The cost of insecurity: Farmers desert farms; pupils, teachers abandon schools, parents reject children’s NYSC posting

…Interstate businesses suffer as travels become huge risk

Sometime in May this year, the residents of communities in Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State raised the alarm over the escalating attacks by suspected bandits, reporting that more than 50 people have been killed and over 1,000 abducted within a three-month period of October to December 2025.

Saddened by the persisting attacks, the community leaders led by Musa Hassan Shadari noted that the attacks have led to the communities being displaced and dozens of families devastated despite about N400 million paid as ransom to secure the release of many victims.

But the sad reality, according to Shadari, is that the attacks are still persisting till date, leaving many farmlands deserted, many in the IDP camps and worsening food insecurity in the country.

Last year, some families in Barkin Ladi, Plateau State, sold their grain reserves and farmlands to source ransom money to free their relatives from the kidnappers. Those reserves, according to Sani Bature, an agronomist, are lost and would negatively impact food insecurity, no matter how little the impact may be.

“Our farmers no longer go to their farms for the fear of being kidnapped and attacked by arms-bearing herdsmen. Have you heard of the billions of Naira abductors are demanding as ransom nowadays? Our farming communities don’t have such money. As they keep hiding and farms deserted, food prices will keep soaring in the market,” he said, while insisting that it is not about dollars, but the persisting insecurity that is pushing up the prices of food items in the market today.

The same is the case across many farming regions, especially in the North Central states of Plateau, Benue, Kaduna and Niger where the persisting insecurity has driven many farmers into hiding, leaving their fertile lands uncultivated, and regrettably signaling impending scarcity that will further impact negatively on food inflation.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s year-on-year food inflation rate rose from 16.96% in May 2026 to 17.52 percent in June 2026, amid fear of further rising, considering the persisting insecurity, flooding of farmlands and the rising crude oil price at the international market.

Also, according to SBM Intelligence, since 2024, the removal of petrol subsidies, exchange-rate reforms, higher transportation costs, and extreme weather events have pushed food prices into a hyperinflationary phase.

The SBM, however, insisted on the need to strengthen agricultural value chains and improve security in farming communities to reduce supply disruptions and moderate food prices across the country.
While the high cost of food items is having a huge toll on an average family, with a three square impossible on many dining tables today, the rising food inflation is not the only cost of insecurity that Nigerians are bearing today.

There seems to be restrictions (consciously and unconsciously placed on Nigerians) on movement to certain parts of the country.
According to some observers, these are often self-imposed restrictions by many security conscious citizens on areas or parts of the country they consider high risk zones.

“We all know that the north central zone is the hotbed of insecurity. So, everyone will naturally not wish to go there when many of the residents are relocating to safer areas,” Kunle Alatise, an Abuja-based serial investor said.

According to the Ikare Ekiti-born business mogul, most businesses, as well as corporate organisations in the northern part of the country are relocating to Abuja, which they consider safer.

“I am in the grocery and agricultural supply chain, and lots of new recruits, especially from the southern part of the country don’t want postings outside Abuja or nearby Nasarawa.

“I have a cousin who declined a GTBank job because of his posting to Kaduna. I tried convincing him to stay and apply for transfer after his confirmation, but he insisted on safety grounds,” he noted.

Acknowledging the above, Yakubu Pam, a security expert, said that most state capitals in the north are under pressure from the influx of people who are running from insecurity, especially from rural communities.

“House rent in Jos has tripled in the last five years because of the huge demand for accommodation in the town, which many perceive to be safer. All of our Plateau politicians have abandoned their homes in Jos to Abuja, while those in the rural areas are invading Jos city for safety,” he lamented.

He also regretted that some corporate organisations are closing their office in Jos on the ground of insecurity as most staff members are declining work in some areas they perceive to be unsafe.

“I don’t blame them; I blame those who are eating from the problem, those who negotiate ransom and our government that seems helpless or rather compromised,” he said.

As well, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is under a huge threat due to the impact of the persisting insecurity.

Currently, many parents are rejecting postings of their children to some states considered to be very unsafe, while many intending corps members go for the orientation camp only to seek redeployment to preferred places afterwards. The bad trend, though on safety grounds, is growing with the NYSC trying to balance the lopsided postings induced by many relocations, special requests and even health-induced postings at every batch of the corps.

“We have heard of many corps members being abducted and some killed while on national service. When that happens the government will send their regrets and even if they give you billions of Naira, that is a huge loss to the victims’ families,” Anselm Ogar, a father of three graduates, lamented.

Speaking on the rationale for rejecting NYSC postings for his children in ‘unsafe’ areas, Ogar, a retired senior civil servant, argued that the insecurity situation in the country has defied even military because army generals are being killed and nothing happens, and that is also the major reason parents are insisting on postings to safer places for their children.

Jude Olekanma, an engineer and a father of two, noted that one cannot spend foreign currency in training his children in universities abroad, only for them to return to die in serving the country.

“I would rather not let my children serve all at all if the place they are posted is unsafe because if anything happens, I will bear the loss alone,” he said.

He also argued that the one-year compulsory service does not guarantee a job, the stipend paid as allowance is not enough and should not warrant one risking all for the country that does not care about his/her future.

