Security analyst Salihu Dantata has warned that Nigeria’s worsening kidnapping crisis is being sustained by vast ungoverned spaces, weak intelligence gathering and collusion between non-state actors and local communities, even as he welcomed the release of 130 abducted pupils of St Mary’s Catholic School in Niger State.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE News on Sunday, Dantata cautioned against drawing premature conclusions about the circumstances surrounding the pupils’ release, noting that security operations often involve non-kinetic measures that are not publicly disclosed.
“Well, you know, sometimes you cannot particularly make allegations without substantiating it, because the issues are, you know, they also used non-kinetic measures, even though they came to say there wasn’t anything like giving ransom or maybe something to entice the kidnappers and host of others,” he said. “This remains best known by God Almighty.”
While acknowledging lingering public suspicion, Dantata said credit must still be given to the President and security agencies operating in a notoriously difficult terrain.
“But first of all, I think we need to also appreciate Mr President, then appreciate the various security agencies for the gallantry, because that terrain is well known to me,” he said.
He identified the Lakurawa armed group as a major destabilising force across parts of Kwara, Niger, Sokoto and Kebbi states, adding that many of the perpetrators were not Nigerian nationals.
“Don’t forget, Lakurawa have been tormenting the entire area from some part of Kwara, Niger, extending to Sokoto and Kebbi,” Dantata said. “Most of these abductions, there are even allegations and suspicion of Lakurawa being involved in it, because most of them are even aliens, they are foreigners that intruded into Nigerian space.”
Dantata argued that the security challenge is compounded by the failure of intelligence systems and the persistence of ungoverned spaces across several states.
“Once intelligence gathering is minimal, this is what you get. Once you have a lot of ungoverned areas, this is what you get. Once you have a fire-brigade approach, this is what you get,” he said.
He listed Niger, Kwara, Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara and Katsina states as areas where state authority is weak, allowing criminal groups to thrive with local support.
“These non-state actors, sometimes they act in connivance with some inhabitants of these areas,” he said, recalling cases where local youths, chiefs and even security personnel were implicated.
“There were many indigenous youths who had been recruited, who were informants. There were even some local chiefs too, who, because of monies they get from illegal wood logging, connived with some of the non-state actors.”
Dantata further alleged deep-seated compromise within the security system, citing instances where uniformed officers were linked to arms trafficking and terrorist networks.
“You even find some of the security agents,” he said. “A serving police officer in Government House was found to be in connivance, selling arms and weapons to non-state actors, where even a deputy superintendent of police killed himself when he was implicated.”
He contrasted the situation in the North-Central and North-West with the North-East, where community participation helped blunt Boko Haram’s advance.
“Unlike the North-East, at the behemoth of Boko Haramism, you saw able-bodied youths coming out to form the Civilian Joint Task Force,” Dantata noted.
On recent military gains in the North-East, he credited leadership, particularly under Major-General Abubakar Abdulsalam, Commander of Operation Hadin Kai.
“I think once a general is desirous, committed, has devotedness and enterprising spirit, this is what comes to be,” he said. “This is a man who takes the lives of Nigerians seriously.”
According to Dantata, Abdulsalam’s leadership style boosts troop morale and effectiveness.
“Most of the troops, at any time, their morale is high,” he said. “He doesn’t move a troop without gathering intelligence.”
Dantata also raised concerns about allegations that banditry and insurgency are sponsored by powerful individuals involved in illegal mining and international financing, insisting that Nigeria must take ownership of investigations rather than rely on foreign disclosures.
“The list by the United Arab Emirates cannot hold water because we are a sovereign nation,” he said. “It has to come from the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Inspector-General of Police, by the order of the President and Commander-in-Chief.”
He warned that entrenched interests within politics, the military and the mining sector continue to undermine security efforts.
“There are certain elements in the country that are above the law,” Dantata said, citing allegations of mercenary involvement, illegal gold mining in Zamfara forests and foreign smuggling networks.
Concluding, Dantata urged President Bola Tinubu to move beyond surface-level reforms and undertake a comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s security architecture.
“If President Bola Ahmed Tinubu wants to succeed beyond just withdrawing police officers guarding VIPs, he needs to, without delay, overhaul the entire security architecture,” he said. “And when I say overhaul, I mean beyond just removing service chiefs.”
Boluwatife Enome
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