducted by unknown gunmen suspected to be kidnappers, who apparently trailed her home from her place of worship. Another set of captives, among them Christian clerics have, for over three weeks, been held under similar circumstances, with demands of various amounts as ransom.
These are in spite of the fact that various state governments have enacted laws criminalising the illicit trade, with grave consequences, including forfeiture of property and various jail terms. After abating for a while, many believed that kidnapping was soon going to be a part of our sad history, which is why relevant questions must be asked to determine the under-currents behind the recent upsurge.
With the nationwide SIM card registration by GSM network service providers across the land and the multiple data accumulation among various agencies of government, one would have thought that the right synergy would be struck to quickly trace calls of kidnappers and indeed foil such attempts.
The Tide expects the security community and the communication service providers to work in tandem, leveraging on the hi-tech equipment of both institutions to make kidnapping a less profitable passtime. With the registration of all SIMs and hi-tech tracking devices of telecom service providers, the easy identification, and location of the callers should be promptly ascertained.
This is why The Tide finds it most regrettable to learn that in the pursuit of high profit, communication companies indeed compromise the very essence of the nationwide registration by selling pre-activated SIMs in the open market, to willing members of the public. It will therefore not be surprising if criminals benefit from that indiscretion of the service providers. This is indeed unacceptable.
However, we understand that the National Communications Commission (NCC) apparently angered by the trend recently penalised a service provider with a fine of N1trn for that compromise. NCC should go further than that to insist that the affected network and others, show proof that the said SIMs have been blocked, or owners re-registered.
Even so, The Tide expects the security community to expand and improve on its intelligence network necessary to prevent kidnappings. They must synergise with the citizenry to boost their information gathering capacity and capability through easy access to public complaints.
On their part, Nigerians must realise that the security operatives alone cannot check crime without necessary information. They must therefore, be vigilant at all times and promptly report questionable characters, because there is no telling who the next victim could be. The days when ‘the big man’ alone was a target are long gone. Today, anyone is a target.
Now perhaps, is the right time to challenge the police and other law enforcement institutions to brace up for the prosecution of kidnap suspects already in custody. It is indeed sad, that no meaningful success, by a way of convictions have been made in that area since the fight against kidnapping.
The Tide agrees as a fact that the greatest incentive to crime is the hope of escaping punishment, and would therefore, not find it surprising if the current upsurge in cases of kidnap is due to the use of kid gloves employed on kidnap suspects.
Government needs to also probe insinuations that some of the cases might be politically motivated and that the kidnappers could have been former aides politicians and are impatient to get their rewards. Simplistic as it may sound, the suggestion may be a potent variable, which, if properly probed could provide answers to the disturbing upsurge.
Nigeria must act now to prevent a reharsh of the once notorious Columbian political clime where, drug-lords and criminals determined the political fate of the people. It starts with little monsters who grow to become cult-lords, after accumulating arms with proceeds of their illicit crimes, especially kidnapping. Now is time to check it.
There are moments in the life of a legislature when plain speaking becomes a public service. Senator Adams Oshiomhole provided such a moment on the floor of the Senate when he accused the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, of manifestly neglecting critical federal arteries in Edo and Delta States, and implored his colleagues to prevail on the Minister to adopt a more equitable and genuinely national approach to road infrastructure delivery. It was blunt, it was uncomfortable, and it was necessary.
The specifics of his complaint deserve restating. Drawing attention to the recent approval of some 20 new road projects despite the parlous state of existing ones, the former Edo State governor lamented that Nigerians cannot travel from Benin to Warri, Benin to Asaba, Benin to Auchi, or Auchi to Okene without encountering severe distress. He alleged a deliberate omission of these corridors from the national budget in the last three years, save for palliative interventions directed by President Bola Tinubu through tax credit arrangements. His question — “What have we done wrong?” — resonates far beyond the chambers of the National Assembly.
We lend our full and unequivocal support to that call. The Auchi-Benin Road, for instance, has been in a deplorable and near-impassable condition for several years, turning what should be a two-hour journey into an all-day ordeal of broken axles, extortionate fares, and despondent commuters. The media have, on multiple occasions, chronicled the suffering of motorists, traders, and students who ply that route. To describe it as a federal road today is to stretch the meaning of the term beyond recognition.
