Nigerian troops are recording fresh successes against terrorists in Zamfara, but another part of the security crisis is becoming harder to ignore: even when people survive kidnapping, their families may not recover financially.
Troops under Operation Fansan Yamma recently neutralised two terrorists in Zamfara and intercepted 180 suspected explosive devices. The operation is another sign that security forces are putting pressure on armed groups operating across the North-West.
But military victories do not automatically solve the economic system that has grown around kidnapping.
For families in parts of northern Nigeria, ransom demands can mean selling farmland, livestock, vehicles, household possessions or borrowing money from relatives and friends. Amnesty International reported earlier this year that some families have had to dispose of everything they own to secure the release of abducted relatives, while entire communities sometimes raise money together to meet ransom demands.
The Business Model Behind the Kidnappings
This is why the latest military operation should be viewed as more than a battle against armed men. Kidnapping has become a source of income for some criminal and terrorist groups. In Zamfara, armed groups have repeatedly targeted villages, farmers and travellers because ordinary people can become valuable sources of ransom money.
The problem is that every successful ransom payment can reinforce the same business model. A family may have no realistic alternative when someone is being held in a forest. They pay because the immediate priority is getting their loved one home alive. But after the payment, they can be left with debts, sold property and fewer resources to rebuild their lives.
That creates a vicious cycle: insecurity takes a person, ransom takes the family’s wealth, and poverty makes the community even more vulnerable.
Military Success Needs to Reach the Household
There have been encouraging examples of security forces disrupting this cycle without ransom payments. In June, Nigerian forces rescued 360 people from a terrorist enclave in Borno after weeks of intelligence gathering and planning. The Borno government said no ransom was paid for their release.
In Zamfara, troops have also rescued abducted civilians during operations against attackers. Earlier this month, the military announced the rescue of 33 people who had been abducted while travelling through Tsafe. These operations matter because they attack the incentive behind the kidnappings.
But the long-term test will be whether communities can eventually return to farming, trading and travelling without constantly calculating the cost of another attack.
What Happens Next?
The government will need more than casualty figures and intercepted weapons to show that the situation is improving. It will need to disrupt the networks that provide weapons, information, food, motorcycles and money to armed groups. It will also need to support families and communities that have already lost their assets to ransom payments.
Until then, Nigeria may continue seeing a strange contradiction: troops winning battles against terrorists while ordinary families are still losing their livelihoods to them. The real measure of success will be when kidnapping stops being a viable business, not simply when another group of terrorists is neutralized.
