Changing the Game Against Kidnapping

The recent history of kidnapping in Nigeria goes back to the 1990s when Niger Delta militants used it for political pressure on government and multinational oil companies and for ransom to finance their activities. It later became a line of business when other criminals adopted kidnapping and commodified the value of people’s freedom and started exchanging it for ransom. It became a national nightmare when insurgents in the North East resorted to sourcing for comfort women and finances for their war chest. They introduced the dimension of mass abduction. The mass abduction practice of the insurgents, bandits, and suspected Fulani herdsmen does not respect boundaries, as their targets are mostly school children and women. It later extended to travellers on national and local highways.

High ransom demands, which victims’ families usually struggle to pay either alone or through crowdfunding, sustain the commerce of ransom for freedom. Between July 2023 and June 2024, Nigerians have paid an estimated ransom of ₦1,048,110,000, according to an SBM report. Also, further analysis of the kidnap figures within this period, by geo-political zones, states, and Local Government Areas (LGAs) according to Nextier’s Nigeria Violent Conflicts Database in terms of victims shows the three top rankings as North West, North Central and South West for (geo-political zones) Kaduna, Zamfara and Katsina (for states) and Chikun (Kaduna), Kajuru (Kaduna) and Munya (Niger) for LGAs. Although underreported, Kidnap for Ransom (KFR) in the country happens virtually daily. The government’s approach and attitude to the crime of kidnapping is reactive, takes the form of ad-hoc intervention, is top-down and lacks inclusiveness. The resulting gaps in managing the crime nurture its continuity and, unfortunately, make citizens see kidnapping and ransom payment as a new part of their everyday existence. However, further insights show that Nigerians are at a breaking point as their resilience has been badly battered. Therefore, this week’s edition of Nextier SPD Policy Weekly looks at the approaches and attitudes of the government that permit the continuity of kidnapping and explore exit routes from the crises.

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