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By Lizzy Chirkpi
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has expressed deep concern over the continued success of kidnappers across the country, blaming saboteurs within Nigeria’s security architecture and calling for urgent intelligence-led reforms modelled after recent successes in Mali and the Nigerian military’s operations in the North-East.
In a statement issued on Sunday by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, the group tasked the Nigerian intelligence community and the armed forces to adopt more sophisticated, intelligence-driven strategies to intercept kidnappers before they negotiate and collect ransoms from victims’ families.
The group specifically urged the Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa, the Chief of Defence Staff, the National Security Adviser, and the Service Chiefs to establish a joint committee to identify and prosecute security personnel allegedly aiding terrorism and kidnapping.
“We in HURIWA are hereby calling on the Minister of Defence, the Chief of Defence Staff, the National Security Adviser and the service chiefs to set up a joint committee to fish out saboteurs and criminal elements embedded in the armed forces who are using their privileged positions to aid and abet terrorism, kidnappings and other sophisticated crimes,” the group said.
HURIWA warned that Nigeria would not defeat terrorism and kidnapping unless alleged internal collaborators were exposed, stressing that kidnappings for ransom had become a multi-billion-dollar criminal enterprise, with links to human organ trafficking.
The rights group expressed optimism that replicating the intelligence-led operations of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK) in the North-East could significantly weaken kidnapping networks nationwide. It cited the recent identification of Shariff Umar as a key coordinator of suicide bombings in Borno State as evidence of what effective intelligence gathering could achieve.
According to HURIWA, OPHK investigations revealed that Umar was responsible for recruiting, training and deploying suicide bombers, as well as coordinating logistics and the supply of improvised explosive device components.
The Media Information Officer of the Joint Task Force, Lt. Col. Sani Uba, had confirmed in a statement that Umar was identified following intelligence-led cordon-and-search operations conducted in the Kalmari area of Maiduguri on December 31, 2025.
“During the investigation, a suspected suicide bomber currently in custody, Ibrahim Muhammad, unequivocally identified Shariff Umar (also known as ‘Yusuf’) as the ringleader and coordinator of the terror network,” Uba said.
HURIWA questioned why similar intelligence capabilities had not been deployed nationwide to curb kidnappings, asking pointed questions about the roles of the military police, the Department of State Services (DSS) and other intelligence agencies.
“What then are the functions and powers of military police? Why are the communications of terrorists and kidnappers not effectively monitored and flagged?” the group asked, insisting that the Defence Minister should prioritise flushing out “public enemies” allegedly working from within the system.
The group also condemned what it described as repeated failures by security agencies, despite receiving billions of naira in annual budgetary allocations, to intercept kidnappers who freely use communication gadgets.
HURIWA cited the abduction of the Oniwo of Aafin, Oba Simeon Olaonipekun, his son Olaolu, and other residents of Kwara State as a troubling example. The group noted that kidnappers reportedly demanded a total ransom of N450 million for the victims’ release.
According to the association, N150 million was demanded for the monarch and his son, a serving member of the National Youth Service Corps, while an additional N300 million was requested for eight other abducted residents of Adanla-Irese in Ifelodun Local Government Area.
The Coordinator of the Kwara South Joint Community Security Watch Network, Elder Olaitan Oyin-Zubair, confirmed that negotiations were ongoing.
“Only two days ago, the kidnappers demanded N300 million for the release of the Adanla abductees. Today, they demanded N150 million for the monarch and his son,” he said.
HURIWA described the situation as a “spectacular sabotage of national security,” questioning why the National Assembly had not demanded accountability over the apparent failure of security agencies to deploy crime-fighting technologies acquired in recent years.
The group further referenced a widely reported case in Mali where security forces swiftly intercepted human traffickers using advanced intelligence monitoring tools. An anti-human trafficking activist, identified as P. Michael, narrated how Malian security agents tracked and rescued a trafficked Nigerian minor within hours, without paying ransom.
“Why do kidnappers succeed in collecting ransom from their victims? If security formations are effective, no kidnapper can succeed,” the activist said, suggesting that ransom payments in Nigeria could involve collusion.
Based on these concerns, HURIWA called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to issue a three-month ultimatum to the service chiefs to drastically reduce kidnapping cases and successful ransom collections by at least 75 per cent or face dismissal.