The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Kidnapping

  • Kidnapping of Dutch nationals in the Niger Delta

    Kidnapping of Dutch nationals in the Niger Delta

    In this piece, we are going to make references to Nnamdi Onyeuma’s article which was published on  May 17, 2014 entitled “In the Niger Delta.” Our interest here is merely to appraise a few events in the past few years in the Niger Delta.

    We will try to place them in some kind of perspective. Here, we surely will not go into much detail of the various happenings taking place in that environmentally traumatised region.

    It is interesting to note that because the oil and gas produced in this part of the world is distributed worldwide mostly because of their excellent quality, then it is not unlikely that some foreign readers of this piece may have recently taken a ride in a vehicle, operated a machine or something that used fuel from this delta region of Nigeria. So, it is a subject that actually connects many people around the globe. It is for this reason that it becomes important that all commentators should be careful not to deliberately misrepresent any person or issue as they relate to the region. A lot of people have perished; caught in the crossfire of the politics of the Niger Delta oil and gas.

    The most notable of these deaths are those of Biafra in the 1960s where 3.1 million people died and the 1995 murder of Ogoni’s nine most important citizens by the Federal Government of Nigeria under Abacha. It is in reverence for these so-called sacrificial lambs that we must encourage every effort by groups or persons who are trying to build lasting peace, security and institutions that will help improve lives and human relationships in the Niger Delta. At the same time, we also frown at any attempt by anyone, either ignorantly or otherwise, that tends to distort issues and stories in the Niger Delta.

    Niger Delta is important to the world community as we earlier pointed out but it is even more so to the Nigerian union because it provides more than 95 per cent of the country’s economic sustenance. So, any news coming out from the region therefore tends to elicit a wide interest.

    This is why the news  about the kidnapping of five Dutch nationals in the creeks of Niger Delta at the beginning of this month made huge headlines around the world. As usual, when such incidents happen, most people will hold their breath and hope for the best. For those who have been the direct victims, or  their friends or relatives who have been so unfortunate to go through such harrowing experience, it is something no one will wish for even an enemy. Whichever way it ends, both the captives and their well-wishers go through periods of suspense and apprehension that leave them thoroughly traumatised. In this case, however, we are glad that it ended well because all the people taken captive have been released and they have re-united with their  families now. The ordeal lasted for about a week and we are happy it is over. The people will need a period of healing and we hope that time will help them heal fast.

    Now, it is important to contrast this incident in the Niger Delta with the horrifying and inexcusable Islamic terrorism taking place in the Northern part of Nigeria. The  Boko Haram sect in the North is currently holding captive since the last one and half months, almost 300 young teenage school girls and has threatened to sell them into child sex slavery and there is no hope in sight that the girls will be released anytime soon. This is despite the presence of an international contingent rescue team with sophisticated equipment and personnel to help find and rescue the girls. Just a month before the abduction of the school girls, Boko Haram had gone into another school in the North and slaughtered scores of the kids there in the night. Inas- much as we condemn and demand that the senseless kidnapping of all shapes and for any reason in the entire Eastern region must stop forthwith but we must not be naïve by failing to note a very big difference between events in the North and those of the South or East. Without going into any details, yet we cannot help but ask the reader to take time and consider what informs this difference that is between the Southeast or South-South and the Northern part of the Nigerian union. Several analysts have continued to emphasise that it is nothing more than the obvious differences in the culture or religion of the two regions. The North is Islamic while the Southsouth and Southeast are Christian and Animist. This is very important since it is responsible for this huge difference of life and death.

    For many who followed events and activities in the Niger Delta, while the kidnapping ordeal of the five people lasted, the much they could do was to pray. The way the news of the kidnapping was received by some is that again, the fragile peace finally breaks. The patched up peace had been held together by the glue of credible interveners and go-between organisations like Hope for the Niger Delta (HND), the non-profit/non-governmental organisation being run by Sunny Ofehe. But, by the sheer twist of fate, Ofehe and his HND are the ones caught in the middle of the web of circumstance of this early May tragedy. So, for Sunny Ofehe, the kidnapping must have been like the breaking in one’s face in the twinkle of the eye everything that one ever dreamed and worked for.

    Ofehe had spent the last decade or so working hard and dedicatedly for peace, development, the overall well-being and, above all, the security of the Niger Delta, his birth place. Ofehe and his HND have tried within this period to broker a triangular peace and understanding among the important Niger Delta stakeholders, i.e. the people of the oil communities in the Niger Delta, the government of Nigeria and the oil companies. Given the complexities of the politics of oil and big money, an unprejudiced analyst should be able to score the organisation high in what can be considered their modest achievements.

    This is true when one juxtaposes the activities and accomplishments of HND and those of others working within the same area. It is not difficult to see that Ofehe’s HND remains one of the most trustworthy key NGO players in the Niger Delta today. It is also not hard to note that the group has achieved this through hard work and strategic planning. It is through transparency and sincerity of the group that they succeeded in winning and sustaining the confidence of the major stakeholders in the Niger Delta. For those who are familiar with the kind of work being done by HND and others, it will be easy to agree that it is a field that is full of so many variables and even uncertainties. A player in this field can always hope for the best but practical experience will always make them to prepare for anything, even for the worst.

