Award-winning Nollywood actress Kehinde Bankole has issued a direct demand to the Federal Government, the Office of the National Security Advisor, and the country’s intelligence agencies to immediately deploy “full wrath and force” to end the escalating wave of kidnappings in the country.

In a social media post on Wednesday, the actress voiced the growing exhaustion of everyday Nigerians, declaring that the public is tired of “condolence speeches” and demands immediate, tactical results to save the lives of citizens.

“It is no longer about why it is happening; it is now simply about lives! Lives are being lost! This should not be our new normal, children running for their lives in 2026! Oh God,” she wrote.

In her post, Bankole tackled a political defence that rising insecurity and kidnappings are being sponsored by opposition elements or saboteurs seeking to de-market the current administration.

Rather than using “sabotage” as an excuse, Bankole argued that such theories should compel the state’s security apparatus to act with even greater aggression.

She wrote, “Even if the kidnappings are a smear campaign on the government, it should be all the more reason for the Office of the National Security Advisor, along with the Presidency, to tackle insecurity with full wrath and force.
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“Find a way! No bigger political campaign. Tactically flush out their “saboteurs” if that exists. That should be the focus now. They must make the National Intelligence Agency, the DSS, the Ministry of Defence, and security agencies work! Because enough is enough! The people are tired of condolence speeches and need only bigger action, “ she said.

The actress stated that the political class must move beyond codolence speeches to provide solutions.

“Our cry is for something decisive to be done and to be done fast. They must put everyone to work! They must tactfully fish out who is causing this and find a way. All hands have to be forced to be on deck! The people need only results, no more condolence speeches,” she wrote.

Bankole’s outcry comes amid heightened nationwide anxiety following the recent mass abduction of at least 25 school children and seven teachers in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, which also resulted in the brutal murder of a mathematics teacher in captivity.

Her post also adds to an increasing number of calls from celebrities speaking out against insecurity and banditry.

PUNCH Online reports that actress Opeyemi Aiyeola recently made an appeal to politically connected celebrities and traditional rulers to lobby the presidency for urgent action against kidnappings and banditry.

The Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, Binta Bello, has stressed the need for sustained education and capacity building for teachers as part of efforts to combat human trafficking in Nigeria.

Bello said preventing human trafficking through education and sensitisation remained more effective than addressing its consequences after victims had already been trafficked.

Represented by the Director of Training and Manpower Development at NAPTIP, Ebele Ulasi, the DG spoke on Tuesday in Abeokuta during the opening of a two-day capacity-building workshop for 150 selected secondary school teachers across Ogun State.

The training, themed “Mainstreaming Trafficking in Persons Content Into The Revised National Curriculum,” was organised to expose teachers to the integration of anti-human trafficking education into the basic and secondary school curriculum.

The workshop forms part of the School Anti-Trafficking Education and Empowerment Project funded by the Netherlands government and implemented by the International Centre for Migration Policies Development in collaboration with NAPTIP and the Ogun State Government.

Bello described teachers as critical stakeholders in the fight against human trafficking, particularly at the grassroots level.

She said the training was designed to equip teachers with updated knowledge and skills on trafficking in persons content recently infused into Nigeria’s revised basic education curriculum.

“This workshop is designed to empower subject teachers to effectively deliver trafficking-related content to pupils and students because education remains one of the most powerful tools to prevent human trafficking.

“Trafficking in persons continues to rank among the most serious human rights violations in Nigeria and globally, with children accounting for more than 55 per cent of identified victims.

“And many of these victims are school-age children who should be safe in learning environments but are instead targeted and exploited by traffickers.

“That is why we believe that leveraging on education to create massive awareness among these young ones, to arm them with right information,” she said.

The DG recalled that NAPTIP’s collaboration with the education sector began with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council in July 2014.
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She added that the second phase of curriculum enhancement was completed in 2025 to update and expand trafficking-related content to reflect emerging trends.

“Life is a continuous learning process, and that is why we are here today—to update your knowledge on everything concerning human trafficking, so that you, as teachers, can cascade this knowledge down to our children in schools.

“By teaching trafficking-in-persons themes across selected subjects in both primary and secondary schools, we aim to catch our children young and empower them early enough to protect themselves and others.

“With your help, schools can become early warning platforms and safe havens for vulnerable children,” she said.

She also commended the media for supporting public awareness campaigns against trafficking.

In his remarks, the Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Prof Abayomi Arigbabu, urged teachers to play active roles in protecting children from trafficking and other forms of exploitation by fully integrating trafficking-in-persons education into classroom teaching.

Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Mrs Tosin Oloko, Arigbabu described the initiative as a strategic intervention aimed at protecting children through education.

“Today’s gathering represents a bold and strategic step towards protecting the dignity, future, and destiny of our children through education.

“In a rapidly changing world where young people are increasingly exposed to deception, exploitation, abuse, and human trafficking, the role of teachers has become more critical than ever,” Oloko said.

Also speaking, the Project Manager with ICMPD, Mrs Rhoda Dia-Johnson, said the training was designed to equip teachers with appropriate teaching methods for delivering trafficking-in-persons content recently infused into the curriculum.

She added that participants were expected to return to their schools as anti-trafficking advocates and extend the training to other teachers across the state.

Officials of ICMPD, Mr Samuel Okorojie and Mr Favour Simeon, also stressed the need to properly equip teachers with knowledge and skills to educate and protect learners against trafficking-related risks, noting that human trafficking continued to spread across communities.