Kidnapping is a serious problem which is being faced in Nigeria every day. It has now become a regular thing to hear news about the abduction of people in the country; one of the biggest case was the one which brought up the “bring back our girls” campaign – it was the time when the whole world heard about the problems in Nigeria. However, what has changed since then? What are the causes and solutions to kidnapping in Nigeria?
Problem of kidnapping in Nigeria
Kidnapping in Nigeria is not a new problem and stopping it has become a great challenge to the country. Due to the problems with education, corruption, unemployment and terrorism, Nigeria has become one of the most interesting sites for international criminal organizations and the criminal gangs in the country seize every opportunity to abduct people.
One of the greatest problems of Nigeria is Boko Haram. The kidnappings carried out by this organization have drawn the attention of both local and international organizations. The kidnappings can be purely political and religious because Boko Haram wants to exterminate people opposing their goals.
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Another great problem for Nigeria is its own citizens. Due to the high unemployment rate in most states of the country, regular citizens also participate in kidnappings. There have also been many cases of kidnapping in Nigeria where regular citizens work together with criminals to abduct people. The main targets, in this case, are rich people.
Why do citizens help bandits to kidnap people? There are a lot of reasons for that. One of the most common and logical reasons is money. Even if a citizen does not participate directly in the kidnapping, he or she may serve as a source of information, and therefore gets money from the kidnapping. The police force in the country always have a hard time finding evidence when people collaborate with kidnappers.
Punishment for kidnapping in Nigeria
According to the Criminal Code Act C38, there is a penalty for kidnapping a person in Nigeria. What exactly counts as kidnapping? The law clearly explains that kidnapping is the abduction of any person in Nigeria and possibly taking him out of Nigeria without his consent. According to the law, the punishment for this kind of atrocity is ten years of imprisonment. Nonetheless, kidnappers can also end up facing a life sentence.
Even though the punishment for kidnapping in Nigeria is pretty high, the number of kidnappings has not reduced. Statistics show that this number is getting even higher. How is this possible? Let us take a look at top 5 causes of kidnapping in Nigeria and their solutions.
Top 5 Kidnapping causes in Nigeria
1. Unemployment
The rate of unemployment in the country is one great cause of kidnapping in Nigeria. Poverty pushes many citizens into doing immoral things, one of which is kidnapping. How can the Nigerian government solve this problem? It is simple – by creating more jobs. When people have the option to work hard and honestly, they will not partake in dishonest activities.
2. Poverty
The poverty rate in Nigeria is another great failure on the part of the Nigerian government. When people are desperate, they do not think about the lives of others. Like the Latin phrase goes “Homo homini lupus est”, which means “man is a wolf to another man”, when people have almost nothing to eat and cannot provide for their families, they are ready to commit crimes.
What is the best possible solution to this problem? To provide more jobs, education possibilities and business environments in the country. If this does not happen, then you should not expect a decrease in the criminal activities in the country.
3. Illiteracy
Even if Nigerians live in the twenty-first century, you cannot expect that all Nigerians can read and write properly. When people can read and write, it becomes easier for them to understand the concept of compassion, tolerance and doing good.
Boko Haram use people who are poorly educated or even illiterates to create their suiсide bombers. These people can be abducted from their houses and trained to be suiсide soldiers in the war against Nigeria. The only way to stop this is to provide education to all regions of Nigeria.
4. Religion
This is the greatest problem of the followers of terrorist organizations; they tend to abduct people due to religious reasons. Boko Haram needs more people to sacrifice their lives, but of course they are not willing to waste their own lives especially since they can abduct people and train them to do so.
5. Politics
Political authorities also use the tactic of kidnapping to intimidate or shut people up. This tactic is most common in urban areas where local authorities can feel that they are kings. It is necessary to provide proper protection for people so they can feel like the authorities work for them and not against them.
Conclusion
There are several other reasons for kidnapping in Nigeria, however, the above mentioned reasons are the most common ones. To stop kidnapping in Nigeria, the government must solve the causes of kidnapping instead of simply fighting with the people who engage in this act.
It is almost impossible to convince people that they should not help kidnappers if the government is corrupted and people do not have jobs. Therefore, with the help of the government and international organizations, it is highly possible to eliminate the real causes of kidnapping in Nigeria.
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Source: Naija.ng