Security Forces Rescue 815 Hostages In 3 Months – Investigation

No fewer than 815 kidnap victims have been rescued by security forces in the last three months following renewed offensives against terrorists and other criminal elements across the country.

The victims were rescued from terrorists’ and kidnappers’ dens in various locations across the country between April and 25 June 2026.

Some of these victims spent months in captivity, while others were rescued in the process of their abduction.

However, despite these successes, terrorists, within the same period, on 15 May 2026, attacked three schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria, and abducted 49 pupils, teachers, and a toddler.

On the same day, terrorists abducted 42 pupils, including toddlers, from Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary Schools in the Askira-Uba Local Government Area of Borno State.

A teacher from the Oyo school was beheaded, and a gory video was released to spread fear.

These victims have spent over a month with their captors while the government keeps assuring citizens of efforts towards their rescue.

Security experts, reacting to this mixed bag of successes, called for the adoption of technology in the fight against crime to prevent the abduction of citizens.

A former Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Barr. Mike Ejiofor, said rather than waiting to rescue victims, the government must find a way to prevent the abductions from happening.

He advocated the deployment of satellite technology to identify the terrorists before they attack any community.

He said, “It is better to prevent kidnappings than to rescue victims. It is better to prevent it from happening than to allow it to happen because, once it happens, criminal elements will use people as shields, making it difficult for tactical operations to rescue rather than negotiate and pay, even though the government will never accept that they are paying.

The only way out is to use technology and prevent these attacks because they come in droves, so they can be easily spotted and attacked on the way.”

The Managing Director, Beacon Security and Intelligence Limited, Kabir Adamu, said Nigeria lacked the tactical team to rescue kidnap victims without negotiations.

He said kidnappings were still thriving because, despite laws prohibiting ransom, bandits were still profiting from the illegal venture.

“It’s still a money-making venture. They are still able to collect money, they are still able to spend the money, and they are able to enjoy whatever it is that they wanted out of the money that they make from the kidnappings. And that’s the major reason why it’s continuing,” he said.

Speaking further, he noted that another reason kidnapping thrives is the vast ungoverned spaces, particularly forests and other protected areas.

“So, in other words, they can abduct, keep people in those forest areas, and we’ve not done much. In spite of the creation of these forests, we’ve not really done much to limit the ability to use those forests for criminal activities,” he added.

He further stated that the security forces have not done much to penetrate those enclaves.

“We know where they are, but we’re not going there to rescue or to stop them from all this. It’s because we don’t have a sophisticated tactical unit that has capabilities for rescue operations.”

He explained that rescue operations would require very sophisticated tactical units with unique equipment and, “in my opinion, I don’t think we have that. And, of course, the collateral damage that could occur is not something any government wants to shoulder at this point in time.”

He continued, “If you use a less sophisticated tactical unit, and then there is collateral damage, the political consequences may be such that no government will want to shoulder it at this point in time. I know we’ve invested massively in tactical units, but as I said, it’s my honest opinion that we don’t have tactical units that have the ability to rescue these kids with very little consequences.”

He added that a weak anti-ransom policy was also fueling kidnappings despite several governments’ pronouncements.

“When I said they are still able to collect ransom, we have a law, and this particular administration, the first thing the president did, and his national security adviser, is to remind us of that law. It’s actually a part of the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act that Nigeria should not pay ransom.”

A security analyst, Mohammed Abdullahi Jabi, a member of the International Institute of Professional Security (IPPS), called on the government to address the root causes of insecurity.

He noted that the heightened attacks may not be unconnected to the forthcoming 2027 general elections, during which every political actor seeks to mobilise citizens against the other.

He said overcoming such a challenge requires social re-engineering to change citizens’ attitudes.

He stated that in the build-up to the 2027 elections, some of the security breaches may be sponsored by politicians in order to cause chaos.

He therefore called on the government to arrest and make an example of them.

“All those who are looking for trouble in their own rights, to make sure that the country should be arrested and be dealt with. Nigeria will continue to exist until we get it right.

“And to get it right, we must have moral rebirth. There must be a focus on reorientation and moral rebirth to ensure that our thinking and psyche are not in conflict with our value system.

The value system that is so much cherished, that is in hard work, honesty, that is inherent in respect for elders, and respect for constituent authority.

“All these values must be incorporated into the present generation because it’s decaying so much that you cannot even dare to ask it where it is now.”