The Changing Dynamics of Kidnapping in Nigeria and Implications for National Development

Kidnapping for ransom before the 1990s was not a very prominent form of criminality until the Niger Delta militants began using it to press home their demands for redress to perceived injustices done their region. Ransom payment made kidnapping a very attractive crime and it spread from the Niger Delta region to all parts of Southern Nigeria. From Southern Nigeria, kidnapping for ransom spread to the Northern part of the country and was embraced by criminal gangs and terrorist groups such as Boko Haram; an Islamic group fighting a war of insurgency in the North East. This opened a new vista of criminality in Nigeria. Since then it has grown in proportion to a much sought after criminal act by criminally minded persons due to the high monetary gains involved. With the aid of mainly secondary sources, the paper uses both narrative and analytical tools to dilate on contours of the problem. It argues that kidnapping has festered in the country due to the introduction of ransom and this is generating damning implications for national development. The paper makes suggestions on ways to contain the hydra headed act of criminality currently ravaging the country.