**Announces state expansion programme for multi-agency kidnap fusion cell centre
By Kingsley Omonobi
The National Coordinator, National Counter Terrorism Centre, Office of National Security Adviser, Major General Adamu Laka, has disclosed that security agencies and the federal government have not given up hope of one day rescuing the remaining 87 kidnapped Chibok School girls, Leah Sharibu, and every other kidnapped person still in captivity of terrorists and bandits.
According to him, “The armed forces and other security agencies have not relented; hence, in the past, aid workers of UNHCR, IOM, and others in captivity, particularly some Chibok girls, were rescued through negotiations, operations, and others. But we have not given up hope in our efforts. Even in the case of Leah Sharibu, we are still on it. The fact that we are not in the news talking about this should not be interpreted as ,it is a forgotten issue.”
Speaking further on if the remaining kidnapped Chibok girls issues have been forgotten by government and if attempts are being made to rescue them, Major Gen Laka said, “Since when they were kidnapped, those who were rescued were not just rescued at one time. It was a gradual process. Negotiations were done, trying to get them out. Operations were conducted also. Some were rescued.
“Luckily, at the beginning of that incident, towards the year after they were kidnapped, I was in the theatre, and I know what the military and intelligence agencies put in to rescue the initial set of the Chibok girls. No, we haven’t given up hope on them.
“Some of them were married to some of the insurgents. Some have come out. But let our focus not only be on the Chibok girls. There are others that have been kidnapped. Aid workers, Nigerian aid workers that were kidnapped. We’ve rescued some that are working for UNICEF. We’ve rescued some that are working for UNHCR and IOM and so on.
“Do you understand? So, we haven’t relented on our efforts. There is the issue of this Leah Sharibu. So because it’s not always in the press does not mean we are not always talking about it. It doesn’t mean we don’t care. It doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten about them. We are still on it.
“Our prayer is that the whole 87 or 80-plus kidnapped girls that are left will be rescued, by God’s grace.
This is just as the Deputy High Commissioner of the British High Commission, Ms. Gill Levers, condemned the murder of about 38 kidnapped victims by bandits after allegedly collecting N50 million while releasing only 18 kidnapped victims.
She said, “Very frankly, I want to express my condolences to the people of Zamfara State over that horrible kidnap where, even when ransom was paid, only a few people were released and the others were murdered.
“It’s an unspeakable crime that has impacts on society, on communities, on families. It damages people’s mental health and physical well-being, retards economic progress, and all the other things that we know well. And we must bring an end to this.
“We must stop this. We must limit this. Because we all feel passionately and keenly what the terrible impacts of kidnapping are. So my condolences to the people of that state, and to the affected people and to their families and their friends. This is what we want to try and stop.”
On the Multi-Agency Kidnap Fusion Centre Expansion Programme, Laka said, “This is the primary purpose of this program: to close the gap between national-level coordination and state-level response. Essentially, to build direct operational linkages between the Cell and state commands across the country to help improve early warning systems, intelligence flow, response times, and operational synergy.
He said, “As we know, kidnapping has evolved into one of the most persistent and destabilising security threats in Nigeria. The nature of kidnapping today has changed. What used to be occasional, opportunistic crimes have become systematic operations involving well-organised and well-armed criminal networks.
“These networks, often with links to terrorist and armed groups, use kidnapping as a primary revenue stream, exploiting ransoms to fund logistics, weapons procurement, and territorial expansion. This growing criminal economy thrives on fear and where coordination is weak.
“To address this, we established the Multi-Agency Anti-Kidnap Fusion Cell in collaboration with the United Kingdom National Crime Agency. Since then, the cell has made significant strides. It has played key roles in supporting rescue operations, disrupting kidnapping networks, and improving interagency coordination.
Speaking further, the British Deputy High Commissioner explained that the Fusion Cell Centre initiative, otherwise known as ‘MAK FC,’ is aimed at providing strategic support to the Nigerian Police and the DSS as well as Commanders as part of overall strategic support between Nigeria and the UK through mutual collaboration and respect.
She said, “The multi-agency Kidnap Fusion Cell Centre has been a three-year initiative to create a collaborative response from Nigeria’s security forces to tackle the threat of kidnapping across the Nigerian Federation. The MAC FC, as we’re calling it, was officially opened in December last year.
“That was for us a milestone on this journey of creating a collaborative and interoperable model for tackling kidnapping in Nigeria. The role of the MAC FC is to provide support to the Nigerian police force and the DSS kidnap response units in every state and to collect, analyse, and disseminate data to the NSA and provide information on kidnap incidents state by state and by on-trends.
“The MAC FC and the training that’s going on this week came out of a deep partnership that the United Kingdom and Nigeria have, called our Security and Defence Partnership.
“It’s part of our overall strategic partnership, signed by our foreign ministers last year, and a partnership that’s based on mutual trust and mutual respect.”
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