A security expert, Prof. Oyesoji Aremu, has said that Nigeria is grappling with alarming levels of insecurity, with about 2.2 million kidnapping incidents recorded in a single year and ransom payments estimated at N2.2 trillion.
Aremu disclosed this while delivering a public lecture organised by the Social Sciences Students’ Association (SOSSA) of Adekunle Ajasin University, Ondo State, where he examined Nigeria’s position on global security indexes and the escalating human and economic cost of insecurity.
He cited data attributed to the National Bureau of Statistics, saying that the figures reflect the emergence of a well-organised “ransom economy” driven by banditry, kidnapping syndicates and insurgent networks across the country.
In his remark, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Olugbenga Ige, who was represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Prof. Adebisi Daramola, described the lecture as timely and relevant to Nigeria’s current security realities.
The Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Prof. Adesuyi Adebukola, called for sustained collaboration among stakeholders, stressing that insecurity remains a major obstacle to national development.
In another development, operatives of the Ondo State Security Network Agency, otherwise known as the Amotekun Corps, have apprehended some persons disguising themselves as lunatics to perpetrate crimes in some parts of the state.
The arrested fake lunatics were alleged to be involved in kidnapping and drug trafficking, as well as robbery operations.
The Amotekun Commander in the state, Adetunji Adeleye, disclosed that the new tactics adopted by the criminals were uncovered following intelligence received on the modus operandi of the suspects.
The South-West Youths Forum has also expressed concern over the rising wave of insecurity in the region, warning that the region’s long-standing reputation for relative peace and stability is under threat.
The forum said the growing incidents of banditry, kidnapping for ransom, farmer-herder clashes and infiltration of criminal elements are now affecting communities across the zone.
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