Having many kidnappers cannot be a good signal for a nation that seeks foreign investors. But that was the message the Minister of Police Affairs, Dr Yakubu Lame, sent recently when he revealed that no fewer than 512 cases of kidnapping have been recorded in parts of the country in the past18 months. According to the minister, 353 persons fell victims in 2008 while 159 incidents have been recorded this year. Abia State tops the list with 110 cases; it is followed by Imo with 58, Delta 44, and Akwa Ibom 40. Fewer cases have also been recorded in unlikely places like Kaduna, Lagos, Minna, Kano and Adamawa. In all, seven lives were lost, 154 arrests made and 81 cases prosecuted.
As if to confirm Abia State's position as the den of hijackers, the hoodlums last Tuesday killed the deputy chairman of Osisioma local government, Mr Solomon Nwanjo, when he resisted abduction in his residence.
Minister Lame identified top politicians as the prime movers of the crime, declaring that the situation had been worsened by a police force that was ill-equipped, improperly trained and insufficiently motivated. He merely stated the obvious: kidnapping was created by desperate politicians who recruited and armed willing goons to fight elections. After capturing power, they abandoned their thugs but failed to retrieve sophisticated weapons from them. Today, Nigerian criminals consider kidnapping more lucrative and less risky than armed robbery. The introduction of capital punishment for the offence in states like Anambra and Abia appears ineffective as a deterrent.
Insecurity has engulfed the nation as the hijackers reign freely. Wealthy individuals and their relations have become vulnerable. Not even security personnel are spared: recently, a senior State Security Service operative was taken hostage in Akwa Ibom; armed robbers bombed a police station in Nsukka, Enugu State, killing the DPO and other policemen.
Indeed, the minister of police affairs has correctly identified the problems within the Nigeria Police Force. It is left for the authorities to confront the challenges, especially now that a new police boss has been named. Nigeria, a nation of 150 million, is under-policed. The police's current strength is about 350, 000, but one-third of the number are said to be guarding rich and powerful individuals alone. Moreover, the officers and men deserve to be paid better. They need constant training and retraining, and they need to be equipped with state-of-the-art weapons and communication gadgets.
Nigerians should also be ready to protect themselves from criminals in their midst. Nobody should negotiate with kidnappers or pay a dime as a ransom. Since criminals do not live in outer space, it is not difficult to identify and report them to trusted agents of the law.
