In July 2016, it was a near-death situation for two sisters who were abducted along the Okene-Lokoja highway, while on their way from Lagos for a cousin’s wedding in Abuja.
Of course, money exchanged hands for their release after five weeks in the abductors’ den, but their driver, who was released after a huge ransom was paid, was in a hospital bed for months due to severe injuries he sustained while trying to save the passengers from the captors.
Between 2015 and 2019, the highways were almost impassable due to the rising kidnapping cases, which made the few who could afford exorbitant flight tickets jettison road transportation, while many who could not afford a flight had to skip long-distance travel for a while.
That era of highways turning into kidnappers’ den and becoming impassable seems to be returning, considering recent kidnapping incidents on the highways.
Since the last quarter of 2025, Nigerian highways have been boiling with many passenger buses attacked, passengers abducted, many released after ransom is paid, a few died, some buses destroyed, but less reported, even on social media.
The flashpoints, according to observers, include: Nasarawa-Akwanga-Lafia-Makurdi route, Abuja-Kaduna-Kano, Akwanga-Jos, Owerri-Owerrenta-Aba route, Owerri-Ahuda-Port Harcourt, East-West highway, Agbor-Benin-Ore-Ijebu Ode route, Akure-Owo-Okene-Lokoja route, Okene-Makurdi route, among others.
On December 7, 2025, gunmen, who emerged from the bush, killed a driver and abducted some motorists in the Amala, Ngor-Okpala, Imo State, along the Owerri-Aba Expressway, while also whisking away the occupants.
The month of April 2026 witnessed multiple attacks targeted at commercial buses. The one that comes to mind is the attack on GUO Transport along the Benin–Ore Expressway, where the driver was reportedly killed.
In the same April, the newly launched Edo Line bus travelling to Abuja, had its 18 passengers abducted along the Benin–Auchi Highway, though 16 of the victims were rescued later.
The attack continued in May as gunmen abducted 11 passengers and a driver from a Benue Links bus near Eke along the Otukpo–Enugu Highway, and the passengers were rescued later.
On May 9, 2026, gunmen also attacked a Young Shall Grow Motors bus travelling from Akwa Ibom to Lagos at Ogua community, along the Benin–Lagos Expressway, killing one female passenger, while the other 13 passengers were rescued through coordinated bush-combing operations.
The spate signals more attacks in the coming months, according to security experts, if nothing is done, apart from the usual rescue efforts, as ransom fees keep increasing and being paid.
While the GUO Transport incident is still fresh, Mmerichi Okwe, a senior driver with Kings Motors, noted that there are many unreported cases because many people are just concerned about their safety.
‘Sometime in March this year, I was almost caught by kidnappers along the Benin-Ore highway if not for a sick passenger, who kept stooling every hour and made us escape just 10 minutes after the action,’ Okwe said.
‘I know the bus involved and Osankwa, the driver. But I haven’t heard anything about the driver and passengers, but fellow drivers keep saying Osankwa is fine. I know that something went wrong after the kidnapping incident, but nobody is talking’.
Igue Akpeghita, a former driver with Libra Motors, who now plies the Lagos-Ghana route with Chisco Motors, confirmed the resurgence of kidnappings on Nigerian highways, saying that the roads are no longer safe for both drivers and passengers.
‘We will fool ourselves into thinking that kidnappers are more active in the northern part of the country. They are very active here, and a lot are being kidnapped every day, and ransom paid quietly because nobody wants to lose a family member to them, even if it requires borrowing to pay the ransom,’ he lamented.
He also regretted that, like soldiers, commercial bus drivers are the main targets of kidnappers on highways, as they are often killed and their families bear their huge loss alone.
‘I know fellow drivers who sustained permanent injuries or died trying to save passengers from armed robbery attacks and kidnappers. Today, their families are abandoned. We need the government to do what they promised us during campaigns, at least, safety,’ he urged.
Terse Agbede, a driver with Benue Links, also confirmed that the ‘bad boys’ are back on the highways, saying that the Makurdi-Okene, Makurdi-Lafia-Akwanga-Nasarawa and Makurdi-Otukpo-Nsukka routes are flashpoints considering the growing cases of kidnapping in recent times.
‘I have had three incidents, but I escaped all. The army helped us to escape one in August last year after Okene. We were fortunate on December 10, 2025, heavy rain made kidnappers give up on us along the Lafia-Akwanga route because the road was slippery and their Seina was steadily veering off the road,’ he said.
Despite the risk drivers take driving long distances, Agbede lamented that the passengers are less appreciative. ‘They will insult you per minute, they also confuse you, yet they want you to avoid trouble spots and maneuver your way against armed robbers and kidnappers,’ he said.
Ezife Okoye, a driver, who is popularly known as Ikuku Nsugbe, also decried the resurgence of kidnappers on the highways.
According to him, it is real and the government should not allow it to get out of hand because road transportation is the only cheap means people have now as airfare is unaffordable for many who are struggling to eat.
‘I hear many say that the situation is not as bad as it is portrayed. It is very bad because I am on the highway four times a week. That was how it started and nothing happened until kidnappers were even bold to block highways.
‘What we drivers are saying is that the government should act now to save lives, save our jobs and others that depend on us and our employers,’ he begged.
Meanwhile, Emmanuel Enwerem, a security expert, blamed the situation on less surveillance and little repelling attacks by security operatives on the highways.
