Kidnapping for Ransom in Nigeria

Kidnapping has become a ransom taking business, which the criminal gangs exploit as a source of wealth creation. In this case, Nigeria has become a major hotspot for kidnapping, which has developed into major threats to national and international security. In Nigeria, crimes and criminalities such as kidnapping have become a very lucrative business that is being carried out at a commercial scale. The growing gap between the rich and the poor, compounded with greed and irrational ambition on the part of idle youths to amass quick wealth in the society, has resulted in an increase in crime rates across Nigeria. Kidnapping has become an attractive criminal enterprise owing to its low risk and high financial yield for in the hands of its perpetrators, who have turned it into a multi-million-naira enterprises. It occurs at any time and in any location, including homes, schools, religious sites, streets, markets, business establishments, farms, highways, during the day and at night. It is based on this background that effort is geared towards investigating the phenomenon of kidnapping for ransom in Nigeria and to highlight the implications for national security. The objective of this chapter is to examine kidnapping for ransom by bandits and insurgents, who take advantage of inadequate policing and easy availability of firearms across Nigeria, paying attention to the relationship between perpetrators and the victims, how negotiations are usually carried out, the mode of payment of ransom, and finally the impacts of kidnapping on the hostages.