The Kidnapping Epidemic

 

Students and Teachers Are Now Targets. A Government That Cares Would Act Like It Does During Elections

While politicians are busy strategizing to remain in power and engaging in the usual political games, schoolchildren and their teachers are languishing in captivity. Tragically, some educators have paid the ultimate price with their lives.

Leadership is about responsibility, compassion, and humanity -not an endless struggle for power and political dominance. The safety and welfare of citizens should always come before political ambition.

That is not rhetoric. It is the reality in far too many communities today.

From SS3 Exam Halls to Kidnappers’ Forests

Years ago, we fought against "special centers" that exploited students and promoted examination malpractice. Today, the traffickers have new faces and carry guns. The target remains the same: students. The difference is that before, they stole results. Now, they steal lives.

The pattern has become painfully familiar:

1. Students

JSS3, SS2, and university students are kidnapped on their way to school, during examinations, or even from their hostels. Ransom demands often run into tens or hundreds of millions of naira. Parents sell land, drain their savings, and incur debts. Some students never return.

2. Teachers

The protectors have become prey. Teachers are abducted from staff quarters, attacked on their way to work, and, in some cases, brutally killed to send a message.

When a teacher is murdered, it is not just one life lost. It is hundreds of students losing mentorship, guidance, hope, and a sense of safety all at once.

3. Schools Closing Down

The final casualty is education itself.

Rural schools are shutting down because teachers are unwilling to risk their lives and parents are afraid to send their children to class. An entire generation is being pushed out of classrooms and into idleness, poverty, or criminal activity.

The Government's "We’re Investigating" Energy vs Election Energy

This is where public trust begins to break down.

Watch how quickly systems move during election season:

Election Season	Kidnapping Crisis
Security forces deployed within hours	Investigations drag on for months
Politicians visit communities daily	Victims' families struggle to get attention
Budgets approved for logistics, surveillance, and operations	Schools are told to find their own security solutions
"Your vote is your power" campaigns everywhere	"We don't negotiate with criminals" becomes the only response

If government pursued kidnappers with the same urgency, resources, intelligence gathering, and coordination that elections receive, the results could be dramatically different.

Schools would be safe zones, not danger zones. Teachers would teach, not hide.

Five Consequences If This Continues

1. A Lost Generation

Children who spend years out of school due to insecurity do not simply "catch up." Many never return. Future doctors, engineers, teachers, and innovators are lost before they have a chance to contribute.

2. Collapse of Rural Education

No teachers mean no schools. No schools mean rising illiteracy and deeper poverty. Criminality thrives where education disappears.

3. Accelerated Brain Drain

Families with the means to relocate will do so. Public schools risk becoming institutions of last resort, further widening educational inequality.

4. Teachers Leaving the Profession

Many qualified educators are already questioning whether the risks are worth the rewards. As insecurity rises, more teachers will resign, retire early, or seek opportunities elsewhere.

Who will teach the next generation?

5. Normalization of Fear

When students grow up expecting kidnapping as part of daily life, fear replaces ambition. Dreams shrink. Aspirations disappear. Nations decline when young people lose hope.

CampusDialog Position: Three Non-Negotiables

1. Safety First, Politics Later

Schools and teachers should be designated as critical national assets. The same level of protection given to key election infrastructure should be extended to school buses, hostels, and staff quarters.

This requires funding, implementation, and accountability.

2. Intelligence Over Rhetoric

Kidnapping is organized crime. Criminal networks use phones, financial channels, informants, and logistics.

The same technology and intelligence capabilities used for election security should be deployed to track ransom payments, identify criminal networks, and dismantle kidnapping operations.

3. Compassion Over Political Games

A leader who can publicly mourn a political ally should show the same compassion for a murdered teacher or abducted student.

Visit affected communities. Meet grieving families. Treat this crisis with the seriousness of a national emergency.

Because it is one.

To Parents, Students, and Teachers

We understand your fear. It is valid. But fear cannot be our final answer.

Students

• Move in groups whenever possible.

• Share your location and travel plans with trusted family members.

• Save emergency numbers such as Police Emergency Response (112).

• Remember: your safety is more important than punctuality.

Teachers

• Document and report threats.

• Advocate for improved security measures and appropriate risk allowances.

• Your life and well-being matter.

Parents and Communities

• Support community-based school security initiatives where appropriate and lawful.

• Engage local leaders and demand practical security plans.

• Hold elected officials accountable for the safety of schools in your communities.

Bottom Line

Power without responsibility becomes oppression.

Leadership without compassion becomes mere administration.

Until the day governments pursue kidnappers with the same determination used to pursue votes, we will continue writing case files with blood instead of ink.

Nigeria cannot claim to be building a future while its classrooms are empty and its teachers are buried.

CampusDialog Question

If you are a student, teacher, or parent in an affected area, what is one action government could take this month that would make you feel safer?

Share your thoughts. We will compile the responses and forward them to the relevant authorities.

Your voice matters.

#SecureOurSchools #TeachersAreNotExpendable #StudentsAreNotCurrency

Ambrose Odiase, FIPMA, MANUPA, MAUA (UK)
Founding Editor/Publisher, CampusDialog