    While at the same time those of us who are genuinely hopeful that the security situation in the Niger Delta will eventually improve to the extent that anyone with genuine business or humanitarian intentions can travel freely without fear of molestation, let alone being kidnapped, we recognise that this will remain only a mere wishful thinking if people and organisations like Ofehe and his Hope for the Niger Delta should become scared away by the activities of some unscrupulous elements. All stakeholders there must see to it that the noble and good work of building bridges of peace and reconciliation in the Niger Delta does not stop. The kinds of bridges that the NGOs in the category of HND are building in this traumatised region are such that should not be played politics with.

    The monumental environmental issue of Nigeria’s Niger Delta has since attained a very staggering proportion. Nigeria’s Niger Delta is not the only place on earth where oil and gas are extracted but the disastrous devastation of the environmental situation there cannot be compared with another place anywhere else. The scandalous degradation of the ecosystem of the Niger Delta has inspired many environmental and humanitarian activists ever since. The most celebrated among such people is Ken Saro Wiwa, one of the Ogoni Nine as noted above.

    It is for the sake of finding means to alleviate the pain and suffering of the people who live and endure the worst kind of deprivation in this region that we are urging that somehow, we must end politics; we must end partisanship when discussing and commenting on the events of the Niger Delta. The destructions taking place today in the Niger Delta must stop because it is not just the lives of those alive today that are being affected; those of the yet unborn generations are also being destroyed.

    Of all the NGOs operating in the various countries of the world today, none can be said to be more reputable than the ones mentioned by Nnamdi in his article. Transparency International, Oxfam and others are world-renowned for their strict adherence to stipulated standards in international humanitarian business and in their dealing and association with countries and organisations. It is therefore interesting to acknowledge the fact that if these organisations are the major donors to Sunny Ofehe’s Hope for the Niger Delta, then they must have found the organisation and its accounting system to be trustworthy enough since these organisations do not put their money just anywhere.

    As we conclude, we will borrow Nnamdi’s phrase. It is no secret that the Federal Government of Nigeria and the oil companies are not doing as much as they should right now in the Niger Delta. That the people will depend mostly on the conscientious work of NGOs like HND to keep reminding these powers of their negligent responsibility, cannot be over-emphasised. So, it is hoped that if these charitable and humanitarian organisations are encouraged, they may, perhaps eventually be able to rest the ghost of crime against humanity that has always been committed against the people of this oil-bearing region. The ghost of Biafra and the Ogoni Nine may finally be pacified once the commentators can stop joining politics with and trivialising the lives and destiny of the people of the Niger Delta.

     

     

    •Culled from Sri Lankan The Guardian

  • Gunmen attack Agip tugboats in Bayelsa, kidnap two captains

    Gunmen operating in Nembe waterways, Bayelsa State, have attacked two gunboats belonging to the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) abducting two captains.

    The gunmen suspected to be pirates were said to have accosted the tugboat at about 1pm on Wednesday.

    “The incident occurred at Peter Town in Nembe. The tugboats were on transit to Port Harcourt when the bandits double-crossed them, robbed them and whisked the captains away”, a security source who pleaded for anonymity said.

    The source added: “The unknown gunmen shot sporadically into the air, creating panic in the area before whisking the two captains away to unknown creeks. The victims must have been abducted for ransom.”

    The attacked boats were identified as MV EBIZAR and MV SOMKE.

    The names of the abducted captains were given as Mr. T. Monday and Mr. E. messiah.

    While Monday was said to be the captain of for MV EBIZAR and Mr. Messiah was reportedly in charge of MV SOMKE when the bandits struck.

    When contacted, the Media Coordinator, Joint Task Force, Operation Pulo Shield, Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, said he had yet to be briefed on the incident.

  • JTF foils kidnap attempt on another Jonathan’s cousin

    Close and extended family members of President Goodluck Jonathan in Ogbia Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, have become endangered species.

    But for timely intervention of Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Pulo Shield, another cousin of President Jonathan, Madam Patience Agbani would have been abducted.

    Agbani is said to be related to the mother of President Jonathan.

    She was reportedly trailed by her assailants at Akimpli, Ogbia local government area at about 11pm on Wednesday.

    She was said to be returning from her business when the hoodlums numbering six accosted her.

    Sighting them from a distance, the woman was said to have taken to her heels while the bandits pursued her.

    The Media Coordinator, JTF, Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, who confirmed the incident, said Agbani ran into an uncompleted building and called an operative of JTF in the area.

    He said: “We foiled the kidnap attempt on the woman at Akimpli at about 11pm. She was returning from her business at about 11:30 pm. But she was being trailed by a group of men numbering about six.

    “They gave her a hot chase but good enough she had the number of one of our men deployed at SETRACO in Ogbia. Our patrol team responded swiftly and they were able to prevent the kidnap,” he said.

