Kidnapping has been a growing menace in Africa’s most populous country. The first major kidnap incident in the country made the headlines in 2014 when Boko Haram jihadists kidnapped 276 schoolgirls in Chibok town, Borno State. Estimates from Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, ACLED, showed that at least five times more people were…
Over the years, kidnapping has now degenerated into a lucrative industry that yields millions to the actors. Many kidnap victims have had to cough out millions of Naira to secure their release from their abductors. A case in point was the abduction of 72 passengers in the Kaduna train attack of March 2022.
Interestingly, not only cash is usually being demanded as ransom, abductors sometimes demand food items, smartphones, motorbikes or even sunglasses. In one instance, the abductors of the worshippers in a Celestial Church in Wasinmi, Ewekoro LGA of Ogun State initially requested ₦50 million in ransom payments but they later released their victims after ₦1 million, foodstuff such as bags of rice and beans, cigarettes and gun were paid.
The authorities have said they have tried alternative methods to curb kidnapping, such as registering mobile phone SIM cards to better track their owners. Lawmakers have also passed a bill criminalising payments to kidnappers, but observers say enforcement will be impossible. On the part of the Nigerian security services, they have said they are “in a hurry to see” kidnapping tackled, partly because insecurity drives away investors.