Unemployment, Poverty etc. Responsible For Rise in Kidnapping – NOI Polls

Poll results from NOI polls indicates that unemployment and poverty are the two major reasons there is a steady rise in cases of kidnap in the country. Apart from these major causes, greed was also mentioned by 15 percent of respondents who took the polling organisations survey as another major reason why people choose kidnapping as their source of revenue.

 

The poll measured the prevalence of kidnapping in Nigeria and majority (60 percent) of the respondents affirmed that kidnapping is either very prevalent or prevalent in the country.

The 61+ age group had the highest (81 percent) percentage of respondents in this category. On the other hand, 25 percent said that kidnapping is either not prevalent or not prevalent at all in Nigeria while 15 percent of Nigerians indicated that kidnapping is somewhat prevalent.

Further analysis by geo-political zones revealed that respondents in the South-West (74 percent), North-Central (68 percent), South-South (65 percent) and the South-East (60 percent) zones accounted for the highest percentage of Nigerians who admitted that kidnapping is prevalent in the country while the majority of respondents who opined that the issue of kidnapping is not prevalent in Nigeria are residents from the North-West (43 percent) and the North-East (33 percent) zones.

More than half of the survey, 60 percent, stated that kidnapping is very prevalent in Nigeria and 43 percent said they had heard about some kidnap cases in their locality in the last 3 months further buttressing its prevalence. Interestingly, a minor 5 percent claimed that there hasn’t been any case or incidence of kidnapping in their neighbourhood.

To provide a brief insight into the outcomes of the various kidnap cases reported in the country, a large proportion (87 percent) of the respondents who specified that they know a victim personally said that the victim was rescued while 35 percent disclosed that a ransom was paid before the abductors released the victims. Also, 16 percent indicated that the kidnappers were only arrested while 8 percent confirmed that the perpetrators were both arrested and prosecuted.

This indicates the need for more vigilance and alertness on the parts of individuals while the security agencies improve on their methods of tackling such cases. Our results also show that Nigerians have high expectations for the security agencies in handling kidnap cases as almost 7 in 10 respondents (69 percent) mentioned that they would alert the security agents if they suspect any kidnapping scene. These were some of the key findings from the rate of kidnapping poll conducted in the week of February 6th, 2017.

Kidnapping and hostage-taking are often used by armed groups especially terror inclined groups as tactics to force significant concessions relating to their demands on their primary targets. And this phenomenon is on the increase on daily basis in Nigeria.

The most prominent kidnapping case in Nigeria according to Amnesty international is the abduction of the Chibok girls in Borno state since 2014 by the Boko Haram sect. Also according to them, 41 alleged new cases of mass abduction by the Boko Haram sect have been unrecorded by the Nigerian government since 2014.

Though the Boko Haram sect do not kidnap for the purpose of getting money through ransom, their activities of kidnap has halted economic activities (farming) in the North-East geopolitical zone due to fear of being taken.

While kidnapping for ransom (commonly reported) is more prominent in the South-East and South-South (Niger Delta); kidnapping for ritual purposes (uncommonly reported) is more prominent in the South-West and North Central regions while abduction (mostly unreported) is more prominent in the North-East and North-West region.

Prominent among the victims of high profile kidnap includes; the father of the popular novelist Chimamanda Adichie, former Finance Minister Olu Falae, A reverend Father John Adeyi, and the princess of Akoko in Ondo State Toyin Omosowon.

There are many causes of kidnapping; among them are unemployment, poverty, religion, political issues, religion, and corruption. The practice can be reduced with more governmental involvement, stakeholder interventions and proper education. In view of this background, NOIPolls conducted a snap poll to gauge the opinions and perceptions of Nigerians regarding the rising incidences of kidnapping.

 Culled from: BusinessDay Online