“I have followed some cases of abducted corps members. In most, their parents and relatives were the ones that paid ransom for their release. As a parent, I care about where my children will serve and will influence safer places for them, if need be,” he said.

But the situation, according to some observers, has turned NYSC postings into a seeming racket as most parents are willing to influence the posting of their children to safe places, with some paying as much as N250,000 and above to change to a preferred state or place for their primary assignment.

Some of the preferred places include; Lagos, Abuja, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Enugu, Cross River, Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa, Edo, Ogun and Kano states.

“Many Nigerians read newspapers, watch television and listen to radio everyday for updates on insecurity,” Bem Hembafan, a security expert, said.

“They know the hotbeds and even new areas that are being besieged by terrorists and also avoid them. If you mention a place, everybody knows the security situation there, not the exaggerated ones”.

According to him, people do whatever they can to stay safe now because the cost of being a victim of insecurity is huge, especially the huge ransom, and ultimately death, in some cases.

The insecurity issue is beyond influencing NYSC posting for our children. I support the national initiative, but I don’t support parents allowing their children to serve in unsafe places. I have stopped social events like weddings from holding because of top security information I had access to. I have also forced some friends to call off their trips in some parts of the country because of insecurity. We all have to be cautious because the issue has taken deadly trends in recent times. If top security personnel including retired and serving generals can be killed, who else is safe? For now, trust nobody, stay safe and live a moderate life,” he urged.

Again, the transportation sector and logistics are paying a huge cost for the escalating insecurity as transport companies avoid routes perceived as unsafe or kidnappers’ hotbeds.

According to some observers, most transport companies are restricting their business to safer routes as passengers are often targets of abductors, after school children.

There have been many cases of kidnap attempts on passengers of some major transport companies, with many of such attempts foiled. The situation has warranted many passengers to place security as priority in their choice of company to patronize.

Marcel Odumah, a route manager of a Lagos-based transport company, decried that they do not go beyond Abuja due to the escalating insecurity and the development is negatively impacting their route expansion drive considering that the once-juicy southern routes are now choked by competition.

“Before now, we went as far as Kano from Lagos. We even plied the Akwanga-Jos route, which was juicy too. But we don’t even get to Kaduna again, we stop all passengers in our Abuja terminal for safety’s sake,” Odumah said.

While transport companies consider safety, passengers also do, as the dwindling number of passengers on certain unsafe routes made most companies shut down the routes.

Boniface Ohiri, a driver with Chisco Motors, decried that the escalating insecurity is bad business for most transport companies as some juicy routes are abandoned on safety grounds.

“Before the Enugu-Benue-Kogi-Abuja route as juicy as the Onitsha-Benin-Lagos route, but when the bad elements entered the route, we changed to Enugu-Makurdi-Lafia-Nasarawa-Keffi-Abuja route, which was longer and more expensive. Today, all the routes to Abuja from the East are unsafe and we are barely managing to drive on them,” he said.

“Those who still use the routes are those who cannot afford flight tickets. Many restrict travel and save up to fly rather than being kidnapped on the road”.

He also regretted that Royal Movers, a good competitor on the route, shut down after three years on the route due to attack on its two buses after Okene and at Otukpa.

Apart from some northern routes, many drivers are reporting kidnap incidents on the Benin-Auchi-Abuja route, Owerri-Aba route and East-West Road route, which has resulted in many avoiding the route and taking longer, more expensive, though safer routes.

Some agro-allied companies have been reportedly shut down in Benue State due to the escalating insecurity. A fruit juice company in Zakibiam and a soya milk company in Aliade, both in Benue State, have been closed in the last five years.

But while Nigerians count the cost of insecurity, the government is not sleeping. There have been sustained efforts at addressing the challenges by the government, from the relocation of military bases to insecurity hotbeds, acquisition of superior ammunition like the Tuscana jet, to others.

Also, in recent times, the government has entered into several security partnerships with foreign countries including the likes of the United States of America, United Kingdom, Turkey and France.

Recently, President Bola Tinubu approved the expansion of the structure of the Nigerian Army from eight to twelve divisions, as well as approved the recruitment of 28,000 new personnel.

The presidency noted that the development was a bold move to strengthen the military, enhance the country’s security architecture and improve the operational effectiveness of the Nigerian Army.

But many think that the many efforts are yielding little or no results considering the huge funds being expended on security so far.

According to Pam, the country is making serious efforts at fighting insecurity and spending lots of funds, but lacks political will and sincerity to stop the fight.

“The government has all the details of the people causing the trouble and their financiers but do not want to step on certain toes. You catch terrorists, who have killed many, instead of killing them, you tag them ‘repentant’ and even allow them to enroll in the security agencies. What country does that and hopes to get the expected result,” Pam said.

While commending the government for expanding Army divisions, Hembafan called for better welfare for soldiers to boost their morale to fight, and also a necessary probe of the defence budget.

“We need to change our strategy to win the fight, root out middlemen in the system that profit from insecurity, prosecute them and face our common enemies in a united front to ensure peace and normalcy that will grow us as a nation and our economy back as the largest in Africa,” he said.

However, observers argue that respite is not near, considering that the government is already in campaign mood for the 2027 general election, with everything including insecurity, being politicized to curry favor from the voting blocs and public.