By Amara Agha, Abakaliki
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has accused the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government of paying more attention to electoral ambitions than to the protection of lives and property, as insecurity continues to worsen across the country.
The allegation was made recently in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, during a protest rally against insecurity organised by the Ebonyi State Council of the NLC.
Addressing workers and members of the public, the state chairman of the congress, Professor Ogugua Egwu, lamented that Nigeria has become a nation plagued by terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and incessant killings, leaving citizens unable to confidently say they are safe.
Egwu noted that even internally displaced persons now live in fear in camps meant to provide protection, while frequent abductions of schoolchildren and workers have forced many parents to withdraw their children from school.
He questioned the effectiveness of the country’s multiple security agencies, asking whether they have been weakened by poor funding, politicization or the harsh effects of poverty.
The NLC chairman cited recent incidents, including the abduction of seven workers in Kwara State, the kidnapping of a civil servant and her husband along the Afikpo–Onueke Road in Ebonyi State, and the hijacking of a bus conveying federal civil servants to a promotion interview.
Quoting figures from the National Bureau of Statistics, Egwu said about 4,722 abductions were recorded nationwide between June 2024 and June 2025, with over ₦2.56 billion reportedly paid as ransom, while an estimated ₦2.23 trillion was lost to kidnapping and related crimes between May 2023 and April 2024.
Beyond insecurity, he raised concerns over worsening economic hardship, noting that high fuel prices and poor wages have left more than 80 per cent of Nigerian workers spending nearly all their earnings on basic necessities, with little left for healthcare, savings or education.
Egwu warned that rising poverty and unemployment, particularly among youths often mobilised during elections and abandoned afterwards, are fuelling crime and violence, and called on governments at all levels to take urgent action, stressing that the primary duty of government is the protection of lives and property.
