FG Orders Dismissal Of Students Linked To Kidnapping, Tightens Campus Security

ABUJA, August 5, 2026

The Federal Government has ordered universities to expel any student found culpable of kidnapping.

Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa issued the directive during a meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, ValidViewNetwork reports.

Checks by ValidViewNetwork confirm the meeting involved the pro-chancellor, governing council, and management of the Federal University of Lafia.

The Directive

Alausa’s Special Adviser on Media, Ikharo Attah, issued a statement confirming the directive on August 4, 2026. The minister instructed vice-chancellors, rectors, and provosts nationwide to dismiss culpable students after due investigation.

He warned that tolerating criminal conduct for too long breeds a dangerous institutional culture. “If you tolerate bad behaviour for too long, it becomes a culture,” he said.

Campuses Ordered To Strengthen Intelligence

Alausa directed institutions to deepen collaboration with the State Security Service and other security agencies.

Findings show he wants every tertiary institution to build stronger internal intelligence systems. He said campuses remain largely safe, but incidents involving students off campus demanded urgent action.

The minister stressed government’s responsibility to protect every Nigerian child from primary to tertiary level.

Coordinated Security Strategy Takes Shape

Alausa disclosed he recently met Defence Minister General Christopher Musa (retd.) in Abuja.

ValidViewNetwork gathered that both ministers are developing a joint strategy for the Safe Schools Initiative. He reiterated President Bola Tinubu’s directive against negotiating with or paying kidnappers ransom.

Government insists such payments only embolden criminal groups further, he added.

Funding Pledged For Campus Security Infrastructure

The Federal Government will fund perimeter fencing and security upgrades through TETFund’s 2027 intervention programme.

Alausa announced the funding commitment during the same Abuja meeting on August 4, 2026.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Case That Triggered The Directive

Federal University of Lafia Pro-Chancellor Lola Akande raised the concerns that prompted the directive. She disclosed that some FULafia students face suspicion over kidnapping activities conducted off campus.

Akande reaffirmed the university’s firm opposition to paying ransom for abducted victims. Nigeria’s campuses have long prided themselves on relative safety compared to the world beyond their gates.

This directive signals that safety can no longer be assumed, only actively defended. Whether vice-chancellors enforce dismissals consistently will determine if the policy bites or merely reassures.

For students already caught in Nigeria’s kidnapping crisis, enforcement, not rhetoric, will matter most.