Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has urged Nigerians who paid ransom to secure the release of kidnapped relatives to take the Federal Government to court and demand a refund, accusing the state of abandoning its constitutional responsibility to protect citizens.
Falana spoke on Thursday at the opening of the Legal Year of the Faculty of Law, Yakubu Gowon University, Abuja, where he lamented what he described as the government’s “gross dereliction of duty” amid the worsening wave of abductions nationwide.
The Senior Advocate noted that the Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights place a clear obligation on the state to safeguard lives, adding that the rising frequency of kidnappings shows a failure of governance.
He condemned what he termed a “class-biased response” to kidnapping, saying security agencies typically launch full-scale rescue operations only when politically exposed persons or wealthy individuals are abducted.
“Ordinary Nigerians are left to negotiate with terrorists and bandits. After paying ransom, they should proceed to court to compel the government to refund their money because the state failed to protect them,” Falana said.
He argued that court-ordered refunds would help enforce citizens’ rights and pressure the authorities to overhaul the nation’s security architecture.
His comments came as fresh data from the National Bureau of Statistics revealed the gravity of the kidnapping crisis. According to the 2024 Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey, Nigerians paid an estimated N2.23 trillion in ransom between May 2023 and April 2024.
The report recorded over 2.2 million incidents of kidnapping within the period, with an average ransom of N2.7 million per victim.
Security experts have repeatedly warned that kidnapping has evolved into a lucrative criminal enterprise, fuelled by weak law enforcement, porous communities and alleged insider collaboration within some security structures.
They insist that unless government adopts coordinated, technology-driven and intelligence-based strategies, the menace will continue to escalate.
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