Remember Patanmi’s promise to track kidnappers? How now Pantami? What a shame, Pantami!

Isa Pantami


Former minister of digital economy in the Muhammadu Buhari administration, Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami came under fire during the week for mobilising N50m which was paid as ransom for six young girls and their father kidnapped by bandits in Abuja.

Pantami’s intervention came after one of the girls, Nabeeha Al-Kadriyar, a 400-level undergraduate was murdered by her abductors because the ransom they demanded for was not paid.


In as much as people would support any effort to ensure freedom for captives of the terrorists, Patanmi’s involvement and the speed with which the ransom was made available, earned him serious bashing from the public. His attempt, through his tweets to make his critics understand why he decided to help, made matters worse.






Do you blame those calling for his head? Here was a man who manned Nigeria’s digital economy for years; supervised the National Identity Number, NIN scheme which he and his boss assured Nigerians is the best technology to track kidnappers and terrorists. The same man spearheaded payment of ransom to kidnappers. Wonders shall never cease in Nigeria!

How did the kidnappers make contact? Through which means was N50m paid? Why was it impossible for the criminals to be apprehended? These are questions concerned Nigerians are asking with fear that gradually, bandits are closing in on the FCT.

If NIN/BVN, is not able to help the government smoke out criminals, then, the people are saying the technology is useless and a waste of funds and energy.

“You are openly funding Terrorism, you can’t beat the allegations.

You and everyone who have donated to the terrorists Kidnappers need to be arrested and interrogated, “Emir Sirdam reacted to his tweet.

Big Joe of Africa, wrote, “This is nothing but financing terrorism. Same El Rufai styled payments. Tomorrow, they will use the money to buy more sophisticated weapons and kidnap thousands of innocent people. If only you allow your region to vote a competent president without ethnic/religious bias.”

“60 million to be paid to kidnappers with no traces; why BVN; why NIN; no microchip inserted in the bag of money for easy tracking? I want those kids home so badly, but kidnappers can’t outsmart the whole system,” TeeTalk reacted.


S.A.L.A.K.O wrote, “You’re a professor of cyber security and the former no 1 man in charge of the nation’s data. How hard is it to track these kidnappers? You’re sending the funds to an account number – no? Or am I the crazy person here? You can’t find them or you don’t want to find them?”


OBI no oooo wrote, “Sir, I in your shoes. I should be able to call one or two persons at NIMC, NCC, the telecoms & the Ministry to track the personal data/location of the phone numbers being used to conduct this ransom negotiation. You’re making Nigerians lose trust in all the work you did with NIN.”