    He said JTF was able to rescue the woman because the woman called the outfit and provided it with useful information about her location.

    “We were able to foil the attempt from the would-be victim because of the quality of information we got. People should assist JTF with useful information,” he said.

    Agbani, it was learnt, was taken to the Headquarters of the JTF in Yenagoa for debriefing.

  • How states are fighting kidnappers

    How states are fighting kidnappers

    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.

  • Varieties of kidnapping

    Varieties of kidnapping

    It was the ultimate demonstration of utter contempt for the Nigerian state. I refer to the public appearance on September 18 of the notorious kidnapper, Kelvin Ibrukwe, surrounded by some of his equally masked and heavily armed supporters. The veritable felon had the temerity and dexterity to seek to justify his criminal but profitable kidnapping enterprise by the ineptness and lack of vision of a Nigerian state that has not been able to utilise the humongous resources of the country to uplift the standard of living of the vast majority of our people.

    Thus, Kelvin was lustfully hailed by members of his Kokori, Delta State community, as he defiantly gave the government an ultimatum of 60 days to provide necessary facilities and amenities for his people or face dire consequences. It would appear that Kelvin is a hero of sorts among his people. Many of them apparently do not see him as being more criminal than many in government who lead prodigal lives amidst an ocean of mass poverty.

    Kelvin’s trade of kidnapping prominent citizens for huge sums of ransom money may thus be seen, in this context, as a class struggle of sorts. The only snag that exposes Kelvin’s clever hypocrisy is that there is no evidence that he used the money realized from his obviously lucrative trade in any way to ameliorate the plight of his much beloved people.

    Obviously stung by Kelvin’s audacity in giving the Nigerian state an ultimatum to live up to its responsibility, the security authorities swung into action and, in a matter of days the kidnapper’s world collapsed like a pack of cards. A joint operation between the State Security Services (SSS) and the Joint Task Force (JTF) smoked him out of his hideout and his reign of murderous impunity has come to an end.

    But given the parlous state of Nigeria’s economy, the massive poverty in the land, the mass unemployment among our youth, the criminal opulence of our elite, the ever increasing inequality among social classes in the country, will a hundred more Kelvins not spring up to replace one who is arrested and taken out of circulation?

    Yes, the Kelvins of this world have no place in a decent society. The very notion of kidnapping fellow human beings is odious and nauseating. They subject their victims to unthinkable psychological trauma. They put whole families into pain, stress, strain, anxiety and grief. It does not matter to them that their victim is a renowned lawyer and social activist like Mike Ozokhame or a venerable cleric like Archbishop IgnatiousKattey. They kill with impunity while carrying out their operations. But the truth of the matter is that arresting one Kelvin is not enough to contain kidnapping and other violent crimes perpetrated by our youth across the land. The Nigerian ruling class must get serious about rigorously addressing the socio-economic roots of this social peril or risk even more dangerous acts of criminal insurgency.

    It is all too easy for us to see the Kelvins of this world and his likes as the sole kidnappers in our society. It is so tempting for us to condemn and revile them. But there are other, perhaps even more dangerous kidnappers in our midst. These kidnappers wear exquisitely tailored suits. They drive the most exotic cars, befriend the most beautiful women, cruise around the skies in their private jets and are the most generous payers of their tithes and offerings in their respective places of worship.

    Let us take those bank chief executives whose nefarious activities led to the collapse of their banks for instance. They virtually captured the institutions they had the privileged of managing including depositors funds. Their loot was on a far more monumental scale than could ever be realized by the likes of Kelvin. Their pens wrecked more havoc than the automatic rifles of the lower degree of kidnappers. These bankers today still retain their ill- gotten wealth and live in continued opulence while many of their depositors and shareholders have been brought to ruin or sent prematurely to their graves. Can any group of kidnappers be more dangerous than these?

    Another set of veritable kidnappers are those who have completely messed up the country’s pension fund scheme. We read regularly of the embezzlement of hundreds of millions of pension funds that should serve as succour for those who had served their country in their prime. The activities of these pension fund kidnappers result in the pitiable sight of aged pensioners’ queuing up endlessly and futilely for their pensions that have disappeared into private bank accounts. Some of them are known to have died in the process. The Kelvins of this world kill their hundreds; the pension fund kidnappers kill their thousands.

    A notorious example is a certain Deputy Director in the civil service who was deployed to head the Pension Reform Task Force Team and restore sanity to the country’s corrupt pension system. In the course of discharging this task, he reportedly helped himself generously to the pension funds under his control. Invited by the National Assembly to shed light on about N195 billion reportedly misappropriated under his watch, he resorted to various tactics including media propaganda and manipulation of the judicial process to avoid public searchlight on his activities. Even though he was known to move around Abuja in a convoy heavily guarded by policemen, the Inspector General of Police could not produce this high profile kidnapper on the demand of the National Assembly. It was so easy to arrest Kelvin. But this more dangerous VIP kidnapper remains elusive. All hail Nigeria.

