The abduction of Hon. Denty Laven Jacob, a serving member of the Plateau State House of Assembly, is not just another grim headline. It is a chilling reminder that insecurity has seeped into every corner of our lives, sparing no one not even those entrusted with making laws.
Hon. Jacob was not taken on a deserted highway or during a risky late-night journey. He was abducted at his own gate, waiting to be let into his compound in Dong, Jos North.
That detail alone should shake us all. If a legislator can be dragged away from the very doorstep of his home, what hope remains for ordinary citizens?This is not an isolated incident.
Barely a week earlier, the same community was thrown into panic when a corps member and a student were whisked away from their home in the dead of night. They were eventually released after their families paid ransom, but their ordeal has left deep scars, and their community remains gripped by fear.
Dong, like many parts of Jos North and Bassa, has become a place where fear is no longer an exception but a daily reality. Criminal gangs now strike with shocking boldness, confident that response will come late, investigations will be shallow, and prosecutions if they ever happen will collapse without consequence.
For years, Plateau people have cried out about this growing wave of insecurity. Farmers have been cut down in their fields, families broken in their homes, and communities displaced.
These cries have echoed, unanswered, in the corridors of power. When security becomes a privilege reserved for the wealthy and even they are no longer safe then government has failed in its most basic duty: the protection of lives and property.
It is worth asking, and urgently so: How can a community just minutes away from major security formations in Jos remain so exposed? Why is there still no functional police post in Dong? Why are distress calls left ringing without answer? Why must desperate families negotiate directly with criminals while state agencies remain passive?
We acknowledge the efforts of the few security personnel who continue to serve under tough conditions. But let us be honest: commendation will not stop the kidnappers. What is needed is deliberate, coordinated, and sustained action.The abduction of a lawmaker is more than a personal tragedy. It is a public emergency.
It tells ordinary citizens, in the starkest possible terms: If they can take him, what chance do you have? The Plateau State Government, security agencies, and community leaders must act decisively not only to secure the safe release of Hon. Jacob and other victims, but to dismantle the networks of terror that are tightening their grip on our communities. Anything less amounts to complicity.The line must be drawn here, and it must be drawn now.
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