Senior lawyer Femi Falana, SAN, has urged Nigerians who have paid ransom to kidnappers to drag the federal government to court and demand a refund, arguing that the state has failed in its most basic duty, protecting its citizens.
Speaking at the University of Abuja’s Faculty of Law Legal Year opening, Falana faulted the government for acting swiftly only when influential individuals are abducted, while leaving ordinary citizens to fend for themselves.
He said the government’s inability to curb the growing wave of kidnappings violates both the Nigerian Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, stressing that citizens should not be left to negotiate their own freedom.
According to Falana, seeking refunds for ransom payments would not only affirm victims’ rights but also force the government to take its constitutional obligations more seriously.
“I have suggested that citizens who are abducted by bandits or kidnappers, and whose family members are compelled to pay ransom, have the right to go to court and demand that the government refund the ransom,” he said.
“It is the duty of government to protect every life. If that life is threatened or taken, the government must pay for it. But there’s also the class dimension. If a judge, minister, or former minister is kidnapped, security forces swing into action. For ordinary Nigerians, families are left running from pillar to post to raise ransom. Since citizens are equal before the law, you must treat all Nigerians equally.”
Security analysts warn that kidnapping has now become a highly organised and profitable criminal industry.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in its 2024 Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey, revealed that Nigerians paid a staggering N2.23 trillion in ransom between May 2023 and April 2024, with over 2.2 million kidnapping incidents recorded.
The average ransom per case was put at N2.7 million.
