Over time, kidnapping has become a major threat in Nigeria in addition to other grievous and violent crimes like insurgency, militancy and armed robbery.
These security threats have made life difficult for people, but recently, kidnapping has been the most dangerous form of violence in the country.
This is because the money demanded as ransom by kidnappers is beyond the financial abilities of many families and paying the said sum does not also guarantee they will allow victims to live.
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According to reports, Nigeria has one of the world’s highest rates of kidnap and several Nigerians have been kidnapped for different purposes over the years. The crime used to be targeted at wealthy people that can pay a fee in exchange for being freed, but now it cuts across different levels of financial status; school children have even been kidnapped in groups in various parts of the country.
There is a belief that kidnapping is mostly caused by unemployment, and it is believable because the high unemployment rate has lured some youths to find other ways to earn money even though such means are usually illegal.
A cash-strapped unemployed person may believe that when he kidnaps someone who is rich, he may be able to become rich himself. As a result, I urge the Federal Government to put more effort in training anti-kidnapping agents and create jobs for Nigeria’s teeming youths as a way to curb the crime of kidnapping in the country.
Yomade Umar
Ibadan
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