By Agunloye Bashiru
The failure and nonchalant attitude of the Federal Government of Nigeria on the incidents of kidnapping for ransom has made Nigerian families to resort to self-help to free their loved ones from the dens of kidnappers and bandits.
*Kidnappers and their victims
From 2021 to date, over 500 incidents of kidnappings were said
to have been recorded with close to 4,000 Nigerians and some foreign citizens
abducted across Nigeria, while some unreported cases were unknown due to the
nature of Nigeria when it comes to proper data documentation.
While all these incidents of kidnappings and abductions were
happening across the country, the Nigerian government left the victims in the
hands of these unrepentant and inhuman gangs.
From July 2021 to August 2022, over one billion Naira was reported to have been paid by Nigerians to freed victims of kidnappings and abductions. In July 2021, the sum of N250 million was paid by Nigeria Baptist Convention as ransom to the bandits that kidnapped 140 students from the Bethel Baptist College, Damishi, Kaduna State. In July 2022 alone, eight Nigerian abducted persons parted with N800 million while a kidnapped Pakistani national paid the sum of N200 million as ransom to kidnappers.
