As the Yuletide approaches, there seems to be an upsurge in the
spate of kidnapping in many parts of the country. Security agencies have
attributed this to the desperation of criminally-minded people to make
money at all cost so as to get something to flaunt during the season.
Olawale Olaleye, Ademola Adeyemo, Omololu Ogunmade, Shola Oyeyipo, Anayo
Okolie, Ayodele Opiah and Nkiruka Okoh examine this growing malady in
the quest for a safer nation
For Nigeria’s security agencies, this is no doubt, a most trying
period. It is bad enough that efforts to curb terrorism in different
parts of the country, especially in the North have not stopped the Boko
Haram insurgency. However, the rising cases of kidnapping and the mode
of operations of kidnappers have further compounded the challenges
facing the security agents.
Although the menace of terrorism, either by accident or design, appears
restricted to certain parts of the country, the orgy of kidnapping
knows no bound. Across the different parts of Nigeria, the fear of being
kidnapped is the beginning of being security conscious by high profile
targets and their family members. It does not matter who is involved;
with a reliable insider, a kidnap operation is executed successfully and
in most cases, the criminals smile to the bank.
