Combating rising kidnapping cases

The insecurity in the country is worsening by the day. While the federal government appears to be focusing much attention on the activities of the Islamist sect, Boko Haram, in parts of the country, it is apparently doing nothing to tame the rising spate of kidnappings across the country which has assumed a worrisome dimension.

When this dangerous crime reared its ugly head in Abia state some years ago, not many people thought it would become a national issue some years after. At that time the then administration of Theodore Orji did all it could and with the assistance from the federal government, many of those behind the dangerous trade were hunted down.

Before the Abia experience, all that Nigerians knew about kidnapping was from the Niger Delta during the period when the militants held sway in the region. That was in the 1990s and early 2000s. They targeted expatriates who worked with oil-prospecting companies and abducted them for ransom.

The Niger Delta militants, who were embittered about the level of pollution and degradation in lands and waters in the oil-rich region, also kidnapped high profile personalities in the area, whom they believed were living big off their common wealth.

It was a thriving means of survival for the militants until the Amnesty Programme put in place by the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua administration.

Today, no part of the country is speared of the activities of kidnappers. From the South-South to South East; from the South West to North Central; from the North West to North East the story is the same- kidnappers are on rampage.

Unlike what happened in the Niger Delta where important personalities were the target, nowadays, anybody, including children, in as much as they can attract a ransom (no matter how meagre), is a potential victim. Stories abound today where kidnappers abduct people for ridiculous ransom as low as N50, 000 (fifty thousand naira) or even less.

It would be recalled that the US Department of State had in 2013 listed Nigeria as having the highest rates of kidnappings in the world. In the first quarter of 2014, Nigeria again led the chart among the countries with cases involving “kidnap for ransom”

It is also on record that the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) had ranked Nigeria among the top 10 countries in the world with over 1000 kidnap cases reported annually. And this makes the country 6th worst country in the world, coming behind Philippines, Venezuela, Columbia and Mexico.

A few days ago, two pregnant women were abducted by gunmen at a sleepy community called Mararaba Jos in Igabi local government area of Kaduna state. One of the women, Gloria, was said to be eight months pregnant at the time of kidnap.

In the same state, three Christian leaders were also kidnapped and their abductors demanded N100 million ransom. In some cases, many families have continued to wait endlessly for the return of their abducted loved ones, even when the ransom has since been paid. Such kidnapped folks have remained perpetually missing.

We are very concerned that government appears not to be doing enough to address this dangerous trend, particularly the involvement of the Fulani herdsmen in the dastardly acts.

Today, across the country, the Fulani herdsmen appear to have turned themselves into messengers of terror. Not only that they kidnap, they maim and kill innocent citizens without provocation.

The case of Olu Falae, a former Secretary to the Federal Government, who was kidnapped for ransom in his farm in Ondo state, by alleged Fulani herdsmen, comes readily to mind. A few days ago, an aide of his was also killed by persons suspected to be the same group that kidnapped Falae.

We are worried that as long as government maintains sealed lips on this terrible issue, the more potential foreign investors government would continue to stay away.

It is our considered opinion that it is high time government declared a state of emergency on the issue of kidnapping. We are aware that some states had pronounced capital punishment for kidnappers. We therefore call on the federal government to formulate laws, in conjunction with the National Assembly, that would totally and explicitly prescribe capital punishment for kidnappers.

There is also the need for the security agencies to explore the use of technology in halting these crimes even before they are committed. Here, the security agencies should up their game in the area of intelligence gathering.

We also suggest that the security agencies should closely work with GSM service providers, the Ministry of Communications as well as that of Science and Technology to be able to effectively track down the criminals.

Above all, government at all levels must do everything possible to bridge the gap of unemployment in the country. There is no doubting the fact that this crime is being helped by the abundance of able-bodied but idle hands in society.Government must make the environment conducive for people to survive without necessarily courting crimes. And the time to do so is now.