The President of the Nigerian Society for Criminology, Prof Oludayo Tade, has urged President Bola Tinubu to make the security of Nigeria and the protection of its citizens his overriding priority, warning that the country is grappling with a complex mix of national and transnational threats.

Tade’s appeal follows a string of high-profile abductions and killings, including the kidnap of a pregnant woman and several residents of Igboho in Oorelope Local Government Area of Oyo State. Despite ransom reportedly being paid, the woman and a relative who delivered the money were killed, deepening public outrage and fear.

In Oyo State, teachers and pupils have also been seized in coordinated attacks on multiple schools, underscoring how classrooms and rural communities have become soft targets for criminal gangs. Tade said such incidents illustrate the widening reach of bandits, kidnappers and terrorists, and the urgent need for a more coherent state response.

Drawing on resolutions from the Nigerian Society for Criminology’s recent international conference, themed “Securing Nigeria and Protecting Nigerians,” Tade argued that security cannot be divorced from economic realities. He called on the Tinubu administration to improve living conditions and expand legitimate opportunities, thereby reducing the incentive for young people to drift into crime, while simultaneously sustaining military and law-enforcement pressure on violent groups.

He stressed that, as Commander-in-Chief, Tinubu carries the constitutional duty to protect lives and property and to ensure Nigerians can travel, work and study without fear. Failure to do so effectively, he warned, amounts to a dereliction of the state’s primary responsibility.

Tade also pressed for a comprehensive review of welfare for security personnel, insisting that officers injured or killed in counter-insurgency operations, and their families, deserve robust and predictable support. Better welfare, he said, is essential for morale and professionalism on the front lines.

At the same conference, keynote speaker Prof Jibrin Ibrahim of the Centre for Democracy and Development described Nigeria as facing a “three-dimensional crisis” of political economy, citizenship and democratic legitimacy, fuelled by decades of corruption, ethno-regional tensions and a reckless political class. He argued that only a state that credibly secures its people can rebuild the broken social pact between citizens and government.

The Nigerian Society for Criminology, which returned Tade and his executive team for a second term, reiterated its commitment to research-driven, evidence-based policies to guide criminal justice reform and public security strategy across the country.