NANS LAGOS RAISES SERIOUS ALARM OVER UNENDING INSECURITY ON FEDERAL ROADS
CONDEMNS SECURITY FAILURE AND DEMANDS ACCOUNTABILITY FROM THE INCOMPETENT INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE
The leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Joint Campus Council (JCC) Lagos, strongly condemns the growing, unchecked, and disgraceful level of insecurity on Nigeria’s federal highways. We hereby raise a serious national alarm over a terrifying kidnap attempt on student leaders who were travelling to attend the NANS South-West Zone D Convention at Ekiti State University.
This incident is not an isolated occurrence but a disturbing reflection of the complete breakdown of security across major federal roads, where criminal elements now operate with boldness and impunity while citizens are left vulnerable.
On Friday, 13th February 2026, a delegation of student leaders departed Lagos State en route to attend the NANS South-West Zone D Convention at Ekiti State University. The delegation comprised principal officers of NANS at both state and zonal levels, alongside other committed student leaders on official national assignment.
An unexpected mechanical fault delayed our journey for approximately two hours, forcing us to approach the Ilesa axis close to midnight — a stretch of federal highway that has increasingly become synonymous with fear, insecurity and lawlessness over the years.
At approximately 1:00 a.m., along the Ilesa Road, we unknowingly drove straight into a carefully coordinated ambush. Suspected kidnappers had concealed themselves within the bushes flanking the highway, laying in wait for unsuspecting travelers.
Suddenly, blinding torchlights flashed directly in front of our vehicle, compelling us to slow down. Within seconds, armed men emerged from behind, strategically positioning themselves to box us in. It was a calculated trap.
In what can only be described as a split-second decision between captivity and survival, our driver acted with extraordinary courage and presence of mind. He forcefully and courageously reversed toward the attackers, disrupting their formation and creating just enough space to escape. The kidnappers pursued our vehicle briefly on foot, but they could not outrun the speed of a moving car.
We escaped by inches, and by grace.
However, what makes this incident even more disturbing and completely indefensible, is that the criminal operation continued for over two hours without any visible intervention from security agencies. For more than two hours, armed kidnappers occupied a federal highway, in an attempt to stop traveling vehicles at will, without confrontation, disruption, or resistance from those constitutionally mandated to secure the road.
At approximately 4:00 a.m., while still navigating the same deadly axis, we witnessed the chilling aftermath of another attack at that very spot. An empty bus was seen inside the bush by the roadside, with grim evidence that another group of innocent travelers had been ambushed. It was evident that the driver may have attempted the same desperate reversal maneuver but unfortunately lost control, resulting in the vehicle veering into the bush and the likely abduction of its occupants.
The kidnappers did not retreat after our narrow escape. They remained stationed on that highway long enough to successfully abduct other Nigerians before eventually disappearing into the darkness.
Even more alarming is the fact that throughout our entire passage along the notoriously dangerous Ilesa Road, there was not a single police patrol team, military checkpoint, or security presence in sight. Not one. This stretch of road has long been notorious for repeated kidnappings and violent attacks, many of which never make it to the media.
The kidnappers did not disperse after our escape. They maintained control of that highway long enough to successfully abduct other Nigerians before eventually retreating. That stretch of road was, for hours, effectively under the control of criminal elements.
Let it be clearly stated: this is not merely an unfortunate incident. This is a glaring and unacceptable collapse of intelligence gathering, highway patrol, surveillance coordination, and rapid response mechanisms within Nigeria’s security architecture. When armed criminals can dominate a federal highway for hours without resistance, it signals not just vulnerability, but systemic failure.
This is a direct indictment of those entrusted with the responsibility to protect lives and secure our roads and we make it boldly clear: the Inspector General of Police has failed, and failed disastrously, on these federal highways. The same grotesque pattern of unchecked kidnapping and violent criminality that unfolded on Ilesa Road is happening across multiple corridors in Nigeria. In the Kabba–Lokoja highway in Kogi State alone, armed gunmen recently abducted six senior directors of the Federal Ministry of Defence, including seasoned public servants, exposing the audacity of criminal gangs to target government officials on supposedly secure routes.
In separate incidents on highways connecting Kogi State and Kwara State, terrorists and bandits kidnapped nine passengers and injured others, underscoring how easily these criminal elements strike and retreat without prompt security response. Meanwhile, communities in multiple states have reported routine ambushes, blockades, and forced ransom extractions, compelling villagers and travelers to protest just to draw attention to their plight. Sadly, peaceful protesters demanding an end to this insecurity are being violently attacked by the very police officers who are constitutionally mandated to protect them.
These are not isolated events, they represent a nationwide emergency of insecurity that has turned travel into a gamble with life and liberty. The continued inability of the Nigeria Police Force, together with other security agencies, to secure federal highways and protect lives reflects systemic incompetence, weak intelligence, and the absence of a coherent national security strategy.
NANS JCC Lagos therefore states unequivocally:
The Inspector General of Police and all relevant security commanders have failed spectacularly, and they must take full responsibility for the unchecked criminal occupation of our federal highways.
It is outrageous and unacceptable that kidnappers can operate freely on major roads for hours without confrontation, disruption, or any meaningful intervention. This madness must end, and it must end immediately.
Nigerian students and citizens cannot continue to travel in fear while those constitutionally empowered to protect lives are conspicuously absent, appearing only when peaceful protests are disrupted or citizens demand accountability.
We refuse to normalize this level of insecurity. We refuse to remain silent while innocent Nigerians are hunted on highways like prey and kidnapping has been turned into a multi-million-naira business.
If urgent, decisive action is not taken to secure known flashpoints such as the Ilesha axis and other major highways, Nigerian students across all campuses will be compelled to mobilize democratically and constitutionally to demand accountability. The lives of students and ordinary Nigerians are not expendable.
We thank God for sparing our lives, but we mourn with those who were not as fortunate that night.
Nigerians deserve visible, effective security presence, real-time response mechanisms, and the total dismantling of kidnapping networks operating across our highways.
Viva Aluta!
Viva Victoria!
Amandla!
Aluta Continua!
Signed,
Comrade Ridwan Ajayi
Public Relations Officer (PRO), NANS JCC Lagos State.