The Era of Kidnappers

All stakeholders should do more to contain the scourge

Across the country today, kidnapping for ransom has become a growing industry. From ordinary citizens to businessmen and traditional rulers, nobody is safe. Many victims have been killed even after their families paid the demanded ransom for their release. The kidnappers have no regard for age, class or personality; what matters to them is the perceived ransom value of their victims. Yet some point to the way the Oyo State police command rescued Olaide Adegoke John‑Paul and her 12‑year‑old twin sons, arresting four suspected gang members linked to the abduction, as evidence that when prominent people are involved, security personnel almost always deliver. John‑Paul is the younger sister of former Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu.

Today, many Nigerians can no longer move around freely or even spend quality time with their families without the psychological fear of a dreaded kidnapper lurking around the corner. The concomitant effect is that while citizens live in perpetual fear, investors move their businesses elsewhere. Initially, the targets were rich businessmen, politicians and other well‑heeled professionals, but kidnappers have since expanded to the lower bracket. The crime is so prevalent that the African Insurance Organisation once designated Nigeria as the global capital for kidnapping for ransom, overtaking countries like Colombia and Mexico that had previously been front‑runners. The crime has also become a thriving industry with a network of support staff.

To compound the challenge, even families of senior police and military personnel—retired and serving—now pay ransom to kidnappers. Particularly disturbing is the ease with which these kidnappers target schools. The governing mercantile logic among the kidnappers is that abducting school children will attract huge attention and sympathy, potentially translating to heftier ransoms. The danger of allowing this state of affairs to continue, as we have repeatedly warned, is to encourage recourse to self‑help by citizens with dire implications.

Kidnappings, killings and loss of materials and man‑hours have become recurrent features on most of the country’s highways. Since a drive through many of the nation’s major roads is now a nightmare, many spots have also become convenient operating centres for kidnappers who lay siege to unsuspecting motorists and other road users. A large country that depends mainly on road transportation for the movement of commodities and persons seems to have surrendered the sector to the tyranny of some unconscionable individuals. More worrisome is that too often, even when security agencies are involved in rescue bids, ransoms are still paid, after which the victims are abandoned by their abductors for law‑enforcement agents to “rescue and recover.”

We must, however, highlight the fact that our various communities have a critical role to play in tackling this problem. Kidnappers are not ghosts. They are human beings who live within communities. Therefore, members of our various communities must realise they have a critical role to play in providing useful information to security agencies, which should also act more promptly.

With the increasing sophistication of services offered by communication networks, especially tracking systems, we wonder why it is so difficult for the police to monitor the calls made by these criminals during ransom negotiations. Whatever the case, we call on security agents to redouble their efforts in dealing with this dangerous phenomenon that is fast turning the country into a huge jungle.