    Perhaps the most interesting variety of kidnapping is on the political terrain. Here we have the most mystifying incident of kidnapping whereby the Y2015 has taken a giant leap backward and kidnapped the process of governance in most parts of Nigeria today. While governance lies in miserable confinement, politicians are obsessively preoccupied with 2015. Senators want to become governors. Governors want to become Senators. Everybody wants to become President. The incumbent is determined to remain in office come that magic year, 2015. Meanwhile hunger stalks the land, poverty dehumanises millions, disease reaps human lives and public infrastructure remains decrepit.

    Thus, the largest political party in Africa has become fractured as various factions strive to kidnap the behemoth ahead of 2015. In the Nigeria Governors Forum, we have witnessed a minority of 16 governors trying to kidnap the organization and lord it over a majority of 19. It is all in the name of 2015.

    In Rivers State, we had the absurdity of five legislators trying to kidnap the Assembly and impeach the Speaker in a House of 32 members. That is a state where the police have obviously been effectively kidnapped by partisan politics. The latest antic of the police in that state was to forcibly disperse 13,000 new teachers who had converged at the stadium to receive their letters of appointment.

    The lame excuse was that they planned to demonstrate against the President as if that is a crime. Unfortunately, the luckiest President in the world appears to have been viciously kidnapped and irredeemably distracted by his second term ambition. Is Nigeria not thus a kidnapper’s paradise? God help us.

  • NBA, others condemn Edo judge’s abduction

    The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Friday condemned the recent abduction of Justice Daniel Okungbowa of the Edo State High Court, saying the development called for serious attention.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Okungbowa was kidnapped by unknown gunmen on September 25 at Ekpoma, Edo State.
    The President of the NBA, Mr. Okey Wali (SAN), told NAN that the development was “worrisome” and that urgent steps should be taken to arrest it.
    Wali said it was incomprehensible why gunmen have suddenly resorted to abducting members of the judiciary.
    “The situation is really disturbing. I do not understand why their acts are now directed at members of the judiciary; this is indeed a source of serious concern for our nation,” he said.
    He, therefore, urged the government to ensure that a more efficient security network was provided for judges in the country.
    The chairman, NBA Lagos branch, Mr. Alex Muoka, also condemned the act, expressing dissatisfaction with the state of security in the country.
    Muoka said that lawyers and judges were members of the larger society, and that the spread of kidnapping should be checked.
    He urged the government to be decisive on matters touching on security, in the interest of public safety.
    Mr. Nelson Ogbuanya, a Nigerian representative of the American Bar Association (ABA), and first Vice Chairman, NBA Lagos, described the incident as a  “bad omen.”
    According to Ogbuanya, the abduction of a member of the bench only deposits fear and anxiety in the minds of members of the bar and bench.
    “The recent development is very unfortunate as it will only succeed in making other judges feel threatened to carry out their statutory duties.
    “I wonder if lawyers and judges are now being abducted because of the position they occupy. It is a bad omen which calls for urgent remedy,” Ogbuanya said.
    He called on security agencies to take drastic steps in forestalling future occurrences.
    A Lagos based lawyer and social critic, Mr. Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, also condemned the act, saying that it was “barbaric.”

  • Police arrest three for ‘kidnapping’ workers

    The police in Bayelsa State have arrested three suspected members of a kidnap gang. The gang allegedly abducted six workers of a dredging company, Beks Kimse Nig Ltd.

    The workers were seized by gunmen last Friday in the creeks of Opuama in Southern Ijaw Local Government. The abductors operated on a speedboat.

    The victims were working for the companies engaged by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to carry out shore protection and reclamation work at the erosion-ravaged riverside of Opuama.

    They were, however, released on Monday by their abductors, who collected N6 million ransom.

    It was learnt that the anti-kidnapping squad of the police, in a coordinated operation led by Mr. Chris, arrested three of the suspects after they shared the ransom.

    Police sources at the force’s headquarters yesterday told The Nation that the command had identified a surveillance contractor with an oil company as the leader of the gang.

    The sources said the contractor is on the run.

    He was said to be an ex-militant leader from the Buo Camp in Southern Ijaw.

    But it was gathered that the leader’s girl friend was apprehended when the police raided the gang’s hideout at Sabagaria in Nembe Local Government.

    She was arrested in a room at Sabagaria with two other male suspects, Izekemi Thomas and Desmond Sunday.

    It was learnt that N1.45 million, part of the N6 million ransom paid to the kidnappers, was recovered by the police after searching the room.

    A source close to the company said: “An anti-kidnapping team led by Mr. Chris, tracked the kidnappers through the ransom paid to them.

  • ‘Community policing is answer to kidnapping, other crimes’

    Mr. Onoriode Sunday Eromedoghene is the Transition Committee Chairman of Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State. In this interview with Polycarp Orosevwotu, he speaks on his administration, especially on the security challenges.

    What was the most pressing challenge you faced when you came to office as transition committee chairman?

