Kidnapping: NSA’s counsel to families of victims

THE terrorist attacks that Nigerians are daily confronted with typically attract different shades of opinion, from the sublime to the ridiculous. One of such recently came from the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu. Ribadu was in Kaduna, Kaduna State, to receive the most recent set of Nigerians lucky to be alive after being captured by a notorious gang of kidnappers. The victims numbering 60, including a deputy director in the civil service and a relative of vocal social critic and Catholic Bishop, Matthew Hassan Kukah, had been in captivity for well over a month before their rescue following military operations in Southern Kaduna. The victims were thereafter handed over to the Minister of Defence, Mohammed Abubakar. The NSA, apparently frustrated by the ease with which the criminals carried out their activities, gave a recommendation to stem the violence regularly visited on Nigerians by outlaws. He warned Nigerians to desist from paying ransom to terrorists, kidnappers, and criminal groups. His reason was that the receipt of ransom by these nefarious persons worsens the fight against kidnapping.

He said: “Let me urge our people, families, to stop giving ransom to these criminals. Please stop giving money to these people. The more money you give, the more you compound the problem. We have never given any money to any of these people. Giving money to these evil people is counterproductive. The more money you give them, the more they request for more. Daily, we are getting our brothers and sisters rescued from the hands of these evil people. But releasing them is not the end of the matter. We will go after them and they will face the consequences. We have been working day and night, and I know the NSA does not sleep, all in a bid to ensure these security issues are resolved. I want to thank Nigerians for the trust they are showing and for providing information which is assisting these successes. They should continue to have that trust in us, give us support by providing information because information is needed to overcome these evil people.” 

We salute the NSA and the Armed Forces for their efforts to contain terrorism. However, we must state that the fight against the outlaws does not warrant undue self-adulation. In the same vein, the NSA’s advice to Nigerians who are daily kidnapped and from whom mindboggling ransoms are demanded is ludicrous. This is because, as we have harped on in previous editorials, no one pays ransom with joy. The kidnappers force victims and their families to pay ransom by threatening to eliminate the victims, often doing so while subjecting the victims to severe torture. It is a psychological weapon that often works like magic.

Cognizant of the agony and hopelessness their loved ones are being subjected to by the criminals, families often bend over backwards to make the demanded ransoms available. The criminals demand for ransoms literally at gunpoint, and with the victims begging for their lives to be spared. The NSA should realise that the people who are compelled to pay ransom to rescue their loved ones will naturally see his counsel as self-serving. They do not have any luxury to play with the lives of their loved ones. 

Much as the security forces are trying their best to confront the spate of violence in the country, the fact remains that their efforts are like a drop in the ocean. Truth be told, Nigerians do not have any confidence in the government’s ability to rescue their loved ones from the hands of the merchants of death. It is even rumoured that in many cases, security operatives clandestinely advise  the families of victims to pay the criminals to avert their being killed. So, coming to the public to blame the same set of people is an unkind blow to their resilience and their honest desire to have their family members set free. What the government needs to do is to firm up its game and stop the unending criminal activities. Humongous budgetary commitments, the patrimony of ordinary Nigerians, are yearly committed into apprehending criminals. It is therefore a double assault on the people that they are made to expend their hard-earned money on freeing their kidnapped loved ones. By paying tax, Nigerians have already given the government the wherewithal with which to protect them. The government cannot fail in its duty, then dictate how the people are to react to that failure.

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While we appreciate the efforts of the security forces in rescuing kidnapped Nigerians, we restate the fact that the government has to contain criminals and give long-suffering Nigerians respite. Not doing so amounts to criminal abdication of its responsibility.