Gbenga Adeosun<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organized violent groups such as militants and insurgents have also been involved in kidnap for ransom in Nigeria. Current trends have been linked back to the example set by Niger Delta militants who resorted to solo and group abductions as a means of generating funds both for private use and for the cause of a particular group. Similarly, Boko Haram insurgents have used the proceeds of kidnapping to keep their insurgency afloat. The insurgents engage in single or group kidnapping as a means of generating money to fund their activities. Huge sums are often paid as ransom by the victims’ families and associates to secure their release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to militants and insurgents, organized local and transnational criminal syndicates have been involved. This is happening in epic proportions within North West Nigeria where rural bandits engage regularly in kidnapping in the states of Zamfara, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, and Sokoto. Kidnapping has led to the loss of tens of thousands of lives and huge sums of money in Nigeria. Many of the victims of the crime have been killed in the course of their abduction, custody, or release. Many more have been injured. This is in addition to huge amounts of money lost to ransom takers. For the victims and their families and friends, the consequences are even more frightful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nigeria should never have gotten here. Kidnappers persist because the benefits of their crimes exceed the costs. So the obvious solution is to raise the costs by imposing harsher, surer penalties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The present penalty for kidnapping ranges from one to 20 years in prison, with the possibility of life imprisonment for extreme cases involving, for instance, murder. A law that criminalizes ransom payments aimed at tackling lucrative kidnapping industry in Nigeria was passed in 2022 by the Nigerian parliament. It carries a sentence of at least 15 years for anyone who pays a ransom, but this has not been properly enforced nor has it deterred the rise in payment of ransoms, and not much perpetrators have been arrested for ransom payment despite confirmation of such payments by some victims. Stricter measures, such as life imprisonment or the death penalty, may not be completely out of place in dealing with the kidnapping menace. After all, the crime of kidnapping is a maximum threat that requires an equally maximum deterrence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stemming the Tide of Kidnapping and Ransom Payments<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A holistic review of the nation’s security strategies is needed in a bid to tackle the menace of kidnapping for ransom. After years of efforts at curbing the menace which has not yielded the desired result, government may now prioritize the full integration of kinetic and non-kinetic approaches to achieve lasting peace and significantly curtail kidnapping in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2020, the Federal Government announced a policy that all active mobile SIM cards across all telecom networks in Nigeria are to be registered to the individual’s National Identity Number (NIN) as part of measures to achieve a robust database for national security purposes. Seeing that kidnappers have widely adopted the use of phone calls to communicate with the family of victims for ransom demands, it was believed that registering SIM cards to NIN would enable security agencies to track the perpetrators of the heinous crimes to specific individuals. Five years later, this initiative is yet to achieve its full potential as it has not led to significant tracking and arrest of kidnappers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Till date, kidnappers still make phone calls to families of victims to demand ransom payments, and the security agencies are still quite unable to effectively track down these phone calls in real time to specific locations or tie the SIM cards used to specific individuals for immediate tracing and possible arrest; summarily, it has not served as an effective deterrence to kidnappers who still use the phone call medium of information exchange with little or no fear. Enhanced collaboration with telecommunication companies, provision of additional technological tools, equipment, and training needed to efficiently achieve swift tracking of kidnappers via phone calls with registered SIM cards needs to be taken more seriously by the government to properly equip the security agencies in maximizing this means in tracking down these notorious kidnappers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, considering the traceable nature of individual bank accounts in Nigeria, it is astonishing that some kidnappers not only collect cash payments but often take electronic bank transfers to certain bank accounts for ransom collection. While at times these bank accounts might not directly belong to the kidnappers, they belong to their acolytes who aid and abet the withdrawal of the cash from banks and subsequent submission to these crime kingpins for a commission. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A mechanism should be put in place to ensure that all ransom payments made to bank accounts are reported immediately by the victims, and such accounts are to be designated and frozen immediately, which will compel the account holders to visit the bank to demand access to these accounts; and they will be immediately apprehended and detained to explain why their accounts are being used to receive ransom payments. This will lead to a lot of information being revealed about kidnappers’ hide-outs and, in turn, raids and arrests of kidnappers and their collaborators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alternatively, where kidnappers demand only cash for ransom payments knowing the potential consequences of using bank accounts, the cash could be marked for subsequent tracing or invisible tracking gadgets inserted in the bundles of cash to enable security forces to descend on the hide-outs immediately the victims are successfully released and safe with their families. This requires significant investment in modern technological tools and gadgets from government to enhance the operational capabilities of the security agencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amnesty International recently asked President Bola Tinubu to treat the recent kidnapping incidents across the country as an emergency by adopting measures that will minimize the security challenge and restore hope of a secured society. Nonetheless, there is a clear indication of the government’s interest and commitment towards guaranteeing the security of lives and property to ensure a safer society. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tinubu administration has introduced policies that have been carefully designed to meaningfully engage the youth and discourage them from engaging in crimes. One of them is the government’s plan to generate one million new jobs in the digital economy, a vocation Nigerian youth have proven to be good at. Government has also initiated a students’ loan scheme, which is an interest-free loan to Nigerian students in tertiary institutions to fund their higher education with ease. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tinubu administration has also pledged to remove all bottlenecks to investments, especially for startups by repositioning the economy to favour the youths. President Tinubu said government will embark on massive education of youth as a way of tackling the increasing kidnapping for ransom cases. The country’s teeming youth need to be empowered as stakeholders in building a Nigeria that thrives. This must be backed up with human welfare development policies. Other measures include empowerment programmes, effective SIM cards registrations to ensure tracking of kidnappers and collaboration in intelligence gathering and sharing among security agencies, and enforcement of laws to stop ransom payment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By adopting such measures and blocking sources of small arms and sophisticated weapons into Nigeria across its borders, it is hoped that the menace will be brought to an end for a more secured and productive society.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gbenga Adeosun Organized violent groups such as militants and insurgents have also been involved in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":185,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n