Payment of ransom to kidnappers primitive – Femi Falana, advocates technological measure
Yinka ADETUNJI
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Speaking at a public event aired by TVC News Thursday, June 4, 2026. human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has called on the Nigerian government to adopt advanced technological measures in the fight against kidnapping and other forms of violent crime, arguing that the continued payment of ransom to criminal groups only fuels insecurity.
During his address, he questioned the growing trend of kidnappers demanding ransom payments before releasing victims, describing the practice as unacceptable and counterproductive. “How can criminals be asking you to pay ransom before you can secure the release of your love ones?” he queried.
The senior lawyer maintained that ransom payments encourage further criminal activities by providing financial incentives for kidnappers to continue their operations. “I’ve asked myself, and I’ve asked people in government. They haven’t given me answers. This is primitive. And the more you pay, the more you promote the crime,” he said.
Addressing concerns about how victims could be rescued without ransom payments, Falana argued that advances in science and technology have made it possible to track and locate criminal elements more effectively. “So, what do you do? They ask me, what do you do? And I say, I take my phone. By the application, certain applications, I can know where you are calling me from,” he stated.
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To illustrate the capabilities of modern technology, Falana recounted an incident involving a member of his staff whose location he was able to determine through his mobile device.
“Somebody wanted to talk to me one day and said, we have a matter in the Federal High Court. And where are you? One of my staff members. He said, sir, I’m getting, I’m almost at Top Mainland Bridge. I said, no, you are just leaving the office. So, you can’t say you are leaving. So, he was surprised,” he said.
The legal practitioner also cited a past hostage rescue operation involving an American citizen who was abducted in Niger state and allegedly taken to a forest in Sokoto state. According to Falana, advanced technology enabled foreign security agencies to trace the victim’s location and carry out a rescue operation.
“In October 2020, an American was kidnapped, a 27-year-old guy, Philip Watson, in Niger state. The criminals took him to a forest in Sokoto state. The Americans deployed drones from Washington. They located the bush, sent a plane, which landed in Niger Republic. And they drove to the exact point,” he said.
He further described how the operation was allegedly executed, saying security personnel reached the location, rescued the victim, and neutralized the kidnappers involved. “Now what is done is this. When you get to the exact location, they will spray the place. Everybody will be forced to sleep. Then you take your person, the victim. And that’s what they did,” he stated.
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Falana urged the Nigerian government to seek greater technical support and training from international partners, particularly in the area of hostage rescue operations and counterinsurgency.
“And advise the government, since you claim you now have an arrangement with America, a defense pact, why don’t you ask them to teach our own people who are fighting insurgency, so that the way people are rescued when they are kidnapped, you practice that,” he said.
He concluded by warning against what he described as the growing reliance on ransom payments to secure the release of abducted persons. “But once you pay billions, like all those groups, and then you are told we have secured their release. No, we can’t go on like that,” Falana said.
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