By Mohammed Bello Doka
Security agencies across Nigeria have arrested fourteen suspected kidnappers in multiple operations this week, with reports confirming that all the suspects are local residents of the communities where they operated, and none identified as Fulani. The arrests, recorded in Taraba, Edo, Kaduna, Delta and Ondo States, highlight what security analysts describe as a consistent pattern of community-based criminal networks rather than external ethnic groups.
Troops of the 6 Brigade Nigerian Army in Taraba State arrested two major suspects during Operation Zafin Wuta.
They include Umar Musa Geyi, apprehended at Jandei-Kulamu in Wukari LGA on November 22, and Abubakar Bawa, arrested in Wukari town on November 23.
Military reports described both men as local figures known within the surrounding communities, noting that the operation dismantled “a local kidnapping syndicate operating within southern Taraba.”
In Edo State, two separate crackdowns led to the arrest of six suspects. The Edo State Special Security Squad picked up two individuals in Egbai community, Ovia North-East LGA, while the 4 Brigade Nigerian Army arrested four more suspects linked to a kidnap-and-robbery ring described as locally rooted. Authorities said the gangs relied on intimate knowledge of their communities’ road networks and forest corridors.
Police in Kaduna arrested three suspects described as operating within the same villages they targeted. In Delta and Ondo States, law enforcement agencies detained several more suspects referred to in official briefings as “known criminals within the community” and individuals operating “inside the same localities they attacked.”
This week’s arrests have reignited debate over selective ethnic labeling in parts of the Nigerian media. Some news platforms routinely attach ethnic identifiers such as “Fulani kidnappers,” “Fulani extremists,” or “Fulani militants” even when investigations are ongoing or identities remain unconfirmed.
However, similar terminology is not applied when suspects involved in kidnapping hail from Tiv, Yoruba, Igbo, or other non-Fulani communities. Instead, such suspects are routinely described as “bandits,” “criminals,” or “gunmen,” without reference to their ethnic background.
Media analysts say this inconsistency contributes to skewed public perception and unfairly reinforces ethnic stereotypes. Security agencies have repeatedly cautioned against ethnic profiling, noting that kidnapping in Nigeria is driven by criminal opportunity, local knowledge, and profit, not by any particular tribe.
The arrests across the country this week illustrate that pattern once again, as every suspect identified by authorities was described as a local resident operating within their own community, while no Fulani-linked suspects were mentioned in any of the cases reported.
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