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By Abu, I. Michael
Nigeria’s kidnapping crisis has increasingly moved beyond the traditional boundaries of crime and security. It has become a direct threat to education, community confidence and the future of the country. Nowhere is this threat more disturbing than in the growing attacks on schools, where children and teachers have become targets of armed groups seeking ransom, influence and psychological impact. Since 2014, armed groups, bandits and insurgents have abducted thousands of students in attacks on schools across Nigeria. The pattern has been particularly pronounced in northern and central Nigeria, where vulnerable schools have been targeted because of their limited security infrastructure and the potential psychological and financial rewards for criminals.
In November 2025, more than 300 pupils and staff were reportedly seized from a Catholic boarding school in Niger State. In May 2026, gunmen abducted schoolchildren and teachers in separate incidents in Oyo and Borno states. Subsequent security operations led to the rescue of dozens of victims. Every rescue is a victory. But rescue alone cannot become Nigeria’s principal response to kidnapping.
This reality makes the Anti-Kidnap Coordination and Training Workshop for officers and personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) not merely timely, but strategically important. Courtesies of the strong partnership between the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Office of the National Security Adviser and the National Crime Agency (NCA) of the United Kingdom. The NSCDC occupies a unique position in Nigeria’s internal security architecture. As a federal paramilitary agency under the Ministry of Interior, the Corps is mandated to protect critical national infrastructure, contribute to community safety and support disaster management and emergency response.
Under the leadership of Commandant-General Prof. Ahmed Abubakar Audi, the Corps has developed an extensive operational footprint, with more than 63,000 personnel deployed across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, with a presence reaching the 774 local government areas. That nationwide presence gives the NSCDC an enormous advantage in preventing and responding to kidnapping. But the size of an institution alone does not guarantee effectiveness. In a complex security environment where kidnappers operate across jurisdictions, exploit local networks and move victims rapidly between communities, coordination, intelligence-sharing and professional communication have become as important as manpower and weapons. The country must increasingly move from a reactive security model to a preventive and coordinated anti-kidnap architecture. This is the essence of the training championed by the NCTC and NCA.
The establishment of the National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre (NSSRCC) under the Safe Schools Initiative represents an important step in that direction. NCTC with the support of UK through the NCA provides a platform for security coordination, vulnerability assessment, intelligence sharing and rapid response to threats against educational institutions. Its 24-hour security ecosystem across the states and the FCT gives it an important role in connecting schools, communities and security agencies.
Between 2025 and 2026, the NCA supported training for 200 police officers and personnel of the Department of State Services on the Multi-Agency Anti-Kidnapping Fusion Cell, as well as kidnap management and citizen engagement. The recent three-day national training workshop is therefore designed to broaden institutional capacity by exposing selected NSCDC personnel to practical knowledge in multi-agency anti-kidnapping collaboration and coordination, human intelligence gathering, debriefing and kidnap investigation, citizen engagement and strategic communication.
For instance, effective debriefing can provide investigators with valuable information about kidnappers’ methods, routes, communication patterns, safe locations and networks. Proper human intelligence gathering can help identify threats before they mature. Citizen engagement can strengthen public trust and encourage communities to report suspicious activities without fear. Strategic communication can prevent misinformation, manage public expectations and ensure that sensitive information does not inadvertently compromise rescue operations.
The workshop’s proposed multi-agency faculty, drawing from the Multi-Agency Anti-Kidnapping Fusion Cell, the Director of Intelligence at the NCTC, the Anti-Kidnap Unit of the Nigeria Police Force in the FCT and trained facilitators from Decy-4 Technologies offers an opportunity to bring different operational perspectives into one learning environment.
Participants at the workshop comprises representatives from the NSCDC Headquarters, the six geopolitical zones, high-risk states and the Ministry of Education, all in a bid to ensure that the training does not remain an isolated professional exercise. It is the beginning of a wider institutional network for information exchange and coordinated action.
As Nigeria approaches another election cycle, the concern becomes even more urgent. Schools and other soft targets may remain attractive to criminal networks seeking money, publicity or political disruption. Protecting them requires more than guards at school gates. NCTC and the NCA remain conscious of the fact that this requires early warning, intelligence, coordination, community ownership and rapid response – elements adequately dealt with by the resource persons during the training workshop.
The workshop is an investment in prevention, not simply another training programme. Every officer trained represents a potential intelligence node. Every strengthened coordination mechanism represents an opportunity to prevent an abduction. It is pertinent to also note that every community that trusts security agencies enough to share information is ensuring another layer of protection around vulnerable schools.
Building the capacity of the NSCDC to coordinate, gather intelligence, engage communities and communicate effectively is an important part of ensuring that more Nigerian children are allowed to remain where they belong, in classrooms, not captivity.
•Michael is Head, Department of Strategic Communication, NCTC-ONSA
