IT began like child’s play but soon spread like Harmattan fire, tearing communities apart and striking fear in the hearts of the well-heeled across the land.
When reports of kidnapping in the Niger Delta began some years ago, it was essentially orchestrated by aggrieved youths who formed themselves into militant groups. Their aim was to settle scores with the government and multinational oil firm who they blamed for exploiting their natural resources and despoiling their environment without compensation.
For many observers it was inevitable that the massive contradictions inherent in a situation where a land that produced the nation’s wealth being also home to extreme poverty, would trigger a violent response sooner than later.
Unfortunately, kidnapping which the militants used initially as a tool in their struggle, soon snowballed into a bigger industry where all-comers jumping in for a quick payday.
The lucrative criminal venture then spread to other parts of the country – primarily the South-East where all sorts of methods were deployed daily to capture victims. As a result, many indigenes of those states abandoned their annual practice of going home in times of festivities. Those who chose to brave it employed the services of heavily-armed security agents as escorts whenever they were travelling.
As the problem festered it was soon obvious that it wasn’t something that conventional policing could contain. Individual states began taking steps to tackle the problem. One of the earliest to make a move in the face of a near crisis situation was Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State.
In 2010 he presented a bill to the State House of Assembly asking that stringent measures be put in place to checkmate the monsters. The bill was eventually passed into law stipulating that government had the right to confiscate, destroy or turn properties belonging to kidnappers and their sponsors to some other use. This was in addition to blocking their sources of income.
Today, Obi’s example has spread to some other states with Edo being the latest to institute the death sentence as penalty for anyone caught kidnapping or aiding the crime.
The nation’s waits to see whether the rash of new measures are having any effect, or whether state governments are fighting a losing battle against a criminal enterprise that that offers unbelievable returns for so little risk and investment. What follows is a status report of the actions of different states across the country.
ANAMBRA
Since the law against kidnapping was passed in 2010, Obi has demolished dozens of property belonging to kidnappers. He brought down two buildings at Oraifite in Ekwusigo Local Government Area where a large cache of arms was uncovered by the police after they arrested one Olisa Ifedike
Obi was quoted as saying then: “No kidnapper or criminal would be allowed to enjoy the proceeds of his illegal activities. The game is up for other criminals still lurking in any part of the state as government will not stop until the set objective is achieved.
“We can no longer continue this kind of life. People must live purposeful lives; we are going to start looking for his business associates also. And that is why I am here today to supervise the demolition of these buildings.”
However, Anambra’s anti-kidnapping law has elicited some criticisms from a number of observers. Significantly, the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety) condemned the idea of inflicting death penalty on convicted kidnappers. The practice of destroying the properties of suspected kidnappers without subjecting them to trial in the court of law has also been disparaged by a good number of critics.
Chairman of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Comrade Aloysius Attah stated: “Death sentence is out of tune with existential realities. It is anachronistic and against all known international laws, treaties, and conventions.”
A human rights lawyer, Chief S.O Abuchi, says the law is inconsistent with international covenant on civil and political rights which Nigeria is a signatory to.
Underlining the difficulties which the new legislation throw up, Public Relations Officer of the state police command, ASP Emeka Chukwuemeka, says that “death sentence is difficult to execute because of lack of evidence in court.”
Significantly, it has been noted that despite the death sentence threat to kidnappers in Anambra, the business still thrives in the state. President, Anambra State Youth Council, Comrade Chibuzor Ekwegha, declared: “Death penalty has not stopped kidnapping, but kidnapping should carry death penalty even though it is seriously not the solution to it.”
The South-East Coordinator for Campaign for Democracy, Dede Uzor A Uzor, is decidedly against it. “Our position is very clear. It has not in any way reduced crime at all,” he said.
BAYELSA
Bayelsa State was notorious for kidnapping before and after the inauguration of Seriake Dickson as governor of the state. Kidnappers even from neighbouring states converted many of the creeks and mangroves forest to their bases and hideouts. Most of the abandoned militant camps that dotted the waterways of the state became havens for the booming abduction business. In fact, different gangs of gunmen welcomed the governor to office with a kidnapping spree.
Earlier in the year, the state was caught up in the web of resolving wanton cases of abduction. Among the numerous cases of the incidents that occurred in January, the government was jolted by an uncommon trend of snatching relations of government officials – especially their parents.
On January 13, Betinah, the 78-year old mother of the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Mr. Kombowei Benson, was seized and whisked away.
