Ola Bakare

The recurring debate over whether government should negotiate with bandits or deploy overwhelming force has once again come to the fore following the abduction of students and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.

While the pain and desperation of affected families are understandable, there is a compelling case against negotiating with bandits or paying ransom for the release of victims. Experience has shown that ransom payments do not solve the problem of insecurity. Rather, they sustain and expand the criminal enterprise. Every successful negotiation and ransom payment strengthens the financial capacity of bandits, enabling them to acquire more weapons, recruit more fighters and plan even bigger attacks. In effect, ransom becomes an investment in future kidnappings.

Beyond the financial incentive, negotiations send a dangerous signal that crime pays. Once criminals realize that abducting innocent citizens guarantees attention, publicity and financial rewards, more groups are encouraged to embrace kidnapping as a lucrative business. The consequence is a vicious cycle in which communities, schools and highways become permanent targets.

The human cost is even more troubling. While a particular group of victims may regain their freedom through negotiation, countless others are placed at greater risk. The money paid today to secure the release of one set of hostages may finance the abduction of another group tomorrow. This means that temporary relief for some could translate into prolonged suffering for many others.

Countries that have successfully reduced the menace of terrorism and organized kidnapping have generally relied on a combination of intelligence gathering, targeted security operations, effective law enforcement and the prosecution of perpetrators. Such measures may be difficult and sometimes costly, but they address the root of the problem rather than rewarding criminality.

This is not to suggest that the lives of current hostages should be treated lightly. Every effort must be made to rescue them safely and reunite them with their families. However, government must avoid policies that inadvertently strengthen criminal networks and make future abductions more likely.

The abduction of students, teachers and other innocent Nigerians should be treated as an attack on the nation’s collective security and future. The response must therefore be firm, strategic and uncompromising. Negotiating with bandits may offer short-term relief, but it risks creating a long-term security nightmare. What Nigeria needs is not the normalization of ransom payments but the dismantling of the criminal structures that thrive on them.

Only by denying bandits the rewards of their crimes can the country begin to break the cycle of kidnapping and restore public confidence in security institutions.