…Govt, Police need to create dashboard on kidnapping, other crimes – Adenekan
…. Credibility is core currency in public administration – Okoji
The level of distrust against the government seems to be on the rise since the return to democratic rule in 1999.
The situation appears to be deepening, especially with the incessant killing of Nigerians by insurgents and terror groups across the country.
Nigerians have been abducted and killed in their numbers by insurgents mostly in parts of the North.
Whenever these abductions or killings happen, the government’s first response has always been denial – which in many cases help in deepening mistrust against the government.
“The Police and government officials need to do proper assessment before issuing statements,” Moruff Adenekan, managing director, PR Redline Limited, told BusinessDaySunday.
The news of the over 170 people kidnapped from three churches in Kaduna broke on Monday, with Christian groups in the state confirming that armed gangs abducted worshippers from their worship centres.
However, the police and the state government’s initial reaction to the claim was outright denial of the report, adding they were yet to confirm the abductions.
The attacks occurred in Kurmin Wali Village, a remote and difficult- to-reach Christian community in Kaduna.
But 24 hours after the initial denial, the Nigerian police confirmed the abduction of over 100 church goers in Kaduna.
Police said troops and other security agencies had been deployed to the area and that efforts were underway to track the abductors and rescue the captives.
Cases of abduction in Nigeria have grown into a structured, profit-seeking industry with people being kidnapped almost on a weekly basis.
Gangs frequently carry out such attacks in northern and central parts of the country for ransom.
According to data from SBM Intelligence, profits of about $1.66 million were earned between June 2024 and July 2025, from abductions.
Read also: Bandits march 177 Karuna kidnapped worshippers through forest, says village Head
The Nigerian army said it was stepping up efforts to protect civilians and has received critical supplies from the United States.
“Nigeria police and the government need proper media training on crisis management. Implication is that it will continue to deplete the trust in government, that’s if the government has any. There is a belief that when the government denies a thing-it means that thing happened,” said Adenekan.
According to him, the police should make it a standard procedure to visit the site of any crime or abduction before making or issuing any statement. This will help the police create a better evaluation of the situation before addressing the press. “If they put the cart before the horse there will always be denial.”
Need for situation room on kidnapping/crime
There is also a case for the police and the government to create a situation room on kidnapping that can provide credible, up-to-date information on kidnapping.
On the back of this is also the need for all agencies of government to create a dashboard on kidnapping and other crimes like armed robbery, with a well-trained team that can easily respond to emergencies.
“Current strategy obviously is not working – hence, the need to overhaul the communication team,” Adenekan said, adding that the government and the police need a comprehensive strategic communication plan that involves being open to discussing facts.
According to him, the response of the police to citizens’ reports of cases of robbery or kidnapping is how Nigerians measure their performance.
“They need to understand that admitting there was a robbery is not a dent on the police itself. But, police believe that if criminals exit, then they are not working – no, that’s not how it works.”
Adenekan added that there was a need for the police to engage in community relations to gain citizens’ trust because no citizen wants to volunteer information when they will be victims of such information.
According to him, the police need proper understanding of strategic communication by identifying issues whenever there are crises to manage. “Imagine a situation where the Force PRO is not the only one speaking when there are crises,” Adenekan said.
Chukwudinma Okoji, HoD, Department of Mass Communication, Federal Polytechnic, Offa, told BusinessDay that the pattern of first denying and subsequently confirming incidents such as the abduction of over 170 worshippers by the Nigerian Police underscores a persistent institutional reflex toward information management over public accountability.
According to him, initial denials often reflect state actors’ instinct to defuse public panic or protect the image of government capacity. However, this tactic frequently backfires, as delayed admission erodes trust and highlights the fragility of internal communication channels within the security apparatus.
Okoji added that the implications of first denying are profound for governance. According to him, a government that appears reluctant to acknowledge insecurity looks disconnected from reality and unable to proactively manage crises. “Credibility is a core currency in public administration; once spent recklessly, it becomes difficult to replenish even with subsequent transparency.”
According to the academics, when the police deny facts that residents already know firsthand through eyewitnesses, local media and digital evidence, the institution signals that truth is secondary to optics.
“For the Nigeria Police, the reputational damage is equally significant. Law enforcement depends on public cooperation for intelligence gathering, community safety partnerships and rapid response.”
He added that the information vacuum caused by initial denials also inadvertently empowers non-state actors.
“Ultimately, recurring denial to admission cycles highlight a deeper challenge.”
Mapping communications
Communications experts are also of the view that the government and the police must bring clarity in their communication strategy. “Communication practitioners also attribute the lack of trust to executional issues such as timeliness, audience segmentation and messaging clarity,” Olutayo Irantiola, communications expert said.
According to him, many Nigerians perceive communications from the government, its ministries and agencies as ineffective, untrustworthy, and driven primarily by political motives without recourse to its effect on the citizenry in recent years.
He said that part of the challenges was largely centred on misinformation/disinformation and political polarisation and motivation, which has largely led to a huge deficit of public trust in government messaging.
“Instead of the government quickly rushing to issue statements that will seem to dismiss public crises and challenges, they should issue statements that will firstly show that they are making findings and will revert with the status of the challenge rather than firstly discrediting facts known by the citizenry,” Irantiola said.
John Kokome, another Lagos-based communications expert, said with the current citizens’ level of distrust in the government, which is generally low and steadily declining – first denial would do more harm than good in building trust in the government.
“It’s quite unfortunate that the Nigerian police would choose to deny the abduction of the over 100 church goers without a clear picture of what must have happened or even launch any form of investigation to ascertain the true situation of things.
“It’s distasteful and very embarrassing. No doubt, this will further reduce the trust level citizens have for the government and the various agencies of the government. Next time before issuing any statement, they should get their facts right as against issuing self-contradicting statements,” Kokome said.
Need for positive perception and imaging?
In an era of digital verification, real-time reporting and citizen journalism, denial is no longer an effective containment strategy that the police or government can leverage.
Accordingly, sustainable security legitimacy requires that authorities tell uncomfortable truths early; communicate uncertainty honestly and demonstrate competence through swift action rather than narrative management.
“Unfortunately, the deed has been done. The only reasonable thing the police/govt should do is to accept they goofed, apologise and reassure Nigerians this would never happen again,” Kokome said.
Nigerians have always had doubts about the government and police sincerity in tackling insecurity. “What has just happened has cemented more the doubts of Nigerians,” Okoji said.
He added that the only way the image of the Nigeria police can be redeemed is through their proactiveness and truthfulness on issue of insecurity. “The result is a deterioration of legitimacy and a weakening of the collaborative security architecture required to tackle banditry, kidnapping, and terrorism,” says Okoji.