Enwerem noted that the resurgence of kidnappings on highways also follows the escalating insecurity challenge in the country, and the recent resurgence of terrorist attacks, especially in the north east, west and central regions of the country, where ransom are increasingly paid even by the government to rescue the victims.
‘There is a trend. Kidnappers were first after oil workers, then moved to VIPs, to certain targets and now to mass adoption,’ he said. ‘Their idea is that if you adopt many, the government or company, in the case of staff or passengers, will pay the ransom and that will be in billions of naira or even foreign currency’.
The adopters, who are returning on the highway, according to him, are not only targeting passengers, but also transport companies because they have huge cash flow, brand name to protect and daily business they don’t want to be disrupted.
‘Who do you think are kidnappers? They are our brothers and sisters living with us even in the same house, street, estate and village. They have seen how transport companies rip-off passengers during festive seasons, how they are buying all empty spaces and houses, demolishing them to build their terminals. So, they think there is money to make from transporters now and not necessarily from their passengers,’ he said.
While the situation may be disrupting business, some transport companies seem to be having a way around it and coping as well.
Some have invested heavily to boost their fleet on the West African routes, which are safer, amid better return on their investments.
Akpeghita noted that he enjoys safety, more days off, good scenery, and especially better pay as a driver on the West African routes.
‘Nigerians travel everywhere. I marvel at the number of buses that leave Lagos everyday to Cotonou, Lome and Accra from our terminals. Then, calculate buses from other companies. The West African route is a good option and business for transport companies. They can survive if our highways become impassable because of kidnappers, but that means many drivers will be out of work and that is bad for us,’ he said.
But some are even going beyond the Benin-Togo-Ghana route to as far as Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire, like the Young Shall Grow Motors and a few others.
To stay afloat, many transportation companies are now creating logistics subsidiaries that handle courier and other deliveries across the country.
Mandy Orukpe, a logistics supervisor with a leading transport company, noted that apart from passengers, many companies are going into logistics and the courier business, which is equally lucrative.
According to him, the logistics business is thriving now due to the insecurity and high cost of transportation as many people now prefer to send food and household items to their loved ones instead of travelling to deliver them, even wedding gifts.
‘Yes, we make money from transporting passengers, but we make more through logistics. Apart from documents, people are now sending food items, household items, building materials and others through our trucks. We charge good money, and they are happy with the safety and safe delivery of their items,’ he said.
According to him, a truck with a full load of parcels can make triple the profit of a passenger bus.
He also noted that logistics is also booming because businesses are increasingly using it for waybill, and for sending and receiving goods to customers far away.
‘There is nothing we cannot carry apart from fuel and contraband items. Traders in Abuja can pay to their suppliers in Lagos, who bring the goods to our terminal and we load and deliver. It saves costs, stress, and risk of being kidnapped,’ he said.
Nzubechi Ofiah, an Aba-based tailor, noted that in the past seven years, he has been supplying already-made clothes to boutique houses across Nigeria through logistics.
‘I am a professional tailor. I supply school and corporate uniforms, suits and trendy clothes to many customers. But I partner with GIG Logistic company and it has been very easy, except in one occasion where the truck got burnt in a multiple road accident at Mbiama, along the East-West Road in River State. I survived because it was a medium-scale supply to an oil servicing firm in Warri, which surprisingly took care of part of the cost,’ he said.
Again, as an option to possible disruption of their day schedules by kidnappers on the highway, many transport companies are now going for the night bus schedule as well as increasing their fleet.
Virtually all transport companies in Lagos have night bus options for passengers, with the likes of Libra Motors boosting the business with new luxury buses for the South-East and South-South routes.
Akpeghita commended the owner of Libra Motors for spicing the offering for passengers, especially since entering the night bus schedule with new luxury buses.
But he observed that many passengers no longer fear to join night buses because of the cheaper fares, safety recorded on the routes so far, the convenience of sleeping to wake up in their destinations, ability to meet emergency situations the next day and also the fact that kidnappers hardly operate at night.
‘The luxury buses have left the day for small buses, so also have kidnappers left the highways at night for luxury buses because their attacks can be repelled under the cover of the night and most night buses go with armed security unknown to the passengers,’ he said.
But Enwerem thinks that the government should take the case seriously, deploy more security operatives on highways, armed them well-enough as well as boost their welfare to ensure efficient monitoring, foiling kidnap attempts and flushing kidnappers out of Nigerian highways.
‘If we allow the situation to escalate, the case will be worse than before, considering the new dimension the recent incidents introduced. Kidnappers are no longer wasting time to kill their victims to instil fear and prompt victims’ family members and the government to pay ransom immediately. We need to stop them now,’ he said.
However, a bus company owner, who spoke through his spokesperson under anonymity, decried the situation, saying that the government should do everything to ensure that highways are safe because there is no other option to travel across the country for the majority of the people who cannot afford the soaring airfares, and it is a big threat to the business and livelihood of many.
‘You cannot spend over N100 million to buy a bus and watch it destroyed by kidnappers and be happy. We borrow a lot of these funds to buy buses, and if passengers begin to call off trips due to insecurity on our highways, it means we will default in repaying our loans, and the banks, EFCC, and even Lagos State will come to seal our terminals. We need safe highways to be in business and the government needs it also for taxes to be paid,’ the anonymous owner urged.
So far, there is no decline in passenger traffic at bus terminals due to the resurgence of attacks on passengers on highways, but observers think that it will come to that level if the attacks persist and nothing is done to address the situation.