Before the dust raised by Betinah’s abduction could settle, Mr. Festus Ebegu, 65 years old, and his 53-year old wife, Mrs. Ebiye, parents of the Chairman of Ogbia Local Government Area, Richard Ebegu, were abducted from their country home on January 28, 2013.
It later became the turn of the Majority Leader of the State House of Assembly, Mr. Peter Akpe. Gunmen stormed his country home in Ededebiri, Sagbama Local Government Area and seized his mother, Esther, on January 30.
The list of victims increased and the disturbed Dickson viewed it as a desperate situation. Matters were compounded with an uptick in the kidnapping of expatriates along the waterways.
After consulting with security commanders, the governor mooted the idea of scaring kidnappers with death penalty. He said he would not hesitate to sign warrants of convicted abductors. He immediately sent a bill to the House, which lawmakers swiftly passed into law. Dickson signed the Bayelsa State Kidnapping and Allied Offences Bill 2013 on February 13.
Addressing potential violators of the new law, he said: “If you are involved in any act of kidnapping, don’t come near Bayelsa. We have put measures in place – whether it is in sea-piracy or kidnapping, we are going to get you. We will make it difficult for you to succeed and whoever you are and wherever you are operating from, we are going to get you.
“It is morally indefensible for young people, for whatever reason, to go under the cover of darkness, armed with illegal weapons, terrorise villages and old people in their homes and then forcibly abduct and manhandle them and take them as an article of trade.”
“Most people know that when I say something, I do it. I will not hesitate to sign a certificate (warrant) of execution. Anybody who doesn’t listen and commits any of the offences prohibited by this law, and who is tried and convicted will face the penalty.”
However, about nine months after talking tough and approving the bill, the governor has yet to sign a death warrant of any convict. Kidnapping has also continued in the state.
ABIA
By mid-2010, Abia State was under siege as violent crimes, like armed robbery, rape of young and old women, kidnapping of different categories of people were the order of the day.
The peak was when kidnappers supposedly led by the infamous Osisikankwu, after a heavy shootout with security men seized a busload of pupils of Abayi International School who were on their way to school.
This prompted the state governor, Chief Theodore Orji, to ask the Presidency to come to the aid of the state by allowing the military to to flush out the criminals.
The coming of the military in no small way helped as the rate of kidnapping has been reduced to the barest minimum.
The measures went beyond inviting the military. The governor sponsored an executive bill in the state House of Assembly to make anyone caught in the act of kidnapping pay the supreme price.
The assembly without delay passed the bill into law making kidnapping a capital offence punishable by death. The law also stipulated that all the property owned by kidnappers would either be demolished or taken over by the state government.
Since the bill became law, cases of kidnapping and other violent crimes have reduced.
To strengthen the fight against kidnapping and other violent crimes in the state, soldiers have been quartered at the 14th Brigade military barracks at Ohafia. The state government cooperated with the federal government to rebuild and reopen the barracks which had been abandoned for 20 years.
EDO
Following the trends in the other states, Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, signed into law the Anti-kidnapping Bill. Before then, he had demurred. A number of respondents expressed dismay over his delay in assenting to the bill.
Defending the governor’s stance then, Special Adviser to the Governor on Media Matters, Prince Kassim Afegbua, said the governor needed to thoroughly study the bill before assenting to it.
Within that period, the state witnessed a string of high profile abductions. A high court judge was kidnapped. The entire nation was also gripped by the news of the abduction of the legal luminary and human rights activist, Mike Ozekhome, in the state. The local chapter of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) issued a threat not to defend the cases of suspected kidnappers standing trials due to the kidnap of their colleagues and other victims in the state.
The spate of snatchings seemed to prompt the governor to eventually sign into law the Kidnapping Prohibition Bill as amended by the State House of Assembly. Apart from this, the governor announced that his government, in conjunction with security agencies were looking at the option of re-introducing checkpoints in strategic areas of the state.
Some critics, however, argued the issue is beyond making and enforcing laws. A lawyer, Ben Akhigbe, said “If someone of Ozekhome’s status that has spent most of his life fighting for the oppressed can be kidnapped, it then means that none of us is safe. It is not just enough to buy firearms; the government at federal and state levels must begin to think of tackling the problem by creating employment opportunities.”
The governor, however, disagreed with those who argue that kidnapping is a result of unemployment. He said: “no one should try to trivialise very complex issues.”
