The recent revelation that a kidnapping syndicate in Nigeria has begun using Point-of-Sale (POS) machines to collect ransom payments is deeply troubling. It signals not just the boldness of criminal elements, but also their increasing sophistication. Worse still, it underscores the staggering failure of the state to contain the banditry and kidnapping crisis ravaging northern Nigeria.
That criminals can now operate with such confidence, embedding themselves into the formal financial system and leveraging technology for illicit gains, should jolt our law enforcement, intelligence, and policy frameworks out of complacency. What kind of country allows gangs to adopt fintech while thousands of its citizens remain displaced, traumatised, or in captivity?
This case is no outlier. It reflects a grim reality that Nigeria’s bandits and kidnappers are evolving, while the state is not. For years, vast stretches of northern Nigeria, from Zamfara to Niger, Kaduna to Katsina, have become ungoverned spaces, where armed groups operate openly, collect taxes, impose curfews, and abduct schoolchildren at will. Despite numerous promises, task forces, and so-called kinetic and non-kinetic approaches, little progress has been made in dismantling these criminal networks.
Now, they are not just armed. They are organised. And worse still, they are integrated into the very financial systems designed to promote inclusion and development.
This development makes one thing abundantly clear that it is no longer enough to focus solely on arresting individual kidnappers or recovering a handful of victims. What is needed is a wholesale, coordinated assault on the entire ecosystem that enables this criminality, the informants, the money launderers, the complicit local officials, and yes, the financial enablers.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, in concert with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), must take immediate steps to strengthen the regulation of digital payment platforms. Fintech firms and POS operators must be held to far stricter Know-Your-Customer (KYC) standards. Banks should be mandated to report red-flag transactions linked to suspected ransom payments or money laundering. There must also be routine collaboration between financial institutions and law enforcement agencies to flag and investigate suspicious activities.
But technology is only one part of the equation.
No nation can police its way out of a security crisis without investing in prevention. It is here that the private sector, particularly in the north, must rise to the occasion. The business community cannot afford to operate as if these bandits are a government problem alone. Kidnapping and terrorism disrupt markets, destroy value chains, and reduce consumer confidence. Beyond charitable donations, the private sector must partner with security agencies to build intelligence networks, support community policing, and provide logistical and technological infrastructure for surveillance and rapid response.
The federal and state governments must resist the deadly theatre of impunity. It is unfathomable that in 2025, mass abductions can still occur in broad daylight, sometimes just miles from military installations. The arrest of a few POS-enabled kidnappers while it is a victory, should be a wake-up call. For every one criminal caught, there are dozens more operating with even greater efficiency and anonymity.
Nigeria must now act with urgency. Not just with guns and drones, but with policy, intelligence, and partnership, across government, the financial sector, and civil society. Technology has changed the rules of the game. If we do not adapt, we risk losing more than lives. We risk losing our country.