Security, peacebuilding in South-East: A critical agenda for development, stability, prosperity

By Chukwudi George Ozalla

South East geopolitical zone of Nigeria stands at a defining crossroads. Historically known for enterprise, resilience, innovation, and deep communal bonds, the region possesses all the human and material ingredients required to drive Nigeria’s economic transformation.

Yet, persistent insecurity and fragile peace structures continue to erode these advantages, slowing growth, discouraging investment, and placing enormous strain on social cohesion.
Security is not merely a law-and-order concern.

It is the foundation upon which development, education, commerce, infrastructure, and governance are built. Where insecurity thrives, development retreats.

Where fear replaces confidence, prosperity becomes impossible. In the South East, insecurity has not only threatened lives and property, but it has distorted economic behaviour, weakened institutions, and undermined long-term planning.

This paper examines the security situation in the South East, the measurable consequences of insecurity on development, the nature of crimes undermining peace, and the urgent, practical steps required to restore stability and unlock sustainable growth.

National crime surveys indicate that Nigeria recorded an estimated 51.9 million crime incidents over a recent twelve-month period. The South East accounted for approximately 6.17 million cases, the lowest among the six geopolitical zones.

At face value, this suggests relative calm compared to other regions. However, raw figures do not fully capture the depth of the crisis confronting the South East.

Certain forms of insecurity in the region carry disproportionately high economic and social consequences. Kidnapping, targeted attacks, enforced sit-at-home orders, and disruptions to daily life strike directly at the heart of the South East’s economic model, which depends heavily on mobility, daily commerce, and small and medium-scale enterprises.

Kidnapping remains one of the most damaging crimes. Surveys show that about 65 percent of kidnapping victims across Nigeria pay ransom, with an average ransom of approximately two million, six hundred and seventy thousand naira per incident.

Even though the South East does not record the highest number of kidnappings nationally, the impact on families and communities is severe. Entire household savings are wiped out, assets are sold, and long-term financial stability is destroyed in a single incident.

Between 2021 and 2025, the South East also suffered massive economic losses due to enforced sit-at-home actions. Conservative estimates place the cumulative loss at about seven point six trillion naira.

This reflects lost productivity, shuttered businesses, disrupted logistics, halted transportation, and suspended public and private services.

Within the zone, some states have experienced worrying spikes in insecurity. Enugu State, for instance, recorded the highest number of reported kidnapping incidents in the South East within a recent twelve-month window.

This reality underscores a critical truth: insecurity in the South East is not about volume alone. It is about impact, predictability, and the damage done to confidence, routine, and long-term planning.

The economic cost of insecurity is immense. The South East economy is driven by trade, manufacturing, transport, and informal sector activities that rely on daily movement and uninterrupted operations.

Insecurity strikes directly at these foundations.
Sit-at-home disruptions have removed productive days from the economic calendar. Between August 2021 and early 2025, an estimated one hundred and ninety Mondays were effectively lost to forced shutdowns.

Each lost day represents billions of naira in foregone transactions, wages, taxes, and services.

Markets in Onitsha, Aba, Nnewi, Awka, Enugu, and other commercial centres are designed for high-volume daily turnover. When traders are forced indoors, goods perish, contracts are breached, supply chains collapse, and capital cycles are broken.

Small and medium-scale enterprises, which operate on thin margins, are the hardest hit. Many have shut down permanently, unable to absorb repeated disruptions.

Internally Generated Revenue across South-East states has also suffered. Every forced shutdown translates to lost taxes, levies, transport fees, and service charges. As government revenue declines, spending on roads, healthcare, education, and even security itself becomes constrained, creating a vicious cycle.

Investment has been deeply affected. Between 2020 and 2023, the South East attracted only a small fraction of national foreign direct investment, despite its industrial potential and strong diaspora networks. Investors prioritise predictability and safety. Persistent insecurity, whether real or perceived, pushes capital elsewhere.

Beyond economics, insecurity inflicts serious social damage. Education has been repeatedly disrupted. School closures on sit-at-home days interrupt learning schedules, delay examinations, and weaken academic performance. Over time, these disruptions erode human capital development and reduce competitiveness.

