Human rights lawyer Femi Falana, SAN, has called on Nigerians who paid ransom to kidnappers to take the Federal Government to court and demand a refund, insisting that the state has failed in its constitutional responsibility to protect citizens.
Falana made the call at the opening of the Legal Year of the Faculty of Law, University of Abuja. He argued that under the Nigerian Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the government is duty-bound to safeguard lives, and its failure to curb widespread kidnapping amounts to a breach of citizens’ rights.
He criticised what he described as the government’s “class-based” approach to abductions, noting that swift rescue operations are often launched when judges, ministers or other high-ranking individuals are kidnapped, while ordinary citizens are left to negotiate their own release.
“I have suggested that citizens who are abducted by bandits or kidnappers, and whose family members are compelled to pay ransom to rescue them, have the right to go to court and say the government must refund the ransom,” Falana said.
“Because it is the duty of the government to protect every life. If that life is threatened or taken, the government must pay for it.
“But there is also a class dimension. If a judge, minister or former minister is kidnapped, the government will order security forces to rescue them. But when it comes to ordinary Nigerians, you are at the mercy of criminals.”
Falana stressed that all Nigerians are equal before the law and must receive equal protection from the state.
Security analysts have repeatedly warned that kidnapping has evolved into a highly organised criminal industry. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigerians paid an estimated N2.23 trillion in ransom between May 2023 and April 2024. The figures, contained in the bureau’s Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey (CESPS) 2024, further reveal that over 2.2 million kidnapping incidents occurred within the period, with an average payment of N2.7 million per victim.
Meanwhile, banditry attacks continue to escalate in Shanono communities in the Shanono Local Government Area of Kano State. Five nursing mothers were reportedly kidnapped last Sunday, barely a week after troops of the 3 Brigade, Nigerian Army, repelled a deadly invasion that resulted in the killing of 19 bandits.
One of the abducted women was said to have narrowly escaped. Sources disclosed that the attackers threw away the babies of the kidnapped women before whisking them away to an unknown location.
A community leader in Faruruwa village, Shanono, Alhaji Yahya Bagobiri, told journalists that the latest incident left five women missing and led to the theft of numerous livestock.
Bagobiri expressed deep concern over the recurring attacks, particularly in Fulani-dominated communities, despite the heavy deployment of military personnel and other security agencies. He warned that the situation is spiralling out of control.
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