Report Shows How North’s Insecurity Is Democratised, Ransom Collected By Kidnappers In Nigeria

Although Nigerians have been repeatedly told that no ransom was paid for the release of kidnap victims, a new report has disclosed that families and friends of such victims paid $18.34 million, translating to N7 billion, to secure the release of their loved ones between June 2011 and March 31, 2020.

This came from a study by SBM Intelligence entitled Nigeria’s Kidnap Problem: The Economics of the Kidnap Industry in Nigeria, which indicated that a large proportion of the amount (a little below $11 million) was received between January 2016 and March 2020.

The report published early this month captures the reported cases of kidnapping which occurred from June 2011 to the end of March 2020. It also contains the breakdown of name of victims, date, state and amount paid respectively.

According to SBM, four of the top 10 states with a high number of kidnap incidents over the last decade are in the South-South geopolitical zone, with three of them being Bayelsa – 85, Delta -96 and Rivers – 120. Others states with high kidnap incidents include Kaduna – 177, Borno – 82, Kogi – 59, Edo – 55, Ondo – 54, Katsina – 52 and Taraba – 47.

The report reads in part, “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.

“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.”

It read, “Kaduna – the state with the second-highest number of incidents – also has a significant history of violence, especially along its connecting road to Abuja.

“While it is not in the top 10, Abuja has the 11th highest number of kidnap incidents over the last decade, and there is anecdotal evidence that some of the perpetrators responsible for Kaduna’s high rate of kidnap attempts have extended their operations into the federal capital.”

Analysing deaths and fatalities in kidnap incidents, 18 states were reported to have fewer deaths per kidnap attempt. The states are Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Borno, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Kano, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Plateau, Rivers, Taraba and Yobe.

The report says up until late 2018, kidnap attempts were targeted at specific victims who were mostly politically-exposed persons, business people and their close relatives, or expatriates. “The sudden uptick in fatalities per attempt coincides with the increase in attacks by bandits on villages especially in Zamfara and Katsina states, a situation which has gradually extended to Kaduna and Niger states.

“These bandits have also been involved in kidnapping besides attacking villagers and travellers, or doing both at the same time. As these kidnaps are less targeted at specific persons, the bandits are less deliberate in avoiding the deaths of their victims compared to earlier kidnap attempts which appeared to have specific targets in mind.

“This points to the democratisation of insecurity in the North, specifically with respect to kidnapping, which is a huge reversal from a decade and a half ago where kidnapping attempts were mostly in the Niger Delta, before slowly spreading to the South-East and across the country.

“Overall, Nigeria is becoming less safe each year. Kidnapping has increased in almost all states, but the sharpest rise have been in Kaduna, Rivers, Katsina, Zamfara and Taraba, while only Bayelsa in the entire country, saw a fall in the number of incidents compared to the period of 2011 to 2015.”

States in the northern region, which have existing ongoing violence from other sources, were reported to have the highest fatalities as the report said, “It would appear that such existing violence has made the kidnaps much deadlier in these places.

“Our conclusion is that where existing violence and/or historic violent norms have devalued human lives, crimes such as kidnapping tend to result in more fatalities.”

According to the report, Bayelsa is the only state to have witnessed a decline in incidents compared to the 2011-2015 period while Kaduna, Rivers, Katsina, Zamfara and Taraba, have witnessed the sharpest rises.