The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, has disclosed that there are plans to expand ongoing anti-kidnapping operations beyond Kwara and Kogi states to other parts of the Northwest and across the country as part of a comprehensive national security strategy.
Egbetokun made the disclosure in a monitored interview on Channels Television, saying that the operations, which initially targeted kidnapping and banditry in Kwara and Kogi, would be extended to other affected areas, particularly in the Northwest, and subsequently nationwide.
TheFact Daily notes that Kogi and Kwara states are areas that have witnessed growing violence and abductions. In December, at least four people were killed and several others abducted following separate terrorist attacks on a church and multiple communities across parts of Kogi State, sparking renewed fear among residents and calls for urgent security intervention.
Last month also, terrorists, locally known as bandits, kidnapped nine passengers and injured three other people, including a commercial driver, in separate attacks on a highway connecting Kogi and Kwara States. According to the Internstionaal Centre for Infestifative Reporting (ICIR), Kwara states has recorded no less than 207 killings and 177 abductions in 10 months. These incidents are mostly driven by soft targets like churches, farms, and highways increasingly exploited by criminal groups.
The IGP said that the initiative includes intensified operations and intelligence-led policing across multiple regions, with special focus on frontier states such as Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi and Niger, as well as adjoining zones.
Egbetokun stressed that the anti-kidnapping initiative is designed to proactively tackle criminal networks, disrupt banditry activities, and restore public confidence in security nationwide.
He reaffirmed the commitment of the Nigeria Police Force to sustaining coordinated, intelligence-driven operations to curb kidnapping and related crimes under his leadership.