    It was the issue of security, a very serious one that gave not only me but my entire executive serious concern. But with the assistance of the state governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan who has peace and security as one of his 3-Point Agenda, the Army, police, State Security Service (SSS) and of all the local vigilante groups, we were able to reduce the security tension and other related vices drastically to the barest minimum.

    So do you support community policing?

    Yes, but the must be under the supervision of the police or other security agencies. I saw the need for community polcing because of the recent security problem and noticed that they know the area more than every other person and they were so helpful. It was with the support of the Okpara vigilante and others that we could douse the tension in the area. So, l appreciate all of them and will always support community policing if they are under the control of the police.

    Your Local Government has been tagged as the den of kidnappers by the Commissioner of Police. What is the financial implication of tackling the trend?

    You cannot separate financial implication from most security issues but the only thing l would say was that it did not deviate my focus, as l was still doing what l ought to be doing since my governor was there for me, implementing some of his order to see that there is relative peace in the area. It only slowed the speed of my developmental work.

    How has the ban on motorcycle affected your people?

    It is true that the ban on motorcycle was from the state government. It was because of the incessant kidnappings and other vices in my local government, but all the same, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan did marvelously by donating 20 tricycles to the Delta State University Management to cushion the effect of the ban.

    He did this by considering the fact that Abraka community is a university community housing the state university and he saw that the effect will be too much for the university and donated 20 tricycles to the university and gave another 30 to the local government, which was handed over to the union and without wasting time they went straight to work.

    The local government has also purchased over 30 tricycles and we are still expecting another 15 for different interested persons. And we giving this tricycles out to the cyclists at a subsidised price of N350,000 and we have gotten about 100 tricycles in the last three weeks.

    What is your assessment of the administration of Dr. Uduaghan for over six years?

    l will say he is a quiet achiever, excellent and a proactive governor, who knows what to do at every given time. l must tell you that the things the governor is doing today that we are seeing are not projects for the next twenty years to come but lasting projects that our children will enjoy.

    I believe many of us will not know the developmental projects Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan is putting in place until after 10 years and that is when we start appreciating him. We wouldn’t have had a better governor than Dr. Uduaghan who has taken his time to ensure that the state is not behind in the scheme of things.

    We should not forget that if he is not the only one he should be among the few that have embarked on this free maternal health care from zero to five years of age, giving them free maternal health care from his inception of office till date. This is aside the enrolment of students in the Senior Secondary Schools; scholarship scheme to study abroad and other skill acquisition programmes where some of our Delta indigenes have been trained on different fields of endeavour and are today self-employed with equipment generously given to beneficiaries to start life of their own.

    All these we are saying are not part of the dualisation of the Ughelli Asaba road, Eku – Asaba dualisation, the Asaba Airport and a lot of road work that the state government has embarked on both Asaba and other major cities of the state apart from the ones being carried out by the Direct Labour Agency.

    The PDP in Ethiope East recently passed a vote of confidence on you. Is this part of your plan to contest the local government election?

    Well, l don’t know what to say but l think what happened was that in one of our stakeholders meetings in the residence of our leader, Chief Bernard Edewor, l spoke extensively on the journey so far since l assume office as the Ethiope East Transition Committee Chairman and l did not go there with the knowing that somebody was going to applaud me or passed a confidence vote on me but l was surprised that after l gave details of my stewardship within the space of time, they were so happy and passed a confidence vote on me.

    I really was happy because l never expected it but it goes a long way to show that anything anybody is doing he or she should do it well because people are out there watching.

    What would you count as your achievement so far?

    Though short, but within this period, my administration has done a lot; though Ethiope East is a rural local government and we do not expect so much from Internally Generated Revenue, we depend solely on allocation coming to the local government and with that we have been able to stabilise the local government in terms of meeting up our statutory obligation.

     

  • Doctor relives ordeal in kidnappers’ den

    Doctor relives ordeal in kidnappers’ den

    For a medical doctor, Pius Manyike, the latest victim of kidnapping in Ebonyi State, May 5 will remain indelible in his memory and that of his family.

    When he left his residence for his private clinic in Abakaliki, the state capital, around 12:30 pm, to respond to a distress call from one of his patients, nothing warned him that a nasty ordeal was afoot.

    As soon as he got to the clinic he began to attend to his patients. A few hours later, a group of armed men came into the hospital premises, shot one of his security guards and abducted him.

    While there is comparative peace in the state, kidnapping has lately become a constant feature. The abominable act which used to be alien to the peaceful and agrarian state, is fast gaining ground in the state while its practitioners respect neither status nor gender nor age. In the past, adults from very rich families were the main targets.

    Despite the passage in 2010 of the anti-kidnapping law by the Ebonyi State House of Assembly which prescribes the death penalty as punishment for kidnappers, the vice has continued unabated in the state.

    These days, even children and toddlers from very poor families and middle-class homes are not left out.

    Between last December and February this year, about nine children were kidnapped in Ishiagu and Akaeze communities, both in Ivo Local Government Area of the state. Some of the children who were still being breastfed, were dragged from their mothers’ bossoms. Out of these, only two have so far been found by the police.

