Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesperson for the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has alleged that the federal government is engaging in negotiations with insurgents to facilitate the release of abducted victims.
His comments come amid a troubling surge in abductions and killings, particularly across northern Nigeria. Despite multiple successful releases of kidnap victims, there have been no reports of arrests or neutralisation of the perpetrators.
Earlier in the week, Bayo Onanuga, special adviser on information and strategy to President Bola Tinubu, credited the latest rescue operations to the efforts of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the military. He claimed the abductors cooperated because they knew they would be “pummelled” if they resisted, noting that a purely kinetic approach could have endangered victims used as “human shields”.
However, speaking on a television programme on Wednesday, Abdullahi who is a former spokesperson of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) insisted that the government was “making deals with insurgents” in order to quickly secure celebratory wins.
“What is clear to us is that the government is making deals with kidnappers, the government is making deals with insurgents,” he said. “Perhaps because they want a quick win… they will not hesitate to make the kind of negotiations or deals that they are doing.”
Challenging the government’s narrative, Abdullahi argued that any admission of dialogue with bandits implies direct contact and knowledge of their locations—raising the question of why no arrests have been made.
“You said you talked to them, and they agreed to release the people they captured. Now it means you are in contact with them… so why didn’t you arrest them?” he asked. “They were asking for N100 million per victim. So, you mean you just went to them and said, ‘OK, don’t do this again’?”
He warned that such negotiations risk further entrenching what he described as the “banditry economy”. Citing recent incidents in Kwara State, he noted that a fresh abduction occurred just a day after the release of kidnapped churchgoers, suggesting that payouts or negotiations embolden criminal groups.
“The probable unintended consequence is that the government, by doing deals with kidnappers, is unwittingly reinforcing the banditry economy,” he said.
Abdullahi acknowledged the joy that greeted the safe return of abducted children but stressed that the current strategy is unsustainable. While welcoming President Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency on security, he questioned what tangible actions would follow.
He also expressed concern over the closure of schools in high-risk areas, warning that such measures signal the government’s inability to protect educational institutions—and inadvertently align with Boko Haram’s anti-education ideology.
“When you close schools because bandits could go and kidnap children, what you are saying is that you are no longer capable of protecting them,” he said.
Abdullahi further dismissed allegations that the ADC is encouraging insecurity or seeking foreign intervention against Nigeria.