PDP warns of trillion-naira criminal economy powering nationwide insecurity

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has issued a fresh alarm over what it described as a rapidly expanding criminal economy driving banditry, kidnapping and terrorism across Nigeria, cautioning that insecurity has morphed into a highly organised enterprise.

The opposition party also urged the Federal Government to stop politicising national security, warning that treating the crisis as a partisan issue is worsening the country’s security landscape.

The party’s Ini Ememobong raised the concerns on Wednesday while speaking on the Democracy Today, stressing that ongoing government tactics are emboldening criminal networks.

Ememobong, citing unnamed national datasets, said available figures indicate that banditry, terrorism and mass abductions now operate within “a trillion-naira economy,” describing it as a clear signal that the problem has grown more complex than officially acknowledged.

He criticised the trend of issuing public appeals to kidnappers and bandits for the release of victims, describing the approach as a show of frailty that strengthens the criminals’ negotiating power.

He therefore urged the Federal Government to adopt a firmer posture by issuing an explicit, unambiguous directive to halt all violent attacks nationwide, insisting that such clarity is critical to restoring state authority.

The PDP spokesman also faulted government engagement with armed groups, arguing that the optics of state actors sharing negotiation tables with wielders of illegal weapons reflects a collapse of institutional control, especially in a country where private gun ownership by civilians is tightly regulated under the Armed Forces Act.

He warned that such engagements risk legitimising armed criminal factions while delegitimising the state, adding that national security must be treated as a sovereign priority, not political theatre.

Security sources and policy watchers have cautioned that recent escalations highlight the urgency of comprehensive reforms, stronger intelligence-led operations, and improved non-partisan coordination between federal and sub-national authorities to stem the deepening crisis.