    Also, the wife of the Arch- diocesan Lay President of the Methodist Church of Nigeria and former aide to the former governor of Ebonyi State, Lady Roselyn Okoye, was also abducted in May last year by unknown gunmen numbering about six at Ngbo in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of the state. She was later released after the family allegedly paid an undisclosed amount in ransom.

    The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ebonyi State, Mr Christian Umoke was also kidnapped last year and also later released unhurt, though he denied that any ransom was paid to secure his release.

    Another permanent secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Steve Orogwu as well as the elder brother of the wife of the state governor, Senator Chris Nwankwo, were also kidnapped in 2010 and 2011.

    However, while some of the kidnapped victims lived to tell the tale, most times after payment of ransom, others were not so lucky as they lost their lives.

    Last year, a retired Permanent Secretary in the State, Chief Cletus Nweza, the father of Mr Lawrence Nweza, a former Special Assistant to Governor Martin Elechi on ICT was brutally murdered after the family had paid N1million ransom.

    A top business mogul in the state, Mr. Godwin Nwosu was also in September last year, abducted by unknown gunmen and later killed and the corpse dumped in a forest near the State Secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after a ransom of N2million was reportedly paid by the family.

    It is against this backdrop that the family of Dr Pius Manyike, a Consultant Pediatrician with the Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki (FETHA), have every reason to thank God for his release after spending two weeks in the kidnappers’ den deep inside a forest in Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

    Manyike, who narrated his ordeal to our reporter, said his abductors treated him with respect during the period he was in their den even though he was blindfolded all the time with his hands and feet tied up to prevent him from escaping.

    His words: “Throughout my stay with them, they treated me very well and with respect. They were giving me beer of different types. They also gave me pieces of biscuits and sachet water. But I was still not comfortable, even though I was treated that way because there is nothing like freedom and you can imagine what it means to be held hostage without freedom”.

    “Even till the day they released me, they gave me beer and bought a shirt for me to change the clothes I wore which I refused. On that day they told me that they were going to release me.”

    He narrated how his ordeal started.

    He said: “I saw my security man struggling for the rifle with the hoodlums. I was inside the hospital watching and was helpless as I did not know what to do. After shooting him, they forced me into the vehicle and zoomed off”.

    “I think why this kind of thing persists is because there is youth unemployment and I want to call on the political class to provide jobs for the youths. When the youths are employed they will not have time to engage in criminal activities.

    “The kidnappers bought me new clothes to change into when they released me. They said they didn’t want me going back wearing dirty clothes. It was they who untied me, not the villagers or security agents.

    Dr Manyike said no ransom was paid to secure his release.

    “All I know is that I was whisked away by some men and before I could notice it I found myself in a forest blindfolded and my legs and hands bound. I told them I had no money to give anybody. They even gave me some money for transport.”

    After he was untied, the doctor said he met a villager who took him to the house of the development centre co-ordinators.

    “From there I contacted my brother who came and picked me up and brought me back to my house in Abakaliki.”

    Manyike lost 8kg of weight as a result of the kidnapping, saying he would soon go back to work as soon as he was strong enough even as he regretted the death of some child patients in his hospital while he was away. He also said he has forgiven his abductors.

    “It is a pity some of them lost their children. I really don’t know how to console them or what to say. We are always told to thank God in every situation but when it involves lives, you begin to wonder how you can give thanks to God which is why I am appealing to government to please create jobs for our people though I know that it is not easy”

    “I thank the NMA, the state government and the security agencies for all the efforts they all made to secure my release and for standing by my family during the trying period of my kidnap as well as members of the general public.” Five persons have been arraigned before an Abakaliki Magistrates’ court on a four-count charge and later remanded in prison custody over the kidnap of the paediatrician.

  • How to stop kidnapping, by lawyers

    How to stop kidnapping, by lawyers

    Atraditional ruler and retired Deputy Comptroller-General of Customs, Chief Lawrence Oragwu, was abducted by unknown gunmen on June 2, 2011 in Agulu, Anaocho Local Government Area, Anambra State, on his way from church. Till date, he has not been found, dead or alive, nor has his family been contacted.

    On October 24 last year, a Federal High Court, Lagos, ordered the State Security Service (SSS) and the Inspector-General of Police to investigate his kidnap and to report to the court in three months. But there has been no news on the 80-year-old regent’s abduction, three years after he went missing.

    Chief Oragwu’s abduction may be unusual as his family has not been reached with a ransom demand. The incidence of kidnapping in Nigeria has risen considerably in the last 10 years.

    The latest of several high profile kidnap cases is that of Lagos lawyer Adedoyin Rhodes-Vivour, whose husband is a Justice of the Supreme Court.

    She, with her daughter, said to be preparing to get married, and their driver, were kidnapped on May 10 near Benin in Edo State.

    Security agencies were said to have expanded the search for the three to Ondo and Ekiti states following tracking signals that the kidnappers have relocated to some swamps along the two neighbouring states.

    As at the time of filing this report, the kidnappers were said to have got in touch with some people, leading to the tracking of their location by the police and other security agencies.

