A former United States of America's Ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell, says the current wave of kidnapping in the country cannot be compared to what used to happen in the past.

He said, "Nigeria is experiencing a wave of kidnappings. In the past, kidnapping has often had a political dimension. In the oil patch, for example, militants have long kidnapped oil company employees to advance a political agenda. Boko Haram in the northeast is notorious for kidnapping young girls, the most famous episode being the 2014 kidnapping of the Chibok schoolgirls.

"The current wave is different. It is nation-wide, rather than confined to a specific region. It appears to be purely mercenary; the goal is to extract the maximum ransom possible rather than advancing a political agenda. Kidnapping victims now include the entire social spectrum, rather than being confined to those with some money or property. Nobody is exempt."

After several weeks of being held by his captors, an in-law of President Muhammadu Buhari was rescued by the police in a shoot-out recently.

But Campbell pointed out that the Buhari administration like previous regimes might be promoting the crime.

"In theory, but not in practice, the payment of ransom is illegal in Nigeria," he explained. However, the government itself pays ransoms in high-profile cases. So, too, do ordinary citizens. Because both kidnapping and ransom paying are illegal activities, there is little hard evidence about how many kidnappings are actually taking place. Indeed, the lack of transparency may lead to a popular exaggeration of the numbers.

"Nevertheless, Nigerians believe they are in the midst of a kidnapping wave and that the government is largely powerless to stop it.

"Fear of kidnapping appears to be a factor in middle-class emigration from Nigeria and the wealthy sending their families abroad."

Recently, the BBC released a video on kidnapping providing a human face to the victims of kidnapping.

The video showed Deputy Police Commissioner, Abba Kyari, and the Intelligence Response Team, set up to fight kidnapping.

Speaking about the video, Campbell noted: "Kyari, known to many as “Nigeria’s supercop,” is the youngest high-ranking official in the Nigerian police force.

"Policing in Nigeria is underfunded, and policemen by and large are undertrained. They are notorious for human rights abuses and have been widely accused of extra-judicial killing. The BBC interviewer raises these human rights considerations with The Network on Police Reform in Nigeria."

Continuing, he said: "Kyari, predictably, denies that they take place, or asserts that when there are credible accusations, they are thoroughly investigated. He also realistically talks about the difficulty of law enforcement in Nigeria—the lack of investigative capacity and the violence of criminals against policemen. He does not let the viewer forget the horror that accompanies kidnapping.

"Kidnapping along with the Boko Haram insurrection in the northeast; Delta militant activity in the oil patch; and conflict over land use, ethnicity, and religion in the middle belt are immediate stressors of Nigerian society. They are related to deeper challenges, notably the huge increase in population, rapid urbanization, and degradation of the environment related to climate change."

However, with specific reference to kidnapping, reform of the police and the security services appears to be a pressing need, the former envoy.

"And here the foreign friends of Nigeria could help," Campbell suggested, "perhaps through forensics assistance, provision of training, and facilitating exchanges."

there is little political about kidnapping and banditry, no matter how political miscreants try to paint it so. like yahoo yahoo, kidnapping is the new hustle taken on different criminals in society. it is low risk and high gain. there is no barrier to entry. some small boys in your neighbourhood might just decide to try their luck at it.

The current kidnappins are still political being that they are driven by the Fulanis who are using it to raise funds for future expansionist war

http://saharareporters.com/2019/07/13/killing-afenifere-leader%E2%80%99s-daughter-and-omnipresence-bandits-nigerian-roads-fredrick

The Killing Of Afenifere Leader’s Daughter And The Omnipresence Of Bandits On Nigerian Roads By Fredrick Nwabufo

The current insecurity is depressing, but we must not for any reason make it about an ethnic group. Crime has no ethnic face. Individuals commit crime, not the ethnic group. And the motivations for crime do not come from the ethos of any group, but from personal greed and intent.


On Wednesday, June 12,  Adenipekun Ademiju, a staff member of Atakumosa west local government area of Osun state embarked on a journey – of no return.  It was a quotidian day like any other, and there was nothing betokening tragedy. He boarded a bus from Osun town heading for Ibadan.  On the expressway around Ikire community, a group of bandits emerged from the stout bushes and pumped a volley of bullets into the bus. Ademiju was unlucky.

On Friday, 58-year-old Funke Olakunrin, daughter of Reuben Fasoranti, a leader of Afenifere, was killed in a similar manner. She was coming from Akure and heading for Ore Junction when some bandits emerged from the cover of vegetation and pummelled her vehicle with bullets.
Also, three days ago, there was a video in circulation showing the scene of a "sibling" crime on Ore road - cars riddled with bullets from bandits and commuters in a state of higgledy-piggledy. And a day before that, there was another incident. As a matter of fact, travelling on this road may now be the quickest exit out of the world of the living.

But this tragedy is not discriminate or selective. It is omnipresent. According to a report by the Vanguard entitled, ‘Kidnapping, banditry, killings: 133 highways of terror’, major roads in the six geopolitical zones in the country are swamped with the violent crimes of kidnapping, banditry and killing. Specifically, 133 highways were reported as routes of death.

In the south-south, “28 major theatres of operation” were listed; in the north-west, 20 “dangerous roads” were reported; in the north-central, 33 “volatile roads” were listed; in the southeast, 11 flashpoints were outlined, and in the southwest, 41 “roads of terror” were reported.

The report deduced the reason for the ubiquity of these bandits in these words: “Specifics show that there is little or no presence of security agents in places where crimes like kidnapping and banditry occur. Oftentimes, security personnel arrive at such places after suspected criminals must have concluded their operations.” 

We have a large swathe of unsecured spaces, and we have a diminutive number of security personnel to secure these spaces. Intelligence gathering is scarcely a yielding routine because of the disconnection between the police and the locals, who would rather want to secure themselves by forming vigilantes. This is the problem, and this is one strong point for the establishment of state police. 

Although I had argued against the establishment of state police; it is becoming ludicrous to hold this view, considering the seeming intractable security challenge. Our security agencies are overstretched, kidnappings, banditry, and killings are unabating; there is a cumulus of fear hanging in the air, and some Nigerians are resorting to self-help.

Policing must be local because crimes have residency. But I maintain that even with this arrangement, the control of the local force must not be exclusively in the hands of governors. 

In addition, our police are obviously not very effective, but it will be uncharitable to put all the blame for the unchecked reign of terror on a force of which rank and file are unmotivated, badly trained and ill-equipped. The tardiness of the government in the face of this affliction cannot be discounted.  When it appears the authorities are now awake and ready to do their job, after a reckonable name becomes a victim of bandits, they slither into somnambulism as soon as the outrage tapers off.

The current insecurity is depressing, but we must not for any reason make it about an ethnic group. Crime has no ethnic face. Individuals commit crime, not the ethnic group. And the motivations for crime do not come from the ethos of any group, but from personal greed and intent.

I say again, state/community policing, without exclusive governorship control, could be the answer to this malaise.

The current Nigeria is different