Who will pay the ransom for our country?

Last week, on my birthday, I was working, delivering a lecture to mid-level and senior journalists on Converging Media at the Dangote Academy, in faraway and scenic Obajana, a short-ish drive from Kogi State’s capital. While the participants and I had a most memorable experience, it almost was not the case. When I was informed it was to hold in Lokoja, I declined because of the stories about abductions, armed robbery, and even killings by the tragically misnamed ‘bandits’. After some persuasion by colleagues, I agreed to venture to the Confluence City. The rest, luckily, is pleasant history. Then suddenly, last Thursday evening the news broke about an attack on the same road I plied just a week ago.

Abaji, the scene of the violent crime, is located in the Federal Capital Territory, and a traveler has to pass it either to or from Abuja. And that’s where Major General Hassan Ahmed, a former Provost Marshal of the Nigerian Army was killed, after which the gunmen abducted his sister. While conspiracy theorists have labelled it an assassination already, it still is what it is: a murder and abduction on a highway leading to the nation’s capital, just kilometres away. I also wonder what happened to the many police checkpoint on the way to Lokoja, where money openly changed hands. But I digress.

While we wait with bated breath for the “overt and covert operations” that have reportedly begun at the location of Ahmed’s murder, other outrageous incidents linger like spectres over our nation’s poor, overburdened head. Some days ago, the Emir of Kajuru, Alhaji Alhassan Adamu, was abducted. In comparison to other cases, the traditional ruler was lucky to have only spent a brief time with his captors. Weirdly enough, the abductors reportedly apologized and asked him for forgiveness before releasing him. While palace sources said no ransom was paid to secure his release, 13 members of his family remain in captivity.

Then take for instance the case of over 100 schoolchildren taken from Tegina, in Niger State. As I write this, they remain with their captors. I can dare to imagine the heartbreak of the parents, but not the abject terror and suffering the youngsters are going through right now. The state has for some time now been suffering in the grip of terrorists who kidnap, rape and kill at will, which makes it no surprise that Governor Sani Bello assented to some laws announced yesterday, among which is the anti-kidnapping and cattle-rustling one that recommends death by hanging for kidnappers, cattle-rustlers, and their informants in his state. It’s a bright spot on a landscape that has for some time now been marked by despair.

In comparison to other cases, the traditional ruler was lucky to have only spent a brief time with his captors. Weirdly enough, the abductors reportedly apologized and asked him for forgiveness before releasing him. While palace sources said no ransom was paid to secure his release, 13 members of his family remain in captivity

While schools have for some time been the target du jour for terrorists, a new twist sees the attackers besieging hospitals and kidnapping babies. If there ever was any doubt about their lack of sanity, it has evaporated. Also don’t forget how inter-state travel has been severely affected, and agriculture crippled badly, all during a time when the economy is in tatters. The ripple effect of so-called ‘banditry’ cannot be quantified, as it continues to expand territory much like an industry. Through all this, what’s left for citizens to do, other than head to social media to express outrage? Nigerians – on just Facebook anyway – are hopping mad about insecurity, and also very afraid. Some even posit that it appears to be a kind of mainstreaming of the disturbing trend.

Take a gander at the Tegina schoolchildren, the family members of the Emir of Kajuru, the late Major General Ahmed’s sister, and many others. It’s enough to make anyone with a heart desperate. I found myself entertaining thoughts like the engagement of mercenaries to take care of things. I know, I know, we have functioning security architecture. But it’s hard to be rational when cornered. We’ve been confined to our cities, towns and villages much like being cornered in a box. That’s why we need to think outside that proverbial box. The institutions responsible for our safety need to come together to secure our nation, because the daftest, most unrealistic thing to do is to continue to pay money to merciless, bloodthirsty criminals. By the time we are all held captive, who will pay our collective ransoms?