    In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person’s will. It involves holding the person in false imprisonment or confinement without legal authority. This may be done for ransom or in furtherance of another crime.

    Nigeria is now ranked among such countries as Haiti, Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechyna, Philippines, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico as kidnap havens, and is said to have moved up to the third position, behind Mexico and Columbia since 2007.

    Kidnapping for ransom is a common occurrence in various parts of the world today, and certain cities and countries are often described as the “Kidnapping Capital of the World.”

    In 2009, the Los Angeles Times named Phoenix, Arizona as America’s kidnapping capital, reporting that every year hundreds of ransom kidnappings occur there, virtually all within the underworld associated with human and drug smuggling from Mexico, and often done as a way of collecting unpaid debts.

    In Nigeria, recent high profile kidnaps that come to mind are father of Nigerian footballer, John Obi Mikel, mother of the Finance Minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; chairman of Ejigbo Local Council Development Area, Lagos State, Kehinde Bamigbetan and elder statesman Shettima Monguno in Maiduguri.

    Others are Nollywood actors Pete Edochie and Nkem Owoh, elder brother of Super Eagles Defender Joseph Yobo, Nornu and footballer Christian Obodo.

    Criminal gangs are estimated to make up to $500 million a year in ransom payments from kidnapping. There were reports that a whopping N50 million was paid within 72 hours to secure Monguno’s release.

    Motives behind kidnappings include ransom, ritual purposes and terrorism-related reasons. There have also been cases of stage-managed kidnappings where people have colluded with kidnappers to stage their own abduction and later share the ransom with the supposed kidnappers.

    Earlier in the year, some foreign construction workers were kidnapped on a site in Bauchi State. A terrorist group, Ansaru, claimed responsibility and later showed videos that led to the belief that the hostages might have been shot and killed.

    The group claimed it executed the foreigners due to an attempt to rescue them. Another family of seven French nationals ended up in the hands of terrorists who captured them in Northern Cameroon and drove them into Nigeria.

    While high profile cases get wide-ranging media attention, a lot of kidnapping incidents are resolved without publicity. Many people prefer to quietly pay the demanded ransom and move on as soon as the release of the victim is secured.

    On February 26, 2006, Niger Delta militants kidnapped foreign oil workers to press home their demand, and since then, kidnapping seem to have been commercialised.

    Victims have changed from being predominantly foreign oil workers to Nigerians, including parents, grandparents, toddlers and about anyone who has a relative that could be blackmailed into coughing out a ransom.

    Analysts, including lawyers, say the rising incidence of kidnapping is one of the major symptoms of both ‘failed’ and ‘failing’ states.

    They believe most of the countries where kidnapping have been pervasive have been either failed or failing states – Baghdad after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Columbia from the 1970s until about 2001, and Mexico between 2003 and 2007.

    In most cases, kidnap victims are usually locked up with little or no attention paid to their physical needs or hygiene. It has also been found out that treatments meted out to victims vary. Sometimes kidnappers are harsh and hostile to their victims while at times they are courteous and unusually kind. Sadly, many victims have to cope with post-kidnap trauma even years after being released.

    Many lives have been lost in the hands of kidnappers. While some die in the course of the harrowing experiences they are made to go through, some are deliberately executed, either as a result of having become “excess luggage” or when ransom is not forthcoming.

    Some victims have also paid the ultimate price when kidnappers find out that their families play too smart by involving security agents in the ransom process in a bid to arrest them.

    An attempt by a combination of British Special Forces and Nigerian troops to rescue to a Frenchman and a Briton who were taken hostage by suspected terrorists in Sokoto last year led to their execution by their abductors.

    Some have called for an amendment of the laws to make kidnapping a capital offence, although others have argued that the existence of the death sentence has not stopped armed robbery.

    Last year, the Delta State House of Assembly, alarmed by the growing kidnapping trend, proposed the “Delta State Anti-Kidnapping and Anti-Terrorism Bill, 2012” which sought to impose death sentences for kidnappers.

    Bamigbetan, whose family allegedly paid N15 million before he was released, said said God made his captors to change their minds despite their initial plan to kill him. According to him, the kidnappers claimed that they were graduates and that they did not like what they were doing but had to do it due to lack of jobs.

    “One claimed to be an engineering graduate, another claimed to be a human resources management graduate, while another said he was already in final year in an American university when his father’s shopping complex was demolished and he had to be recalled home,” he said.

    Worried by the incessant abduction of its members, the Edo State chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) petitioned President Goodluck Jonathan on the state of insecurity in Edo, particularly kidnappings, with the doctors apparently being the main targets.

    Among doctors kidnapped was the Chief Medical Director of the Federal Psychiatric Hospital, Benin, Olabisi Ihenyen, and her husband, Lionel.

    The doctors blamed the porous security situation in the country on insensitivity on the part of government officials at all levels, adding that the effect of kidnapping on the state is too enormous, as it scares away potential investors and robs the state of the benefit of development opportunities.

