Why bandits kidnap civilians during military offensives – Atolagbe

By Lawrence Agbo

A former Field Commander of Operation Safe Haven, Rt. Maj. Gen. Anthony Atolagbe (retd.) has explained that bandits often intensify kidnappings during military offensives to use abducted civilians as human shields and bargaining tools.

Atolagbe disclosed this on the Prime Time programme on Arise News, while speaking on the operational tactics of armed groups, noting that bandits typically resort to mass abductions when they are dislodged from their strongholds by military operations.

According to him, once security forces push them out of their enclaves, the criminals move to new locations where they believe they can regroup and re-establish control.

He explained that in the process, they abduct people from surrounding communities to strengthen their camps.

“What happens is that when these groups are dislodged, they lose contact with the men and women they keep in their enclaves, including those they use as sex slaves,” Atolagbe said.

The retired general further noted that abducted victims are also strategically used as human shields whenever the bandits anticipate an approaching military assault.

According to him, the presence of civilians in their camps makes it more difficult for troops to launch direct attacks.

“They have a pattern of taking people into their enclave, not just for exploitation such as sex slavery, but also to use them as shields and sometimes as leverage for negotiations,” he explained.

Atolagbe warned that the tactic complicates military operations and increases the risks faced by civilians caught in conflict zones.