Studies indicate that the portent of kidnapping has assumed a distressing dimension in many parts of the world, especially in Nigeria. In this sense, kidnapping has become a big business in Nigeria. Studies reveal that kidnapping is the act of taking a person away illegitimately and keeping them as hostages. This is aimed at benefiting the kidnappers financially or in other ways before the hostage is released. In other terms, kidnapping is a forceful abduction of an individual with the intention of holding them for ransom (Ikejiaku 74). Otherwise, it is aimed at seizing people with the motive of harassing both psychologically and physically. Accordingly, the kidnapping of people in the Niger delta is something that happens almost every day. This usually involves expatriates, women, and children. It is believed to be a source of restiveness and eventual, breakdown of law and order (Obuah 38). It has also been found that kidnapping in the Niger delta is among the key weapons, employed by the various ethnic militias who carry out their operations in the area (Ikejiaku 76). Studies affirm that the criminal matter in Nigeria is based on the social imbalance, especially on the line of the two major classes of people.
Causes of kidnapping
As such, because of the pressure on certain individuals to meet up the challenges of satisfying their economic needs; it is the notion of this basis such individuals resort to committing diverse kinds of crime. Accordingly, there is the existence of the intensity of the problem of class conflict and contradictions in the economic order (Maleckova 45). This is mainly because of depressive, oppressive, and dehumanizing effects. This has on the extreme end, caused an increase in capitalist behavior for profit maximization and unequal economic and social status is the foundation and continuation of the crime rate in Nigeria.
Various incidences of kidnapping in Nigeria
Furthermore, there have been a number of incidences where people have been abducted (Maleckova 48). For example, in the first case in early 2006 two Britons were kidnapped in Port Harcourt, the hostages were later released unharmed after a ransom was paid. In the same year, six South Koreans were kidnapped in the Niger delta, in a royal Dutch Shell-operated gas plant. These hostages were later released after a week and the motive was based on the high underdevelopment of the area sited against the federal government.
Various strategies of kidnapping in Nigeria
Kidnapping in Nigeria has taken many strategies, where kidnappers find strategic locations to carry out their criminal activities. To begin with, there have been kidnapping in the bush, where victims were abducted along the road leading to either a village or a nearby town. Such victims are kept hostage in the bush, which offers a haven for the kidnappers; a case in hand is the 2008 kidnap scenario of fifteen pupils along the aba-port Harcourt expressway (Obuah 38). The second strategic point is the sea, where kidnappers in Nigeria abduct victims traveling the country`s waterways (Obuah 39). For example, the bonny sea incidence of 2009 in which the staff of NLNG was abducted. The abductors entered the boat of itinerants and eventually carried out their criminal activities.
Impacts of kidnapping cases in Nigeria
There are copious effects of seizure in Nigeria; such sways have instigated more harm to the people in the areas, where abduction is protuberant. The kidnapping of expatriates, for example, in the Abia state, has resulted in some companies relocating to other parts or outside the shows of Nigeria leading to unemployment based on occasional loss of jobs (Obuah 40). Furthermore, kidnapping has created a negative image of Nigerian society at international levels. This affects virtually all aspects of the life of the people; especially the tourism industry has been adversely affected. In general, kidnapping incidences have affected revenue gyration of many affected areas, thus the federal government has been forced to operate on defeats of its budget based on low revenue generation. Hence, these among other factors, show that kidnapping has had a high influence on Nigeria and it is a national crisis, which calls for different mechanisms to control or mitigate it completely.
Works Cited
Ikejiaku, Boniface. “The Relationship between Poverty, Conflict, and Development.” Journal of Sustainable Development. 2.1 (2009): 70- 79.
Maleckova, Joel. “Education, Poverty and Terrorism: Is There a Causal Connection?” Journal of Economic Perspectives. 17.4 (2003): 45-58.
Obuah, Elvis. “Combating Corruption in a “Failed” state. The Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).” Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa. 12.1 (2010): 38-60.