The return of all 183 abducted residents of Kurmin Wali in Kaduna State, northwest Nigeria, is a relief, but celebrating it as ‘good news’ dangerously distracts from the real story of a security system so broken that entire communities can be taken and returned like borrowed property.
Development Diaries reports that Governor Uba Sani has officially welcomed back the residents who were abducted on 18 January, 2026, declaring that their safe return proves the effectiveness of his administration’s ‘quiet, security-first’ approach.
Recall that the government and security operatives initially denied the incident before a police situation report confirmed the attack occurred during church services.
Kurmin Wali exposes a system where communities can be recovered after tragedy but are rarely protected beforehand, leaving citizens to wonder why such violence continues to be repeatable.
The way the Kaduna State government has framed its communication, emphasising gratitude, ‘quiet, security-first governance’, and avoiding media arguments over numbers, shows that transparency is treated as optional.
Citizens are not given a verifiable timeline of the abduction, a clear account of actions taken by security forces, or any indication of whether ransom payments were made.
Silence may reduce immediate criticism, but in a democracy, it leaves a dangerous information vacuum where fear becomes the default truth.
This crisis also points to a bigger failure in public security governance, as the Kajuru–Kachia corridor, a known flashpoint, was not secured before the abduction, which is a clear failure in prevention.
Weak territorial control allowed bandits to hold people for 19 days and release them in batches, showing that incentives favour reactive responses over proactive security.
The problem is worsened because the state has the facts while citizens live in fear, and rural communities stay vulnerable due to uneven patrols, surveillance, and intelligence.
Responsibility is shared across several actors. The Kaduna State government must strengthen prevention strategies, community protection systems, and post-incident transparency while ensuring promised recovery commitments are delivered.
The National Security Advisor, defence headquarters, and the police must maintain continuous area dominance and coordinate intelligence, not just react episodically.
Security agencies operating along the corridor are accountable for duty of care and response time, while lawmakers representing the axis should provide oversight, track budgets, and report publicly.
Survivors’ rights, especially those of women, children, and people with disabilities, must guide all recovery and protection efforts.
Nigerians can take immediate, practical steps to turn the Kurmin Wali abduction into a moment for accountability and lasting protection.
Communities should establish a protection register to document suspicious activity, hotline failures, patrol absences, and response delays, creating evidence for oversight or legal action if needed.
Promised recovery projects like roads, hospitals, and skills centres must be tracked publicly, including contractor names, budgets, timelines, and monthly progress updates with signboards or photos.
Finally, citizens should prioritise survivor-first safeguarding, resisting the circulation of names or images without consent and pushing media and politicians to adopt trauma-informed reporting.
Photo source: Ministry of Information, Kaduna
