Last week, the governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun warned that his state could not be a safe haven for kidnappers. Literally, that is a kind of riot act that every state governor would like to read to kidnappers…
Arase says the current size of the Nigeria police is not enough to guarantee the security of Nigerians.
The recurring case of kidnapping in the country has become a source of concern for Nigerians, especially the elite class who are considered a prized target.
Last week, the governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun warned that his state could not be a safe haven for kidnappers. Literally, that is a kind of riot act that every state governor would like to read to kidnappers who seem to be getting embolden by the day, thanks to the poor policing of the Nigerian communities.
Expectedly, kidnapping and other felonies still happen – right under the watch of the governors across the six geo-political zones in the country.Governor Amosun’s warning came partly as a response to the abduction of the former minister of state for education, Senator Iyabo Anisulowo who was kidnapped on Wednesday, April 27 while she was returning from her farm at Sawonjo, in Yewa North Local Government Area, Ogun State.
According to her driver, Afonja, the Kidnappers stormed out of their hiding in the bush and took away their target at gunpoint.
A week before, the permanent secretary at the ministry of finance, budget and economic planning in Osun State, Mrs. Adebimpe Ogunlumade was kidnapped together with her driver, Mr. Oladapo Ajani and the director, State Audit, Mr. Tajudeen Badejoko at Obajana along Lokoja-Okene, Kogi State while returning from Abuja.
On his birthday, September 21, former secretary to the federal government, Chief Olu Falae was also kidnapped at his Ilado farm, Akure, Ondo State. Falae clocked 77 years the day he fell prey to his captors.
Right inside her palace, Mrs. Kamene Okonjo, 82, the mother of the former minister of finance and coordinating minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was also kidnapped and was kept in captivity for five days before her release.
Last year, in the early hours of Sunday, August 30 precisely, a Vanguard newspaper columnist, Mrs. Donu Kogbara was abducted from her home and was led into the creeks, in “the middle of nowhere”, as she described it, where she spent days before her release.
Before the election, President Muhammadu Buhari’s convoy was also attacked by hoodlums who, according to the police source, could have kidnapped him had they succeeded to immobilize his vehicle.
While some victims were lucky to return home safely –after paying a ransom which many refuse to disclose publicly, others were killed or left in the throes of death.
According to a 2014 report published by Global Kidnap for Ransom, Nigeria ranked higher than other countries such as India, Pakistan, Mexico Libya, and Philippines. The finding is based on kidnap for ransom incidents recorded in open source news reports and captured up to the end of December 2014, says the group
Examples of the unfortunate ones include Col. Samaila Inusa who was abducted in March and was brutally murdered in Kaduna.
A National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, Mr. Sampson Worlu, was also killed by the people who kidnapped him in Imo State despite the fact that the family paid N1.5 million ransom, according to the brother.
While recounting her experience, Mrs. Kogbara said: “There is hardly anybody I know who does not know somebody who has been abducted or robbed in the last couple of years.”
Truly, the list of victims of kidnapping is long and cuts across the six geo-political zones in the country. Almost every state has its own fair share of kidnapping incidents now.
According to a 2014 report published by Global Kidnap for Ransom, Nigeria ranked higher than other countries such as India, Pakistan, Mexico Libya, and Philippines. The finding is based on kidnap for ransom incidents recorded in open source news reports and captured up to the end of December 2014, says the group.
Whereas Nigeria ranked 11th position in the global rating in 2009, far below Mexico, India, South Africa, Brazil, Pakistan, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, and Bangladesh, according to Pax Christi International, a non-governmental Catholic peace movement working in the fields of human rights, security and Justice and reconciliation.
So., it took barely five years for the ranking to spike to the top. With the increasing spate of kidnapping spread across the country today, Nigeria’s record may have gone worse. This record is with the exclusion of bride kidnapping which has also surged upward in the recent time.
A journal article, Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, published by the Federal University of Lafia, Nassarawa State identified a high level of poverty and socio-economic malaise as one of the factors responsible for the increasing incidents of kidnapping in the country.
Senator Anisulowo was kidnapped last week, Wednesday while she was returning from her farm at Sawonjo, Yewa North Local Government Area, Ogun State.
Despite the growth in GDP over the years, reaching an all-time high of 8.60 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010, poverty still remains significant and widespread, according to the World Bank. Government programmes largely fail to address income inequality, ethnic conflict and political instability, the report notes. Hence, a huge section of the population is continually marginalised and become discontent.
Also, criminal impunity among the high and low is another factor attributed to the spike in the incident of kidnapping in the country. The rich in the Nigerian society display wealth with consternation that sends the poor mad with green envy.
Sadly, this situation cannot be helped with the current number of police in the country said, the Inspector General Police, Solomon Arase.
Speaking in Jos while delivering a public lecture, Arase explained that the size of the Nigeria police currently puts at 350, 000 policemen and women is not enough to guarantee the security of Nigerians. The truth in Arase’s comment is not far-fetched. For United Nations recommends an approximate median of 300 police officers per 100,000 inhabitants, that is one police to 333 citizens. With 350, 000 police personnel to a population of 178 million, the ratio of police to Nigerians is 1 to 508. This is a far cry.
Experts, however, believe that policing could be more effective if driven by technology. Something as simple as the gathering of biometric data of Nigerians could go a long way in keeping a tab on people, especially crime suspects.
The President, Association of Industrial Security and Safety Operators of Nigeria, Dr. Ona Ekhomu, in one of his press statements, has provided a few tips on how to avoid being kidnapped.
He said it is better for people to move in a group than to walk alone. It could be more difficult for kidnappers to kidnap members of a group than to kidnap an individual.He warned against driving straight into one’s residence especially when one notices a reasonable number of strangers near the entrance.
He also advised car owners to train their drivers in defensive or security driving for such skill comes useful when one is being targeted by kidnappers.
All these may help, but a preventive solution is a wiser alternative. Experts believe that increasing youth access to job opportunities could take a multitude from harm’s way, or preventing them from harming others. Either way, it is a win-win for the nation. While the search for Senator Anisulowo continues, governor Amosun and his counterparts may as well go back to the drawing board to fashion out the best way to prevent other citizens from falling prey of the prowling ransom seekers.