KIDNAPPING IN NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
There is no doubt that kidnapping in Nigeria is in part, a syndrome from many parts of the world- Iraq, the Philippines,
Afghanistan, India, Russia, Palestinian Territory, Mexico, Nepal and American (Abati, 2009). Episodes of ransom
kidnapping in the annals of American history include the case of four year old Charlie Ross in 1874 (Cyntrax, Wilson
and Wilson as cited in Ugwuoke, 2010 :197) and Lindbergh case in 1932 ( Allison, 2000: 110). In the Lindbergh’s
case, Lindbergh’s child was the centre of a plot, the suffering of the child’s parents, and the difficulties of the police
enquiry, were exacerbated by widespread speculation, misinformation and serial random notes (Alexander and Klein
2009: 16). Alexander and Klein further noted that in the 17th century, children were stolen from their families and
exported to North American colonies as servants and labourers, hence, ‘kid’ meaning ‘child’ and ‘nap’ or ‘nab’
meaning ‘to snatch’. Kidnapping was therefore connected to the staling of children but the word has come to be used
interchangeably with both children and adults. Nevertheless, past account of kidnapping revealed that death penalty
was ordered as a punishment for kidnapping in ancient Rome when the Emperor Constantine (AD 315) became so
alarmed by the incidence of the crime (Akpan, 2010: 33). However, the early African societies were marked with the incidence of slave trade. In this vein, Ugwu (2010 : 2).,
asserted that the weak and the poor were captured and sold into slavery. Ugwulebo (2011: 26) noted that during the
colonial era, the colonialists came to some parts of the world, such as Africa, took their able bodied men and women
and sold them to far away nations who needed human labour for their plantation and other services. (Onimode as
cited in Ugwulebo, 2011: 26-27) had noted that gun powder, gin, mm and other materials were offered by the
Europeans to the Africans in exchange for slaves shipped annually from ports in Nigeria. Therefore, slavery and
kidnapping were like two sides of a coin.
In the early traditional Nigeria society, human sacrifice perpetuated kidnapping. Ugwuoke (2010: 197) rightly asserts
that individuals were kidnapped for ritual or social reasons. The African traditional worshipers solely believed in
sacrificing to appease the gods. The sacrifice may transcend animal sacrifice, and the priest could be inspired by the
gods to order for human beings; to accomplish this kind of sacrifice, the required person could be kidnapped and
killed in a sacrificial procedure. Ugwuoke explained that kidnapping was mainly for the purpose of sacrifice either to
appease the gods or for the burial of a prominent chief or warrior. Precisely, to carry out a successful burial of
important citizen like chiefs and prominent warriors required human head. Hence, warriors engaged themselves in
search of victims to be kidnapped. Besides Nwadiorah and Nkwocha (2011: 3) observed that the act of kidnapping
increased in Nigeria after the Nigerian civil was in 1970 which exposed many youths with military experience to some
criminality. The above account reveals that kidnapping is very old in the history of man as it is also recorded in section
364 of the Nigeria Criminal Code.
Though kidnapping is not new, and has been in Nigeria criminal statues, ransom kidnapping is a new trend and was
not known in Nigeria until recently. Moreover it was obvious in 2006 when it was announced that foreign oil workers
were kidnapped (Inyang, 2009). However, those expatriates were released after paying huge ransom in millions of
naira. Since then, kidnapping for ransom has spread to most parts of Nigerian states and Enugu East Senatorial
District is also affected by it. Many people have been kidnapped and only released after the payment of ransom while
in some cases dead bodies were recovered. Igwe Uche Nwaechime, the proprietor of Mac Royale Hotels ltd, from
Nkanu West Local Government , Enugu State was kidnapped and slaughtered by the kidnappers. His body was found
by a search party at a refuse dump site on the Enugu Port Harcourt express way (Ugwulebo, 2011). Dr. Paul
Edemobi, the proprietor Paul and Grace Foundation and brother to Prof. Dora Akuyili, was kidnapped in Enugu on
Monday 1st December 2008 from his 10B Savage Cresent GRA Enugu (Ojukwu, 2011). The wife of Sam Ngene, the
then Chairman of Enugu South Local Government Area was kidnapped on March 2009. Also, Nkem Owoh, the
popular Nollywood actor was kidnapped along Enugu-Port Harcourt express way (Ugwulebo, 2011). Payment of
ransom, tragic recovery of dead bodies and other facts and events as a result of kidnapping shapes peoples
perception of the crime. Furthermore, Anosike (2009) stated that the incidence of kidnapping is a common occurrence
in the eastern states. Anosike also noted that states ranging from Abia to Anambra and Enugu were greatly alarmed by the wave of kidnapping.
KIDNAPPING IN NIGERIA