Government treating kidnapping with kid gloves

By OKOSUN DENNIS

NIGERIANS might have to wait for a very long time to see the end of the spate of kidnapping except urgent steps are taken by the government to initiate policy decision that would thwart would-be kidnappers.

Kidnapping, at the moment, is a thriving business in Nigeria as relations of kidnapped victims are compelled to pay huge sums of money in millions of naira to secure their release. Some, who are not lucky enough, have had lives snuffed out of them in an ignominious way before ransoms are paid or after it was paid.

Before now, expatriates used to be the primary targets especially in the Niger Delta as a means of agitation to drive home resource control as espoused in the region prior to militancy which ultimately galvanised into amnesty. Unfortunately with the present scenario, attention has been shifted to the rich and poor in the society, even to the extent that every Dick and Harry is an object for kidnap provided they can squeeze out some money from the victim’s family. In worst case scenario, it was learnt that a vulcanizer was once kidnapped for as low as N20, 000 ransom before he was freed in Benin City, Edo state.

However, a Security/Public Relations Consultant with the Nigerian Army School of Public Relations and Information (NASPRI), Bonny Cantonment and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of P Impacts Limited, Marcel Anyanwu, blamed the Federal government for the lackadaisical approach to kidnap related matters saying that until the government treat every kidnapper like the way armed robbers and murderers are treated, the “business” of kidnapping will continue to thrive in the country.

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He said, “There has never been a serious government policy against kidnapping. They are treating it with kid’s gloves. It is becoming more endemic in the country because it is affecting both the rich and the poor.” While cautioning people living in estate to be sensitized on the need to leave their estate open, added that it is becoming difficult to access most estate each time there is an attack as most outsiders are not aware thereby making it difficult for the security agencies to go for rescue mission.

Anyanwu explained that kidnapping is an offence against humanity. He said in Nigeria nowadays, it is easy to work under the assumption that kidnapping could happen anytime in schools, at home, in offices, on the road, in churches and mosques. It has become a lucrative “business” for kidnappers. They have been having it easy because there has not been a harsh law against them.

“It should be taken as a very grave offence like murder and armed robbery; this is so because almost 40% of those kidnapped are often murdered or raped. Worst still, some die of heart attack before help could come from law enforcement agency.”

Roy Okhidievbie, Managing Director, August Eye Security explained that with politicians equipping thugs with weapons during elections, Nigerians should expect kidnapping to degenerate into petty crime that will become very common as we are witnessing today in the country.

Speaking to National Daily, Richard Amuwa, security expert, said Nigeria government pay lip service to security issues and the country has not bothered to enact stringent, punitive laws to deal with kidnappers, saying that the criminals have assumed larger than life posture to perpetrate their nefarious activities.

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“To make things worse, the economy is bad and the easiest way people feel they can make money is through kidnapping people for ransom. It is unfortunate that only few people have been brought to book, he thundered,” he said.

“If you go to the South East, South-South and most of the state that have enacted laws that kidnapping offence attracts death sentence, how many kidnappers have been executed? How many have been jailed?” He asked.

While frowning at a practice in the 21st century where technology is in vogue, Amuwa expressed disappointment that government at all levels in the country are not fully exploiting it not to talk about the security agencies tracking kidnappers.

He explained that his brother was kidnapped recently, and the kidnappers called the family for five days consecutively with the same phone number.

He was on the verge of paying N3 million ransom to them, before he reported to the police. Amuwa alleged that the police snubbed him and didn’t do anything to track them.
“We have four major network services in the country, a kidnapper used a particular number consistently to call me for five days, yet they cannot trace them. It is a major issue. His frustration was akin to President Mohammed Buhari’s recent accusation of MTN’s inability to act fast to trace the abductors of Chibok girls about two years ago.

With the kidnap of Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary School girls in Ikorodu in February and other prominent Nigerians in recent times, Nigerians are clamouring for the government to exploit relevant sections of the law to deal with the problem.

Nigeria’s Criminal Code Act Cap C 38 provides that “any person who unlawfully imprisons any person, and takes him out of Nigeria without his consent; or unlawfully imprison any person within Nigeria in such a manner as to prevent him from applying to court for his release or from discovering to any other person the place where he is imprisoned, or in such a manner as to prevent any person entitled to have access to him from discovering the place where he is imprisoned, is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for ten years.”

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A lecturer at the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic who prefers anonymity said the federal government should deploy personnel of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence corps (NSCDC) to secondary schools with a view to checking the rampant cases of kidnapping of school girls.

Similarly, Anyanwu recommended regular meetings with traditional rulers, engaging in novelty matches to divert the attention of the youths; organising town hall meetings with them as well as deploying “Amber alert”, – a voluntary partnership programme between law enforcement agencies, broadcasters; NURTW and neighbourhood watch to check kidnap cases.

In addition, he reiterated that the National Assembly should enact a law against kidnapping with harsh penalty which should include harsh prison terms.

Besides, where security agencies are found culpable to have connived with the kidnappers by sharing from the ransom, such person should be severely punished to serve as deterrent to others nursing such intention.

On his part, Amuwa pointed out that we need to have the right technology to track kidnappers noting that paying lip service to their atrocities is tantamount to encouraging them rather than treating suspects as enemy of the people.