It is no longer news that kidnapping of Nigerians, especially school children by criminal elements has held sway in the country recently. The incident that started like a child’s play, has gathered momentum and developed into a hydra-headed monster.
It is on record that this ignoble trade, called kidnapping first surfaced in Warri, Delta State, when the youths claimed to be fighting for their rights by kidnapping expatriates or foreigners working in oil companies alleging to have been marginalised by the said multinational companies.
Unknown to the people of the Niger Delta region that like a wild wind, the menace would endure and extend to the locals. These so-called youths were then applauded for whatever reason. When the expatriates left in droves, the evil and over-desperate youths turned their searchlights on fellow Nigerians.
What an unfortunate development! The evil expanded to other Niger Delta states, such as Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Edo States. But the angle of invading schools, especially girls schools for kidnap came to limelight with the attack on Government Girls Secondary School,Chibok in Borno State in 2014, following the advent of the notorious religious group called Boko Haram.
Over 200 students of that school were whisked away by the heartless insurgents, some of whom have not been found till today and the fortunate ones rescued were thoroughly violated by these faceless criminals and put into family ways, with their educational careers truncated.
As if that was not enough, the daredevil insurgents struck again in 2015, attacking over 910 schools, kidnapping about 2,000 people and majorly women and children. And since then, it is now a common place to hear that schools have been invaded and a number of students abducted.
The latest being the Kuriga Primary School in Kaduna, where about 287 pupils were said to have been kidnapped, including their teachers and driver. The perpetrators also placed a ransom of billions of Naira before the release of their victims.
About 187 of them have been released or rescued, with the Federal Government claiming not to have paid any ransom and yet nobody was arrested, injured or killed in the process. Anyway, that is a discussion for another day. Also, it remains unclear if the Corpers that were traveling from Uyo in Akwa Ibom State to Yobe and were said to have been kidnapped in Zamfara State, have been released.
At this juncture, it is important to look at possible causes of kidnapping, especially school children. No matter how we look at it, the primary cause of kidnapping is outright criminality. And because it is a crime, it should be seen and treated as such. Another reason often adduced by some people is unemployment. However, in as much as this school of thought prevails in certain contexts, crime of such magnitude is a choice.
Get-rich-quick syndrome is yet another factor that often drives people to crime. The result of course is crime and to them, instead of going through the rigorous path of outright robbery, they opt for kidnapping, which they perceive as easier. Worse still, the societal recognition of persons with wealth, no matter how ill-gotten, also leaves much to be desired.
Another cause of kidnapping is the loose policing methods of our security agencies. This could of course be attributed to lack of adequate modern equipment, especially scientific gadgets for the 21st century detectives. For instance, the inevitable CCTV cameras needed for modern day policing is to say the least non-existent in Nigeria. This has almost rendered our law enforcement agents helpless in their operations.
What are the consequences of kidnapping? Kidnapping, like every other crime, puts the victim at the mercy of the kidnappers. The victims were often tortured, violated, maimed or even killed by their abductors in the quest to get ransom from the families of the victims.
Findings have shown that the criminals had resorted to kidnapping school children, to get quick response from the parents of the students, considering the vulnerability of the children. At this point, it is important to look at possible solutions to the menace of kidnapping.
Effective policing readily comes to mind. But this cannot be achieved without modern equipment for intelligence gathering. Functional walkie talkies should be made available for every security agent while performing his statutory duties. And there should be that cohesive networking among security agencies and operatives.
The era of carrying guns behind politicians and expatriates is gone and obsolete. In western countries, it is near-impossible to sight a police officer brandishing a gun along the street, yet crime is abhorred due to the conviction rate, because CCTV cameras cover everywhere.
Why is that not possible in Nigeria? Lack of political will of course! Employment also plays a major role in reducing crime in any given society. The reason is that when the majority of employable citizens are gainfully engaged, it becomes easier to identify the undesirable elements in the society and deal with them squarely.
Last and not the least is reorientation of the people, especially youths, with a view to inculcating in them the message that crime does not pay. This should be started early enough in their lives, say from the primary schools. If the aforementioned precautions are taken, Nigeria will soon be free from crimes and kidnapping in particular.