Eruku Freed, But Who Will Punish the Abductors?

 

By Oluwatosin Babatunde

I should be rejoicing that the 38 worshippers abducted in Eruku have been released. But I cannot. Relief is muted when the shadow of injustice hangs heavier than the celebration of life regained.

The government wants us to applaud “swift action” and “decisive leadership.” But let’s be honest: rescuing kidnapped citizens is not an act of heroism. It is the bare minimum that a state owes its people the bare minimum that should never have been required.

What galls me most is this: the abductors are still at large. No arrests. No trials. No punishment. And that is where the story truly exposes the rot at the heart of our nation’s security system. Every unpunished criminal sends a clear message: crime pays. Every rescue without accountability is a tacit endorsement of impunity.

I wonder, do our leaders even hear the silence of the communities they claim to protect? Do they feel the fear that hangs over families every night, the way ordinary citizens must plan their lives around the threat of being taken, beaten, or killed? Or is the government too busy turning tragedy into a press release, too busy counting the optics while citizens count the cost of insecurity?

Let me be clear: there is no celebration in freeing victims while the perpetrators walk free. There is no triumph in a rescue operation when prevention failed entirely. A state that allows kidnappers to vanish into the bush after terrorising a community is a state failing its people. And celebrating such failures only makes it worse , it mocks the trauma, and it normalises a cycle of fear.

I cannot applaud a government that treats abduction as a stage for political messaging. What Nigerians need is not a victory parade after every predictable crisis. We need a system where abduction is unthinkable, where criminals face certain consequences, and where communities can worship, travel, and live without fear.

Eruku has regained its children. But we have not regained justice. And until the abductors are held accountable, this “success” will remain a hollow one.

Oluwatosin Babatunde is a Journalist, public affairs analyst, and advocate of good governance. He can be reached via babatosin247@gmail.com.