South West Nigeria Grapples With Rising Wave of Kidnappings

A crime that once felt distant has arrived at the doorstep. Southwest Nigeria, long seen as relatively safe, is now living with a fear it never expected.

What was once perceived as a crime largely confined to the Northwest and North Central zones is increasingly evident across Southwest Nigeria, raising serious concerns about public safety, economic activity, and investor confidence. The growing wave of kidnappings has touched Ondo, Oyo, and Ekiti States in recent months, creating a climate of fear among residents who previously felt insulated from Nigeria’s broader security crisis.

A Region That Felt Safe

For years, the Southwest stood apart from the violence that gripped the Northwest and North Central regions. Its relative calm attracted investment, supported agriculture, and allowed daily life to continue with a sense of normalcy that other parts of the country had lost. That sense of security is now under direct threat.

Bandits operating with what residents describe as absolute impunity have begun making demands and posting videos of their captives, mirroring tactics long used in the north. Consequently, many residents now worry not only about their own safety but also about their loved ones, friends, and neighbours.

What Experts Are Saying

Retired Commissioner of Police and legal practitioner Samuel Adetuyi has argued that Nigeria’s current policing strategy remains largely outdated for the threat it now faces. He pointed out that officers are frequently deployed into forests and bushes to search for criminals without the technology needed to track them effectively.

“When someone is kidnapped, officers are often deployed into forests and bushes in search of the criminals. Why can’t we invest in the necessary technology and equipment to track them effectively?” Adetuyi said. He added that very few police commands in Nigeria have access to drones for surveillance, and that tracking kidnappers’ use of victims’ phones for ransom calls remains difficult due to limited technical capacity.

How States Are Responding

State governments have begun reacting. Ondo State has intensified security operations by recruiting 500 operatives into its Amotekun corps. Ekiti State launched a joint security patrol team earlier in the year, combining the Army, police, NSCDC, DSS, Amotekun, and vigilante operatives to comb bushes and secure borders shared with Kogi and Kwara States.

Still, residents argue that recruitment and patrols alone will not solve a problem rooted in poor technology, weak intelligence gathering, and porous borders between states. Until those structural gaps are closed, the fear that has settled over Southwest communities are unlikely to lift soon.