By Akanimo Sampson
Kidnapping appears to be a burgeoning industry in Nigeria as socio-economic conditions are getting worse on a daily basis. For some unemployed Nigerians, abduction-for-ransom has provided them a means of livelihood.In less than a decade, the nascent kidnapping industry has earned around $18 million from ransom payment. SBM Intelligence, a Nigerian political risk analysis firm, estimates that that is the amount that has so far been been paid as ransom money across the country.
The firm is claiming that the massive amount was paid to kidnappers mostly by families of the victims and the Nigerian government between June 2011 and May 2020. Head of research at the SBM, Ikemesit Effiong, told Aljazeera and BBC that the motivation of the kidnappers seems to be mainly economic. According to Effiong, ”they don’t seem political. The high rate of poverty in this country has led many to resort to such criminal activities for economic survival.”
In a report, Nigeria’s Kidnap Problem: The Economics of the Kidnap Industry in Nigeria the intelligence firm also highlights the breakdown according to states and regions in Nigeria.
”Between June 2011 and end of March 2020, What we have found shows that between June 2011 and the end of March 2020, at least $18.34 million has been paid to kidnappers as ransom”, the report says.
”Even more frightening is that the larger proportion of that figure ( just below $11 million), was paid out between January 2016 and March 2020, indicating that kidnapping is becoming more lucrative.”Continuing, the report says Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers, all strategic oil and gas states in the Niger Delta, are three of the top 10 states with the highest number of reported kidnap incidents in Nigeria.
Kaduna State is listed in the report as having the second-highest rate of kidnapping incidents in Nigeria while Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory occupied 11th position.
”Kaduna – the state with the second-highest number of incidents – also has a significant history of violence, especially along its connecting road to Abuja”, the report discloses.Without the doubt, kidnapping for ransom has become a lucrative job for criminals and terrorist organisations across Nigeria, especially in the Northern part of the country.
The region has seen a number of school abductions. Individuals and groups were also kidnapped and released after payment of ransom.
The figures given by SBM may not be accurate due to the number of unreported cases of kidnappings in the country.
Also, the government did not disclose the amount it paid to the kidnappers for the release of schoolchildren abducted in northern Nigeria.
