The root of kidnapping in Nigeria can be traced to natural resources nationalism. According to Townsend in the Journal of Law and Judicial system, the problem is worsened by accumulation politics which is the tendency for the ruling class to engage in endless and excessive accumulation of wealth. This phenomenon of kidnapping and hostage taking, according to Townsend, began in the Niger Delta. Then, it was a measure of resistance by militants protesting the degradation of their environment by all industrial activities
However, there is a paradigm shift, as the targets are no longer oil workers or foreigners alone. Every Nigerian is now a target. Kidnapping occurs throughout Nigeria, it has now become a national problem that has infiltrated the country’s fabric with major effects for the victims and their families.
In 2014, hostage taking became a national problem when over 200 Chibok girls were abducted by the Islamic Jihadist in the North East region of Nigeria. Since then, a series of high profile kidnappings have been recorded in Nigeria. Nigerian statistics show that over 1,000 kidnappings occur each year, with many more likely going undetected.
Kidnapping occurs for various reasons: principal among them is for political negotiation and also for economic gain. What was a regional problem has now spread its tentacles to other geopolitical zones in Nigeria. Hostage-taking and kidnapping have become aggressively rampant in the southwest, with a resultant inauguration of Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN), codenamed ‘Amotekun’ in Southwest Nigeria.
Despite the apparent success of WNSN in this region to stem these ills, it is regarded as a counter-culturist and ‘next felony,’ without considering how it has created and continues to offer another paradigm for citizens’ protection in the face of numerous security challenges. Such prevalent perceptions are fraught with claims that WNSN is a product of unconstitutionality, and ethnic mingling. These criticisms are infantile and refuse to confront the exigent reality of insecurity in the South West.
According to some news reports, bandits are now in the forests of the South West in their large numbers, kidnapping for ransom, killing and destroying lives. They have turned the heat on the region. A 2013 National Crime Victimization and Safety Survey conducted by CLEEN Foundation with support from the United States based Macarthur Foundation shows that the South West had the highest incidents of kidnapping with 5 percent of the respondents from the region saying they have either been kidnapped or attempts have been made to kidnap them.
The kidnapping situation in the southwest bottomed out thereafter but it appears to be relapsing. From Ekiti to Osun, Lagos to Ondo, Abeokuta to Ekiti, Ibadan to Osun state, kidnapping for ransom and extortion is currently ravaging parts of southwest Nigeria especially along inter-town or inter-state roads.
Yoruba socio-cultural groups such as the Yoruba Council of Elders, YCE; the pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere; and prominent citizens – the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams and elder statesman, Pa Ayo Adebanjo decried the wanton, pervasive kidnappings and killings in southwest Nigeria. Also, the Yoruba Koya Movement declared June 12, 2019, as a national day of protest against the ongoing killings and kidnapping across Yoruba-speaking states.
Recently, at the DSS 4th quarter held in Abeokuta to find lasting solution to the prevalent level of insecurity and Kidnapping in Southwest, the Ogun state Governor, Dapo Abioudun said the issue of securing the region and bridging the gap in community policing led to the emergence of Amotekun, even as he expressed delight that the idea has led to the formation of similar outfits in other regions across the country.
“Nobody will come and invest in your state, no matter the amount of road you build or the amount of infrastructure you provide. As long as there is an air of insecurity, all that will amount to nothing.
“It is important that we understand that the socio-economic development that we all desire in our various states and zones can only be achieved when we have peace and security,” he added.
In addition, some other security experts also weighed in on the prevalent insecurity and hostage taking particularly in the south west region. According to the Chief security officer, Orile Agege Omoba Adewale Adedola said during a phone conversation that the spate of kidnapping in the south west has made the region unsafe because the kidnappers inhabit bushes along the expressway, using the place as their base to perpetrate evil.
“We are not safe anymore in the South West because bandits and kidnappers are lurking around the forest as their base to hold people hostage.”
He urged the government to assist the hunters and vigilante groups who are willing to work so that they can assist the government in combating crime.
“The government should assist the vigilante group to fight bandits by equipping them adequately.”
Also one of the traditional heads of the security outfit in Agege and Orile Agege Chief Akinfenwa Adimila said that kidnapping only thrives where people are not cooperating with the government.
“People need to assist the government to provide intelligence reports that can aid the arrest of the hostage taker, they are not angels, and so people should provide helpful information when they notice any suspicious movement,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi on Sunday, on the official X (formerly Twitter) account of the NPF has urged the people to take proper profiling of everyone around to reduce crime and insecurity.
“Ask questions before letting your apartment out to that tenant; question that scavenger in your community; profile your community guards and gatemen, and when responses don’t add up, kindly do not hesitate to let us in on such developments promptly.”
The safety of persons in Nigeria and their property cannot be guaranteed owing to the near-daily incidents of kidnapping. Nigerians have lost trust in the government of the day; this trust must be built back between communities and security agents, and foster closer collaboration with local actors. Those living in rural communities see state security agents as ‘predators’ rather than ‘protectors.’
In rural areas, some communities do not have accessible roads, electricity, and mobile telephone services. When these essential infrastructures are not available within the community, the people of that community become vulnerable to attacks from such criminals. For kidnapping to be reduced in Nigeria, the Federal Government should create a more effectual system that monitors at-risk locations and assesses the probability of violent eruption, escalation, and continuation of geographic diffusion within such dangerous locations.