By Chesa Chesa
Security experts have called for intensified military operations, improved rural infrastructure and stricter restrictions on bandits’ access to markets following a report indicating that kidnappers in Nigeria’s North-West are shifting from demanding ransom to abducting victims as leverage to secure safe passage for supplies.
The recommendations were contained in a policy report by Nextier researchers, Dr. Chukwuma Okoli and Dr. Ndu Nwokolo, who warned that criminal groups operating in parts of the North-West have evolved their tactics beyond conventional kidnapping for ransom.
Dr. Chukwuma Okoli is a visiting Lead, Research and Policy at Nextier and a Lecturer at the Political Science Department at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria; while Dr. Ndu Nwokolo is a Managing Partner at Nextier and a reader (Associate Professor) at the Institute for Peace, Security and Development Studies, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria. He is also a Senior Scholar at the Centre for Intelligence, Security and Peace Studies, Coal City University Enugu, Nigeria.
According to the report, while ransom remains a significant source of income for bandits, some groups now allegedly retain abductees even after payments have been made in order to negotiate unrestricted movement to local markets where they obtain fuel, food, communication gadgets and other essential supplies.
The report cited accounts from communities in Kaura Namoda Local Government Area of Zamfara State, where relatives of abductees claimed that victims were still being held despite ransom payments.
The researchers attributed the shift partly to sustained military offensives and community vigilante operations, which they said have made it increasingly difficult for bandits and their couriers to access markets without being identified or intercepted.
They also noted that the growing surveillance by security agencies and local vigilantes has disrupted supply chains used by criminal groups, forcing them to adopt new strategies to maintain their operations.
The report revealed that at least 3,612 people were kidnapped across Nigeria between January and June 2026, with the North-West accounting for about 55 per cent of all recorded victims.
According to the researchers, contemporary kidnapping in the region has its roots in cattle rustling networks that gradually transformed into organised kidnapping syndicates after cattle theft became less profitable and riskier due to security crackdowns.
They observed that many of the current kidnappers are teenagers and young adults, often children of earlier generations of cattle rustlers, while the difficult terrain of forests and caves across the region continues to provide safe havens for criminal groups.
The report further stated that in some affected communities, residents have adopted unusual survival measures by abandoning their homes at night to sleep in public schools, palaces and other central locations perceived to be safer because of occasional military patrols and the presence of community vigilantes.
According to the researchers, this communal night shelter arrangement has significantly reduced successful abductions in some communities.
To address the changing security threat, the report recommended sustained kinetic operations by the military and community vigilantes to further weaken the operational capacity of bandits.
It also urged governments to address governance deficits through the construction of rural access roads and other infrastructure to enable security agencies to reach remote hideouts more effectively.
The experts further recommended strengthening traditional institutions and local vigilante groups to improve intelligence gathering and coordination with security agencies.
They advised the government to maintain its policy of refusing to negotiate with kidnappers, insisting that arrested suspects should be prosecuted in accordance with the law.
The report also called for stronger collaboration between governments and local communities to deny kidnappers access to markets, arguing that cutting off supply routes would undermine their ability to sustain operations and reduce the effectiveness of their evolving kidnapping tactics.
