Ayodele Olalere
On August 3, 2022, 39-year-old Kano-based Yahaya Hassan, was on his way from Cotonou, Benin Republic to Kano when kidnappers abducted him around the Mopa in Kogi State. The kidnappers took him into a forest from where they contacted his family and demanded a N10 million ransom.
After negotiation, the kidnappers reduced the amount to N6 million. His brother, Abubakar Hassan was told by the kidnappers to take the money to a forest in Kabba. After dropping the money at the location, the kidnappers directed him to a place where he would meet his brother. According to Hassan, he did not meet him and had to sleep in the forest alone.
“The following day I continued searching until a woman who was kidnapped alongside my brother called me and said they killed him before even collecting the ransom, but that she didn’t know where they dumped his body.
“I went back to the nearby town and hired hunters to get back into the forest and search for the corpse. After trekking many kilometers, we found his decomposing corpse,” Hassan said.
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In a similar incident, a hotelier based in Ogbomoso, Oyo State and one of his workers, Rachael Opadele were, on July 29, 2022, abducted. Rachael was a student of Ladoke Akintola University, LAUTECH but was working in the hotel as a result of the lecturers’ strike. They were seized from the hotel in Abaa area of Ogbomoso.
The N5 million ransom the kidnappers demanded was taken to them around Igbon area along the Ogbomoso-Ilorin road. After the kidnappers collected the money and counted it to ensure it was complete, the duo were shot dead.
The motorcyclist who carried the man who went to pay the ransom in the bush was also killed in anger by the kidnappers while the ransom carrier is reportedly receiving medical treatment in an undisclosed hospital.
The above cases are a few of numerous cases of kidnapped individuals who were murdered by their abductors despite collecting ransom.
That kidnapping has become a daily occurrence from north to south to the east is not an exaggeration. Very worrisome is that families of victims are always thrown into mourning after struggling to raise money for ransom and looking forward to welcoming their loved ones back home only for them to be killed by the kidnappers.
In a country where Nigerians struggle to make ends meet, families of kidnapped victims in most cases sell their property to raise money for ransom.
While the government keeps making empty promises of providing security, many families are being thrown into mourning daily by kidnappers.
Mr. Arthur Kingsley, a freight forwarder, while reacting to the issue attributed the killings of kidnapped victims by kidnappers to anger and frustration on the part of the abductors towards the government which the kidnappers vent on their victims.
“They see victims as soft targets. We have heard cases of kidnappers telling their victims that they should blame the government for their kidnapping because of the bad economic situation,” he told The Nigerian Xpress.
He added: “Sometimes they kill their victims to also cover their tracks for the fear they could identify them later. In other cases, it may be that there were arguments between the kidnappers and their victims. However, whatever the case may be it’s wickedness to kill the victims after a ransom has been paid. Why collect the ransom and still kill them? he asked rhetorically.
In his view, Ayotunde Omosehin, a trader in the Ishaga area of Lagos State said many kidnappers operate under the influence of drugs and as such have no regard for human lives.
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“You need to understand that all these kidnappers don’t operate with clear eyes. They are always on hard drugs for them to be able to operate, and so, for them, human lives mean nothing which is the reason they kill. Moreover, based on reports we hear, many of them are not Nigerians, they are from neighbouring countries.”
Mr. John Chibuso, a security officer with one of the private security companies also told The Nigerian Xpress that sometimes, kidnappers use human blood to fortify themselves spiritually to keep having successful operations and, therefore, may kill their victims to use the blood for a spiritual purpose.
He further expressed the view that when kidnappers fear their cover may be blown by their victims if released alive, they kill them. He added that in some cases, victims are sold out by someone related or close to them who may have given information to their kidnappers about their movement. So the informant, for fear of being discovered later that he or she was involved in the act, may have told the kidnappers to kill the victim.
“Kidnappers always want to cover their tracks so they see killing the victims as a way to do that. In some cases too, someone close to the victim may be the one that planned the kidnapping so for fear of being found out as an accomplice, may ask the kidnappers to kill the victim after collecting ransom. We have seen several cases like that,” he said.
He advised anyone who falls victim to cooperate fully with the kidnappers to avoid getting them infuriated.
“I’ll advise that when one finds him or herself in such a situation, the best thing is to cooperate fully with the kidnappers. Do whatever they ask you to do. Don’t argue with them. Be calm. Try to study your environment without giving them any hints. Don’t try to play smart. If possible, appeal to their emotions while also negotiating with them. Don’t make attempts to escape unless you are sure you have the best chance to do so. Kidnappers become more aggressive if they notice you make attempts to escape but you are caught.”
On what the government can do to curtail the activities of kidnappers, Kingsley lamented that the government seems helpless in combating kidnapping as security operatives had proved they are not up to the task.
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“Much of the responsibility is on the state governments. Security is local. There is little the police can do at this stage. I believe that there is a need for the government in each state to make use of the local hunters to comb all the bushes and forests and drive these kidnappers away since that is where they take the victims to. These hunters know the terrain more than the police and can do better jobs.
Government should also make sure the highways are safe for traveling because many of the kidnappings occur when people are traveling by road,” he said.
Ayotunde urged the government to take the issue of security seriously saying the country is sitting on kegs of gunpowder if the issue of kidnapping is not addressed.
“I fear the situation is getting out of hand and Nigerians may be forced to take up arms to protect themselves if the government refuses to address the issue. Nigerians are suffering and amid the suffering, people are still being forced to raise millions of naira to pay kidnappers. One day, Nigerians will rise and defend themselves since the government has failed to protect us,” he said.