Selective Rescues, Forgotten Captives And The Dangerous Politics of Human Life

By Dahiru Yusuf Yabo

The rescue of any kidnapped citizen is good news. Every life saved deserves celebration. Every family reunited with a loved one deserves our joy and support.

But there is a troubling question that Nigeria must confront honestly:

What happens when the rescue of some victims becomes a national priority while thousands of others remain abandoned in captivity, forgotten by the media, neglected by political leaders and erased from public consciousness?

That is where compassion begins to look selective and justice starts losing its moral authority.

No nation can build unity on a hierarchy of human lives.

A kidnapped child in Zamfara is not less valuable than a kidnapped child in Kaduna. A captive farmer in Niger State is not less human than a captive trader in Edo. A kidnapped woman in the forests of Kwara deserves the same urgency as a victim anywhere else in the country.

The tragedy before us is not merely kidnapping. It is the perception that some victims matter more than others.

For more than a decade, thousands of Nigerians have disappeared into terrorist camps, bandit enclaves and criminal hideouts. Many have died unnamed. Many families have sold their homes, farms and businesses to pay ransom. Many captives have never returned.

Yet, too often, public outrage appears proportional not to the suffering involved but to the identity of the victims.

That is a dangerous path.

A nation that responds selectively to human suffering is unconsciously laying the foundation for division, bitterness and distrust. Citizens begin to ask uncomfortable questions. Communities begin to feel abandoned. Confidence in government institutions erodes. The social contract weakens.

When people believe that the state will only fight for some citizens while others are left to their fate, they gradually lose faith in the state itself.

This is the real danger.

The consequences go far beyond politics.

Selective empathy fuels resentment.

Selective justice breeds alienation.

Selective outrage destroys national cohesion.

And selective security ultimately threatens everyone.

Terrorists and kidnappers do not benefit merely from the ransom they collect. They benefit when communities lose trust in government. They benefit when citizens feel isolated. They benefit when Nigerians begin to see themselves not as equal citizens but as competing victims struggling for attention.

The greatest victory of terrorism is not the number of people kidnapped.

It is the destruction of national solidarity.

That is why government at all levels must reject any appearance of selective concern. Every victim must matter. Every community under attack must receive attention. Every family searching for a missing loved one deserves to know that the nation has not forgotten them.

The measure of a civilized society is not how loudly it celebrates the rescue of a few.

It is how relentlessly it works until the forgotten many are also free.

Nigeria cannot afford a system where some captives become headlines while others become statistics.

A human life does not acquire value from ethnicity, religion, geography or political relevance.

It acquires value because it is human.

Until that principle guides our security architecture, our public discourse and our national conscience, we will continue to win isolated battles while losing the larger war for justice, unity and national survival.

The tears of a mother are the same in every language.

The pain of captivity is the same in every region.

And the duty of government is the same to every citizen.

Anything less is not merely a policy failure.

It is a moral failure.

Dahiru Yusuf Yabo

Former Commissioner and public affairs commentator, writes on governance, security and national cohesion.