Healthcare access is also affected. Fear of movement discourages hospital visits, delays emergency response, and increases mortality risks, particularly in rural areas.

Families affected by kidnapping or violent crime suffer long-term trauma. The psychological toll extends beyond direct victims to entire communities, breeding fear, suspicion, and withdrawal from public life. These conditions weaken community bonds and reduce civic participation.

Youth are especially vulnerable. Prolonged insecurity, unemployment, and frustration create fertile ground for criminal recruitment. When legitimate opportunities shrink, illegal alternatives appear attractive, perpetuating cycles of violence.

Transportation and mobility, which are critical to the South East economy, have also been constrained. Traders, artisans, manufacturers, and transport operators depend on safe roads and predictable schedules. Insecurity has made several routes risky, increasing transportation costs and insurance premiums.

Transporters factor risk into pricing, raising the cost of goods and reducing competitiveness. Some routes are avoided entirely, isolating communities and limiting market access.

Commercial drivers lose income on enforced shutdown days, while vehicle damage and attacks impose additional financial burdens. These disruptions ripple through supply chains and affect prices and availability of goods.

Repeated security failures have eroded trust in governance. Crime reporting remains low, as many victims choose silence due to fear, distrust, or perceived futility. When citizens lose confidence in the ability of institutions to protect them or deliver justice, they resort to self-help measures or withdraw from civic engagement. This erosion of trust weakens governance and complicates peacebuilding efforts.

Several interconnected factors drive insecurity in the South East. Armed agitation and secessionist violence have contributed to targeted attacks, enforced shutdowns, and confrontations with security agencies. Criminal gangs exploit insecurity for profit through kidnapping, armed robbery, and extortion. Youth unemployment and economic exclusion fuel criminal recruitment.

Weak coordination among security agencies, limited intelligence capacity, and inadequate community policing structures further compound the problem.

Restoring peace in the South East requires a comprehensive, people-centred approach. Community-based policing must be strengthened through structured collaboration among security agencies, traditional rulers, town unions, and recognised local security groups operating within clear legal frameworks.

Youth empowerment must be treated as a security priority. Skills acquisition, vocational training, entrepreneurship support, and employment programmes are essential tools for reducing crime and instability.

Targeted anti-kidnapping strategies must combine intelligence gathering, surveillance, rapid response, and improved communication systems to dismantle criminal networks. Dialogue and reconciliation must complement enforcement. Grievances that fuel unrest must be addressed through inclusive engagement and conflict resolution.
Judicial efficiency is critical.

Swift investigation, prosecution, and conviction of offenders will deter crime and restore confidence in the rule of law. South East states must also deepen regional cooperation through joint operations, intelligence sharing, and coordinated responses across state boundaries.

Insecurity in the South East is not a peripheral challenge. It is a central obstacle to development, prosperity, and social stability. Even where crime figures appear lower than in other regions, the economic, psychological, and institutional damage is immense.

Peacebuilding and security are not optional ambitions. They are prerequisites for growth. Without safety, schools cannot function optimally, markets cannot thrive, investors will not commit, and governments cannot deliver.

At this point, a necessary question must be asked. Can the South East economy truly grow in an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty? The answer is no.

Another question follows. Can peace be sustained without economic inclusion, especially for young people? Again, the answer is no.

Peace, law, and order are the conditions under which productivity flourishes. They are the environment in which the enterprise thrives, and innovation is rewarded. No economy can boom where movement is restricted and confidence is broken.

The minds of our youths must be deliberately redirected away from violence and lawlessness and towards productive engagement. Carrying arms must no longer appear as an option. Skills, education, and enterprise must become visible pathways to dignity and survival.

This is where the South East Development Commission assumes critical importance. Through coordinated skills acquisition programmes, empowerment initiatives, vocational training, and enterprise support, the Commission can absorb idle energy into productive channels. These interventions are not only economic in nature. They are peacebuilding tools.

When young people are trained, employed, and economically engaged, insecurity loses its breeding ground. When livelihoods are stable, peace becomes sustainable. When productivity rises, the region’s economic potential is unlocked.

Security is not a luxury.
It remains the engine of development.

Ozalla, Vice President, Advocacy for Change Initiative (ACI)
zalchukz@gmail.com