| March 9, 2011 10:31AM |  print  email   |
Last month, a young couple in Lagos announced that their only child, 10-month old Enioluwa, had been kidnapped. Investigators would later learn that the kidnapping was planned across three West African Countries ; Nigeria, Cameroun and Republic of Benin. The case also showed how large a business kidnapping has become, how well planned and intricate.
Enioluwa's kidnappers had executed their crime through a nanny agency. Kidnapping has metamorphosed over the years in Nigeria. What sprung from the struggle for resource control in the Niger Delta region has invariably spread to other parts of the country.
Enioluwa's kidnappers had executed their crime through a nanny agency. Kidnapping has metamorphosed over the years in Nigeria. What sprung from the struggle for resource control in the Niger Delta region has invariably spread to other parts of the country.
Booming trade
Late last year, the Nigerian Police claimed that it has arrested over 400 kidnappers. At least six hundred suspected kidnappers arrested in various parts of the southeast are reportedly being detained in different police cells in the zone.
In 2003, around the time when kidnapping became popular in the Niger Delta, the usual victims were foreign nationals working in the oil companies and the culprits were the oil militants demanding control of the natural resources in the oil rich region. Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company claimed that 133 of its staff were kidnapped between 2006 and 2008.
In 2003, around the time when kidnapping became popular in the Niger Delta, the usual victims were foreign nationals working in the oil companies and the culprits were the oil militants demanding control of the natural resources in the oil rich region. Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company claimed that 133 of its staff were kidnapped between 2006 and 2008.
In time, the oil company shipped out its expatriate staff to safer regions and tightened security for the rest.
The kidnappers responded by moving on to wealthy locals, especially politicians, and their families. At this point, it was no longer possible to separate the kidnappers fighting for resource control from criminals. Murder, harassment and rape became entwined in the kidnap cases and Nigeria rapidly rose to become one of the top 10 kidnap capitals of the world.
The kidnappers responded by moving on to wealthy locals, especially politicians, and their families. At this point, it was no longer possible to separate the kidnappers fighting for resource control from criminals. Murder, harassment and rape became entwined in the kidnap cases and Nigeria rapidly rose to become one of the top 10 kidnap capitals of the world.
"Owing to perceived economic marginalisation, militant agitations gave rise to kidnapping in the Niger Delta," said John Uwaya, a Security and Investigations researcher. "After the militants embraced the federal government's amnesty, political thugs who appear to have been used and dumped by do or die politicians picked up the vice and by the day it appears the army of unemployed youths are further swelling their ranks."
What began in the South-South geo-political zone rapidly gained ground in the South-east, spreading gradually into the South-west and the northern regions.
By 2010, Anambra, Rivers, Edo, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Abia and Imo states had become hot spots for kidnapping in Nigeria.
" The phenomenon of kidnapping in Nigeria has taken an alarming and disconcerting dimension which tends to threaten the substratum of our national security," a former Inspector general of Police , Mr Ogbonnaya Onovo, said in August.
By 2010, Anambra, Rivers, Edo, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Abia and Imo states had become hot spots for kidnapping in Nigeria.
" The phenomenon of kidnapping in Nigeria has taken an alarming and disconcerting dimension which tends to threaten the substratum of our national security," a former Inspector general of Police , Mr Ogbonnaya Onovo, said in August.
Wrestling the problem
Law enforcement agencies continue to grapple with the insecurity in the cou n t r y . Military intervention has so far not been able to curb the growing menace. Last month, the Senate passed a bill which stipulates capital punishment for acts of terrorism , under which kidnapping is included.
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