The jury is still out as to what impact the tough new laws would have.
DELTA
The Delta State Government has had a running battle with kidnappers. The state has also witnessed many high profile kidnap cases. Legislators, businessmen, sportsmen and top civil servants, medical practitioners, judges are specially targeted. Many of the well-heeled in the society have also resorted to the use of police protection just like in the other states.
The fourth assembly of the Delta legislature initiated an anti-kidnapping bill which failed following withholding of assent by Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan. The bill was sponsored by the member representing Warri-South-West Constituency, Mr. Daniel Mayuku
However, in December 2012, the fifth Assembly of the Delta legislature passed into law the state Anti-Kidnapping and Anti-Terrorism Bill. But the law initially ran into hitches after Uduaghan again refused to assent to the bill. The legislators, however, overrode the governor’s veto in April 2013
The bill which among other provisions prescribed death penalty for suspects found guilty of the offence of kidnapping also stipulated destruction of property of kidnappers.
In a letter to the House, Uduaghan had argued that the death penalty was no longer fashionable and advocated life imprisonment for kidnappers. He further argued that death sentence would not serve as antidote for kidnapping, stressing that some sections of the anti-kidnapping bill infringed on the fundamental rights of citizens as enshrined in section 36 and 43 of the 1999 Constitution.
The governor pointed out that some sections prescribed offences in matters contemplated under Item 2 of the Exclusive Legislative List of the 1999 Constitution just as he further picked holes in some sections as violation of section 251 of the 1999 Constitution.
He declared: “In view of the constitutional points and other fundamental issues I have highlighted above, I am compelled to withhold my assent to the bill and I do hereby convey to this Honourable House my decision to so withhold my assent to the bill.”
But the House at its plenary vetoed the governor and reconsidered the bill clause by clause before passing it into law. Twenty six members of the 29-member House voted overwhelmingly to veto the governor on the issue.
In line with the law passed by the assembly, the Delta State Government embarked on the demolition of property belonging to kidnappers. Eight buildings allegedly owned by kidnappers were destroyed by the Delta State Government in 2013.
The Delta State Police Commissioner, Ikechukwu Aduba, while addressing the mass media after one of the demolition exercises, said some kidnap victims were rescued from the property. He revealed that the government ordered the demolition of some identified operational bases of hoodlums in the state, claiming that the police had destroyed two in Ozoro, Isoko North, two in Kokori, Ethiope East, one in Orogun, Ughelli North, and two others in Warri. Aduba also said other buildings have been earmarked for demolition in Ogwashi-Uku Onicha-Olona.and Ubulu-Uku.
Again, it is not clear what impact the new law has had. The recently arrested kidnap kingin, Kelvin, and his gang operated with impunity in Okpara Waterside in the state – well within the jurisdiction of the new act. The fact that members of the fearsome gang are still active in their community is perhaps a pointer to how effective the new legislation has been as a deterrent.
IMO
Imo State has also been buffeted by rampant cases of kidnapping. During the administration of Chief Ikedi Ohakim, a bill to prohibit kidnapping and hostage taking was sponsored by Hon. Oyibo Nwaneri, representing Oru East Constituency.
The bill known as Hostage Taking/Kidnapping Prohibition Bill, stipulated death sentence for kidnapping and hostage taking as well as the destruction of properties of convicted kidnappers and any other facility used in facilitating and abetting kidnapping.
But Ohakim declined signing the bill into law, citing religious reasons for his refusal. The bill was later became law and tagged the Imo State Hostage Taking and Kidnapping Prohibition Law 2010 after the House of Assembly overrode the governor’s veto.
Although no one had been sentenced to death for kidnapping or hostage taking since the new law came into existence, scores of buildings and other property belonging to suspected kidnappers have been destroyed by the state government over the last two years.
The Rochas Okorocha administration, for instance, has demolished a number of buildings linked to kidnapping activities in the state. This measure has in no small means helped in the fight against kidnapping and other heinous crimes in the state.
Currently, kidnapping had dropped drastically, with the police attributing it to proactive measures adopted by the state command in tackling the menace. The State Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Musa Katsina, says kidnap syndicates that were operating in the state had been dislodged after an intensive manhunt for the ring leaders was initiated under his watch.
He disclosed that some of the kidnap syndicates that were behind high profile kidnapping s in the state, operated from outside the country before they were busted as a result of intelligence networking between the command and Interpol.
