{"id":489,"date":"2026-06-09T20:06:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T20:06:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=489"},"modified":"2026-06-10T01:43:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T01:43:00","slug":"not-a-fodder-for-politics-orire-abduction-and-security-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=489","title":{"rendered":"Not a Fodder for Politics: Orire abduction and security challenges, by Tunde Rahman"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>*<strong><em>With more cases of kidnapping making the headlines, there is a tendency for some to think the Nigerian Government is helpless, and not doing enough&nbsp;to combat this scourge&#8230;. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu&nbsp;is doing everything possible, leaving no stone unturned to put the security monster in a chokehold, and ensure safety of lives and property of Nigerians<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Tunde Rahman<\/p>\n<p>The recent abduction of schoolchildren in Ahoro-Esiele Community, Orire Local Government Area of Oyo State, remains deeply distressing.<\/p>\n<p>On May 15, 2026, heartless kidnappers abducted 38 schoolchildren, killing one teacher in a heinous assault on our nation\u2019s security and educational system.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"Uq7cwfD2D7\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=527\">OAU: Minister inaugurates hi-tech hub, inspires students to turn ideas into solutions<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201cOAU: Minister inaugurates hi-tech hub, inspires students to turn ideas into solutions\u201d \u2014 ConsumerConnect \" src=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?p=527&amp;embed=true#?secret=RDywi6HYPb#?secret=Uq7cwfD2D7\" data-secret=\"Uq7cwfD2D7\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The&nbsp;Nigerian&nbsp;Union of Teachers and students&nbsp;across the country have taken to the streets in protest. The action is understandable.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>However, this and similar tragic incidents should never be used as a political fodder, especially in the midst of our country\u2019s challenging security situation.<\/p>\n<p>Anyone&nbsp;who has&nbsp;fallen&nbsp;victim&nbsp;to kidnapping or is a close&nbsp;relation of a victim will appreciate the enormity of the pain and&nbsp;trauma involved.<\/p>\n<p>I know how it feels because I&nbsp;went&nbsp;through such trauma in April when my cook, who had a phobia of air travel, was kidnapped in broad daylight in&nbsp;Kabba, Kogi State, while travelling&nbsp;from Lagos to Abuja.<\/p>\n<p>He was one of the 18 passengers in a Chisco&nbsp;Transport Company&nbsp;bus abducted at gunpoint alongside their driver by daredevil&nbsp;bandits on April 15.<\/p>\n<p>He spent 13 days in captivity before we were able to secure his release through a combined effort coordinated by the Commissioner of Police in Kogi State.<\/p>\n<p>The ordeal he described\u2014at the hands of kidnappers, mostly Fulani, with only one able to speak even basic English\u2014was harrowing.<\/p>\n<p>What the families of the 18 abducted endured to secure their release is better left unsaid.<\/p>\n<p>With more cases of kidnapping making the headlines, there is a tendency for some to think the government is helpless, and not doing enough&nbsp;to combat this scourge. This perception is simply inaccurate.<\/p>\n<p>President Bola Ahmed Tinubu views the security&nbsp;situation as an existential threat.<\/p>\n<p>He&nbsp;is doing everything possible, leaving no stone unturned to put the security monster in a chokehold&nbsp;and ensure&nbsp;that the security and safety of Nigerians \u2013 the raison d\u2019\u00e9tre of government \u2013 is guaranteed.<\/p>\n<p>After the Orire abduction, the President sent a high-powered delegation, led by his Chief of Staff, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, including the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu and Minister for Defence, General Christopher Musa (Rtd.), among others, to empathise with the families and relations of the victims and comfort the leaders and people of Ogbomoso and Orire communities.<\/p>\n<p>The visit was in addition to the ongoing efforts by security agents to trace and apprehend the kidnappers, secure the release of the abducted students and teachers, bring them back to their families and also bring the criminals to justice.<\/p>\n<p>There are indications that the government is close to securing the safe release of the abducted children and teachers.<\/p>\n<p>The government has not abdicated its responsibility, but continues to work tirelessly to strengthen security across the country.<\/p>\n<p>To those sponsoring or exploiting kidnapping and banditry for political gain ahead of 2027 General Elections, your days are numbered \u2014the government will find you and bring you to justice.<\/p>\n<p>This new security challenge presents a significant opportunity to restate what the Tinubu administration has been doing to confront insecurity in the land, protect Nigerian citizens, and end the security problem for good.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>These efforts have already yielded some positive results. The desired full outcome will soon emerge.<\/p>\n<p>President Tinubu\u2019s security strategy against kidnapping, banditry and terrorism, for the avoidance of doubt, rests on two legs: kinetic and non-kinetic.<\/p>\n<p>On the kinetic side, where intelligence gathering and the use of force are involved, the administration has moved from capacity building to precision targeting.<\/p>\n<p>The country\u2019s national security architecture has recently been reset, with a new counterterrorism doctrine anchored in unified command, intelligence gathering, community stability, and counterinsurgency. Nigeria has collaborated with the United States over this security challenge.<\/p>\n<p>And since May&nbsp;2023, Nigeria-US security cooperation has shifted from training and provision of equipment to real-time intelligence fusion, precision strikes, and targeting high-value terrorist commanders.<\/p>\n<p>The Nigeria-AFRICOM (United States Africa Command) model emphasises fewer bombs, greater accuracy, and other measures.<\/p>\n<p>In&nbsp;2024, Nigerian Air Force strike precision rose to 67% as opposed to 41% in&nbsp;2022, according to official sources.<\/p>\n<p>The recent Joint Nigeria-US strike in Arege, Borno State, which degraded ISWAP\u2019s Command Centre, reducing attacks on military outposts and civilian communities, is a case in point.