Jun 5, 2026

Criminals Became Stakeholders In Nigeria’s Security Crisis

By Afolabi Olaiya Idowu in news

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Nigeria did not arrive at this dangerous moment by accident. The country’s banditry epidemic was not merely born in the forests of the North-West; it was nurtured by years of indecision, political cowardice, and a troubling willingness to treat violent criminals as aggrieved stakeholders deserving negotiation rather than prosecution.

One of the most consequential mistakes in Nigeria’s fight against banditry occurred when prominent religious and community leaders began trekking into forests to hold discussions with armed bandit commanders.

What was presented as peace-building was, in reality, a profound miscalculation. The moment a criminal who kidnaps children, murders farmers, burns villages, and terrorizes communities is invited to a dialogue table as an equal party, society grants him something he desperately seeks: legitimacy.

No democratic nation negotiates its sovereignty with armed criminals. Yet Nigeria repeatedly entertained the notion that bandits merely had “grievances” that needed to be heard. Amnesty programs were proposed.

Ransom payments became routine. Public officials openly discussed negotiations as though these groups were political movements rather than organized criminal enterprises.

The consequences are now evident for all to see.

Banditry has evolved from a regional security challenge into a national threat. What was once concentrated in parts of northern Nigeria has steadily expanded into the South-West and other regions.

Criminal networks have become more sophisticated, better armed, and increasingly audacious. Kidnapping has transformed into a multi-billion-naira criminal industry.

Most disturbing is the growing boldness of these groups. They are no longer satisfied with collecting ransom payments.

In some cases, kidnappers now seek to dictate terms to governments and communities, demanding concessions and attempting to influence public policies as conditions for releasing abducted victims.

This is what happens when criminals begin to believe they possess bargaining power over the state.

The blame does not belong to one government alone. Successive administrations at both federal and state levels failed to establish a clear and consistent doctrine against banditry.

Security policies oscillated between military offensives and negotiations, creating confusion and allowing criminal groups to regroup whenever pressure intensified.

Equally troubling has been the role of those who, often under the guise of religious sensitivity or community engagement, discouraged decisive action against these networks.

Fear of controversy repeatedly outweighed the imperative of national security. Political leaders worried about optics. Influential figures urged dialogue. Meanwhile, innocent Nigerians paid the price with their lives.

This is not an argument against dialogue in every circumstance. Genuine political conflicts can often be resolved through negotiation.

However, there is a fundamental distinction between political agitation and organized criminality.

A gang that survives on kidnapping schoolchildren, extorting communities, and murdering civilians is not pursuing justice. It is pursuing profit through terror.

History offers a simple lesson: criminal enterprises rarely disappear because they are understood; they disappear when they are dismantled.

Nigeria must therefore abandon the illusion that banditry can be negotiated into extinction.

Every successful ransom payment, every amnesty proposal, and every public engagement that elevates criminals into stakeholders strengthens the incentives driving the crisis.

The state exists for one reason above all others: to protect law-abiding citizens. When criminals begin setting conditions for peace while citizens live in fear, the authority of the state is already under attack.

Nigeria’s banditry crisis has reached a stage where half-measures are no longer enough.

The country needs relentless intelligence gathering, stronger law enforcement, better-equipped security forces, and a coordinated strategy aimed at destroying criminal networks rather than managing them.

The question confronting Nigeria today is no longer whether banditry is a national emergency. That question was answered years ago.

The real question is whether the nation is finally prepared to treat it as one.