Secure Nigeria, protect citizens, criminologist urges Tinubu

The President of the Nigerian Society for Criminology, Prof. Oludayo Tade, urged President Bola Tinubu on Sunday to enhance efforts aimed at securing Nigeria and safeguarding its citizens.

Tade emphasized the significance of this initiative, noting that the insecurity issues confronting Nigeria possess both national and international implications.

This information was shared in a statement released in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, on Sunday.

The appeal came in response to a series of kidnapping events and the subsequent murders of victims, even after their families reportedly paid ransoms.

Last week, a pregnant woman and several residents of Igboho in the Oorelope Local Government Area of Oyo State were abducted. The assailants allegedly killed the woman and a relative who had brought money for her ransom.

Additionally, it is worth mentioning that numerous teachers and students were taken during coordinated assaults on Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota; Community Grammar School; and L.A. Primary School, Esiele, in Oriire Local Government Area on Friday, May 15, 2026.

In his statement, Tade remarked that the recently concluded 2026 International Conference of the NSC, titled "Securing Nigeria and Protecting Nigerians," highlighted the necessity for the government to enhance the economy to diminish the likelihood of criminal activities while continuing to combat bandits, kidnappers, and terrorists.

He stated, "As the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Tinubu must safeguard Nigeria's territorial integrity and ensure that citizens can travel without fear of abduction from schools or their communities.

“The first constitutional duty is to protect lives and property, and not doing that efficiently indicates failure. Nigerians need to experience and feel secure, and Nigeria must be protected from terrorists entering the country. Their local collaborators in and outside government must be fished out and punished. The President must display the political will to secure Nigeria and Nigerians.”

The don also urged Tinubu to review upward the welfare packages for security personnel who become incapacitated or lose their lives in counter-insurgency operations, stressing that officers protecting Nigeria and its citizens, as well as their families, deserve better welfare support.

Speaking on the just-concluded fourth International Conference of the NSC held at Cosmopolitan University, Abuja, Tade said the keynote speaker, Prof. Jibrin Ibrahim, Senior Fellow at the Centre for Democracy and Development, Abuja, called on the Federal Government to fulfil its responsibility of protecting Nigeria and Nigerians.

“Nigeria is tearing at the seams because of a profound sense of insecurity among citizens who feel that the situation is so terrible that disintegration may not be that bad. Even that option is, however, just another pathway to chaos, as the outcome might be worse. The only way forward is for the Nigerian state to do its work, secure the country and protect citizens. Our first step should be to realise that, in spite of everything going on, there is value in protecting Nigeria.

“The Nigerian state is undergoing a three-dimensional crisis. The first affects the political economy and is generated mainly by public corruption over the past four decades, which has created a run on the treasury at the national and state levels, threatening to consume the goose that lays the golden egg.

“The second is the crisis of citizenship symbolised by ethno-regionalism, the Boko Haram insurgency, farmer-herder killings, agitations for Biafra, militancy in the Niger Delta and indigene-settler conflicts.

“The third element relates to the frustration of the country’s democratic aspirations in a context where the citizenry believes in ‘true democracy’ but is confronted by a reckless political class that is corrupt, self-serving and manipulative. These issues have largely broken the social pact between citizens and the state.”

During the conference, Tade and his executive team were re-elected for a second term due to what was characterized as outstanding leadership of the society.

Prof. Etannibi Alemika, the Chairman of the NSC Board of Trustees, commended the executive team and urged for increased research-based evidence regarding the social issues facing Nigeria to assist policymakers in making well-informed decisions.

The NSC serves as the leading professional and academic organization for criminologists, security professionals, and scholars in Nigeria.

It advocates for research-driven solutions to crime and promotes evidence-based policies in the realms of criminal justice, law enforcement, and public security.