This pattern of sidelining is not confined to Edo or Delta. Even here in Rivers State, the disposition of the Federal Ministry of Works has left much to be desired, particularly along the Eleme axis of the East-West Road. That road, which ought to be a flagship of federal presence in the Niger Delta, has remained in a wretched state for long. Those who use it daily — workers at the Eleme Petrochemical Complex, the two refineries, Onne Port, and the countless ancillary industries — can attest to its deterioration. Work has proceeded in fits and starts without the sustained urgency such a strategic road demands.
The Eleme stretch is not a mere intra-state byway. It is the gateway to the nation’s economic jugular. According to the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing’s 2023 Highway Condition Survey, only about 35 per cent of the country’s 36,000 kilometres of federal roads are rated as being in good or fair condition, with the remainder classified as poor or very poor. The East-West Road, conceived in the 1970s to bind the entire Niger Delta, remains unfinished in critical sections more than four decades after. If it had been treated as a priority, the perennial gridlock, carnage, and economic loss on the Eleme-Refinery junction would have long been consigned to history.
The irony is as painful as it is glaring. The Niger Delta remains the goose that lays the golden eggs. Data from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative [NEITI 2023 Oil and Gas Audit] show that the region still accounts for over 78 per cent of Nigeria’s federally collected export earnings and about 65 per cent of total government revenue. The National Bureau of Statistics [NBS Foreign Trade Report Q4 2024] similarly confirms that crude oil continues to dominate export receipts. By every metric of equity and economic logic, a region that sustains the national purse deserves first-rate consideration in the allocation of infrastructure, not afterthoughts and tokenism.
Road infrastructure is not largesse to be dispensed by favour; it is the skeleton upon which commerce, cohesion, and citizenship hang. When contracts are concentrated in one geopolitical zone while other zones are left to contend with craters, it erodes trust in the federation itself. The World Bank’s Nigeria Development Update [June 2023] estimated that poor transport connectivity inflates the cost of moving goods by up to 40 per cent and costs the Nigerian economy an estimated $1.5 billion annually in lost man-hours and vehicle maintenance. If we profess to be one country, then equity must be the compass that guides key institutions before any project is executed. Development must spread round, not pool in one place as though other regions do not matter.
There is also a grave security dimension that can no longer be ignored. The deplorable condition of federal roads has become a veritable enabler of criminality. The NBS Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey reported over 2.5 million incidents of kidnapping-related occurrences nationally, with transport workers identifying bad road spots as prime ambush points. When vehicles are forced to crawl at 10 kilometres per hour through failed sections at Auchi, Sapele Road, or Eleme, they become sitting ducks for armed gangs. Fixing bad roads, therefore, is not merely about convenience; it is about safeguarding lives.
By his intervention, Senator Oshiomhole has hit the nail on the head and reminded Minister Umahi of a fundamental constitutional truth: public office is held in trust. The Ministry of Works is not a personal estate where contracts are awarded according to whim or political convenience. It is a national institution funded by the collective resources of Nigerians, including the oil and gas rents from the very communities whose roads are now neglected. The Minister must demonstrate balance, transparency, and a pan-Nigerian outlook in the distribution of projects that impact the daily existence of citizens. Selective neglect breeds suspicion, and suspicion is corrosive at a time when the nation is preaching unity, oneness, equity, and justice.
Consequently, the National Assembly must go beyond rhetoric and assert its oversight powers with vigour. Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution [as amended] empower the legislature to investigate and expose any maladministration in the execution of federal projects. If an office holder is not acting rightly, it is the duty of the Senate and the House of Representatives to call him to order. Oversight must not be reduced to budget approval ceremonies; it must translate to field verification, public hearings, and insistence that the Federal Character principle, as enshrined in Section 14(3) of the Constitution, reflects in road awards.
Let the Auchi-Okene, Benin-Warri, Benin-Asaba, and Eleme East-West gangways be restored to motorable dignity. Let priority be given to completing existing, economically vital roads before embarking on new ones. If those who, through their resources, sustain the federation are sidelined in the distribution of tangible dividends, it tells poorly of our nationhood. Bad roads must be fixed, and they must be fixed now, with fairness as the guiding standard.
