Report Explains Why Kidnappers Target FCT,  Shows Nigeria Recorded 726 Cases In January 

The Beacon Security Intelligence Limited, a security risk management and Intelligence firm, has released data showing that 726 persons were kidnapped across Nigeria in January 2024. 

The security outfit made this known in its 2024 January Intelligence Report, saying there is about  39.88 percent increase in the number of persons abducted in January compared to December 2023, with the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) falling in the categories of five states with an increase in the cases of abductions.

The analysis, which was made region by region, revealed varying levels of occurrences with improvement and deterioration in parts of the country, with the northern part of Nigeria being most affected, accounting for 88.7% of abductions in January while the south recorded about 11.29% cases of abductions.

According to the report, Zamfara led with  177 abducted persons while Kaduna followed with 133 cases. FCT recorded 73, Borno 66 and Katsina 66 kidnapped victims.

The report said in December, Zamfara recorded 34 cases but in January, the number went up to 177. 

Kaduna had 41 persons abducted in December but in January, the record showed 133. FCT had 67 cases in December, but the cases rose to 73 persons in January. Meanwhile, Katsina had 12 persons Kidnapped in December and 66 In January.

However, THE WHISTLER observed that there is a slight decrease in the number of persons kidnapped in Borno State. The report showed that in December, 122 cases of kidnapped victims were recorded, but in January it dropped down to 66.

According to the report, the majority of cases happened in the first three weeks of January while the fourth and fifth weeks recorded declines, suggesting an improvement in security measures. 

FCT Security Challenges

The report stated that outside of the “opportunistic and non violent crimes” such as car theft which are not captured in its dataset, the main security challenges in FCT Abuja in January 2024 were kidnapping and violent criminality.

It said these challenges accounted for 45.94% of security occurrences, with 15 recorded incidents in the reporting period.

It said: “This was an increase from December 2023, when there were 7 incidents of this type, representing 22% of the events. The perpetrators of these kidnappings were non-state armed groups (NSAGs,) who infiltrated the FCT mainly through the Kuyeri Forest in Kagarko LGA of Kaduna State and established their camps in Tukuba Forest in Kuje and Kuyeri Village Mountain in Bwari Area councils.

“These locations explain why Bwari was the most impacted by kidnapping in terms of abductees (44) in FCT during the reporting period. However, by incident count, the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) had the highest number of incidents (5), followed by Bwari (5) and Kuje (2).

“In Bwari Area Council, the kidnappings occurred mostly in remote communities such as Barangoni, Zuma 1, Kawu, and Sagwari Layout Estate in Dutse Alhaji. Victims were mostly abducted from their residences.

“This includes the January 2, 2024 notorious case involving the Al-Kadriyar family when six (6) girls and their father were abducted.”

Beacon Intelligence Report further analysed that in January 2024, the trend of increase in security challenges which it reported within the FCT in the last quarter of 2023 was maintained.

“In this regard, there were 37 documented major security events, resulting in 19 fatalities and 73 individuals abducted across 3 area councils of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

When compared to the previous month’s analysis, there is a 42.31% increase in incident occurrences and a 280% increase in fatalities,” it said.

THE WHISTLER reached out to Dr Kabir Adamu, Managing Director, Beacon Intelligence Limited to try to find out how the data was generated, he said: “We are an intelligence firm that uses global and national accepted standards to collect, collate, analyse and disseminate intelligence.”

Efforts by THE WHISTLER to get the police to react to the Beacon Intelligence report were unsuccessful. Calls and text messages sent to the Spokesperson of the Nigerian Police Force, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, were not replied. 

On January 22, 2024, the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike hinted at plans to establish a new Joint Task Force with a full command and control structure, equipped with relevant equipment to enable it respond to security emergencies.

Similarly, on January 22, 2024, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved the emergency procurement of digital tracking equipment to help locate and rescue the abduction victims, as well as identify and prosecute the kidnappers.