    “It clearly appears to us that the only safe place to live in Nigeria is Aso Rock,” they said.

    “We therefore urge you to deploy the same security arrangement in the villa to the rest of Nigeria. That is the only way we can be assured that you are truly working in the interest of the people of this country.”

    The NMA also said the scourge of kidnapping is a direct result of the “long-standing irresponsibility of successive Nigerian leaders,” resulting from bad governance and corruption. It also blamed Nigeria’s “sad culture that venerates wealth without regard to its source”.

    Experts say kidnapping affects the tourism potential of countries. Factors linked with the increase in kidnap cases in Nigeria include the distressed economic situation in the country, widening gap between the rich and the poor, unemployment, greed and get-rich-quick syndrome.

    Low level of security has made arrest of kidnappers difficult, and the fact only few of those arrested have been prosecuted and punished seem to have emboldened perpetrators.

    Lawyers believe a reform of the criminal justice system is essential to remove the bottlenecks in speedy justice dispensation. They said beyond strengthening the security agencies, improved intelligence gathering and building of public confidence in the security system to engender citizens cooperation are needed.

    More importantly, the fundamental issues that encourage crimes such as kidnapping to thrive, including impunity among public officials and corruption must be decisively dealt with through effective leadership.

    Analysts say to curb the menace, the government must provide equipment such as tracking machines and cameras to enable the security agencies track kidnappers easily.

    There is also need to equip the security agencies better in order not to endanger the lives of victims. A law is also needed to deal with those whose homes are used as hiding points. The Anambra State government recently ordered the demolition of such hideouts.

    The kidnap of members of Justice Rhodes-Vivour’s family has generated a lot of reactions. Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Okey Wali (SAN) condemned the abduction.

    He said: “This is a very disheartening development. What has the Supreme Court justice done to deserve this traumatic experience? This is an assault on administration of justice itself. For whatever reason those that kidnapped his wife and daughter have, it is a very wrong reason and a very wrong decision.”

    Former NBA President Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) said the high incidence of kidnapping was becoming shocking. He urged security agencies to do more.

    Chairman, NBA Lagos Branch, Taiwo O. Taiwo, said the kidnap of Mrs Rhodes- Vivour, a very active member of his branch, shows that no one is safe.

    Chairman, NBA, Ikeja Branch, Onyekachi Ubani, expressed displeasure at the state of insecurity and government’s inability to address the issue.

    He said it was frightening and alarming that judges and their family members were now targets of the kidnappers, adding that the danger this would do to the already battered justice system was better imagined.

    He called on all government agencies and other relevant stakeholders to arrest this situation.

    A lecturer at the Nigerian Law School, Mr Nelson Ogbuanya, said: “Incidentally, kidnapping landscape in Nigeria has been elevated out of criminality to business concern. Speaking from corporate legal point of view, the scenario is just analogous to business operation, where proposal is submitted and the contract negotiated and executed with full payment made.

    “Here, the victims are kidnapped and their family member(s) contacted with a ransom proposal (ranging in millions of naira). The family, in a desperate but needed gesture to safe life, usually cooperates and accepts to pay a negotiated sum.

    “Thereafter, the victim is released and the family hosts an expensive thanksgiving party with friends and well-wishers(potential victims), for being released unhurt! Then the next victim….and the business goes on…

    “Despite the risk elements in high profile kidnapping witnessed so far in Nigeria, how many companies can post even a pre-tax profit as much as the sum reportedly paid as ransom by families of kidnap victims?

    “Paradoxically, it is the return on investment that provides the incentive for continuity, particularly in a lax environment.”

    Rights activist Bamidele Aturu said until the leaders correct social imbalances, kidnapping would remain. He added: “Kidnappers must be fished out and punished firmly and swiftly. The truth is that the political elite have lost it completely. The security agencies are merely groping in the dark while anarchy reigns supreme.

    “It is amazing that President Goodluck Jonathan and his security chiefs are watching idly while Nigeria is parceled among ethno-religious militias of various hues.

    “This sort of incompetence, I believe, is unknown to human history. Let no one politicise the madness that is going on in Nigeria, it is not a case of failure of leadership or of the state (as some fancy), but their absence.

    “The state is not failing in Nigeria, nor has it failed, it has vanished. Welcome to warlordism of the most virulent kind.”

    Another human rights lawyer, Ebun Adegboruwa, blamed youth unemployment, corruption and economic mismanagement as the root causes of kidnapping.

    He said: “Judges are very conservative people, they do not appropriate or allocate funds, they don’t administer pension fund or execute projects, and they have no private jets and mansions, but rather depend on their meagre salaries which, often times, are paid very late.

    “So, most of the judges, like all our youths who turned to kidnapping, are all victims of mis-governance and crass corruption. It will be demoralising to other judges if they have to be kept in a state of fear and trauma of kidnapping.

    “It will in turn affect the quality of judgments to be delivered by them and ultimately impact negatively on the democratic template,” Adegboruwa said.

    He called on the NBA to urgently dialogue with the relevant government authorities to firm up the safety and welfare of judicial officers.