<\/p>\n<p>According to reports, 21 suspected ISWAP terrorists were killed in that joint operation. Credible sources had disclosed that three of the 21 terrorists eliminated were middle-level commanders responsible for coordinating raids into Monguno and Damasak.<\/p>\n<p>On 16 May,&nbsp;2026,&nbsp;both President Tinubu and President Donald Trump confirmed that Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, alleged to be the second-in-command of ISIL (ISIS) globally, was killed in a joint counterterrorism operation conducted by Nigeria and US armed forces targeting terrorists in the Lake Chad area.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, the Defence Headquarters announced that between&nbsp;2024&nbsp;and&nbsp;2025, Armed Forces in various theatres neutralised over 13,000&nbsp;terrorists, arrested 4,375 suspected terrorists, convicted 124&nbsp;terrorists and insurgents, and over&nbsp;124,000&nbsp;fighters and their dependents surrendered to the authorities.<\/p>\n<p>In November last year, President Tinubu declared a nationwide security emergency and designated bandits as terrorists to enable harsher responses, with the firm words: \u201cThe terrorists lurking in our forests will have no more hiding places\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>He directed that the Police recruit 20,000&nbsp;additional officers, raising the total recruits to 50,000, as well as new recruitment in the military\/DSS.<\/p>\n<p>Only last week, the President also approved the recruitment of&nbsp;1,000&nbsp;forest guards for Oyo State in the wake of the Orire abduction.<\/p>\n<p>President Tinubu restated that the police remain the frontline agency in internal security.<\/p>\n<p>But they must work with the military, the Directorate of State Services, the National Security and Civil Defence, and other security agencies, explaining that cooperation among security agencies is \u201cvital to eliminating banditry, kidnapping, and armed robbery.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>President Tinubu is also known to have committed substantial funds to the security operations.<\/p>\n<p>There has been an increased budgetary allocation to the military.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, the&nbsp;2026&nbsp;budget earmarked N5.41trillion for Defence and Security \u2013 the largest single allocation \u2013 to procure modern equipment and boost operational capacity.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, force alone is not enough. Non-kinetic strategies\u2014stakeholder engagement, crime prevention, and de-radicalisation\u2014remain active, with over 124,000 insurgents and dependents exiting through Operation Safe Corridor since 2023.<\/p>\n<p>President Tinubu frames insecurity as \u2018foreign to our culture\u2019 and an economic drag, a conviction underscored in tying security to the Renewed Hope Agenda, which prioritises economic diversification, productivity, and human capital to undercut drivers of violence.<\/p>\n<p>This recent security problem also provides an opportunity to address the controversy trailing President Tinubu&#8217;s appointment of General Adeyinka Famadewa (Rtd.) as Special Adviser on Homeland Security.<\/p>\n<p>Some have insinuated that the appointment was an attempt to whittle down the influence of the National Security Adviser, Malam Nuhu Ribadu.<\/p>\n<p>Famadewa\u2019s appointment was informed by the need to put more hands on deck in a bid to&nbsp;tame insecurity and bring&nbsp;terrorists and bandits to justice.<\/p>\n<p>It is neither an attempt to curb the powers of NSA Ribadu nor an attempt to curb the influence of top Northerners in government, as some writers have insinuated. The President has often said that he will do whatever is required to end insecurity in the land, including putting more men on the job and more&nbsp;boots on the ground.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The&nbsp;NSA has always been a key ally of President Tinubu.<\/p>\n<p>He remains so to date. He remains one of the closest to the&nbsp;President, and nothing has undermined that in my view.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Malam Ribadu, as NSA, remains in charge of the country&#8217;s national security architecture.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, all good hands must be on deck to bring this menace to an end.<\/p>\n<p>*<em>Rahman is Senior Special Assistant to President Tinubu on Media and Special Duties.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>*With more cases of kidnapping making the headlines, there is a tendency for some to think the Nigerian Government is helpless, and not doing enough&nbsp;to&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, and the Service Chiefs, in the State House, Abuja, FCT","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","_customify_content_layout":"","_customify_sidebar":"","_customify_page_header_display":"default","_customify_disable_header":"","_customify_disable_header_top":"","_customify_disable_header_main":"","_customify_disable_header_bottom":"","_customify_disable_page_title":"","_customify_disable_content_vertical_padding":"","_customify_disable_footer_top":"","_customify_disable_footer_main":"","_customify_disable_footer_bottom":"","_customify_breadcrumb_display":"","_customify_header_transparent_display":"default","footnotes":""},"categories":[14,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns","category-highlights"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Tinubu-and-Service-Chiefs-1cc.png",672,365,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Tinubu-and-Service-Chiefs-1cc-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Tinubu-and-Service-Chiefs-1cc-300x163.png",300,163,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Tinubu-and-Service-Chiefs-1cc.png",672,365,false],"large":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Tinubu-and-Service-Chiefs-1cc.png",672,365,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Tinubu-and-Service-Chiefs-1cc.png",672,365,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Tinubu-and-Service-Chiefs-1cc.png",672,365,false]},"author_info":{"info":["ConsumerConnect"]},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?cat=14\" rel=\"category\">Columns<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/?cat=20\" rel=\"category\">Highlights<\/a>","tag_info":"Highlights","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=489"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":561,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489\/revisions\/561"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consumerconnectng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}