A Synopsis of the Escalating Menace of Kidnapping in Nigeria: Implications and Way forward

Abstract

Among the various social vices that are endemic to the development of the country, kidnapping has emerged as a dominant form of criminality evolving from an isolated incident into a nationwide security crisis in Nigeria. It was initially linked to a political militancy but it has spread across socio-economic and geographical lines. Despite the efforts of the government to combat the heinous crime of kidnapping, the menace is still escalating tremendously due to poverty, unemployment, ineffective judicial system, moral decadence and the use of hard drugs as revealed in this paper. Consequently, it is for this reason that this study examined the theoretical background, causes, implications, recent incidences and way forward to curbing the menace and the descriptive survey method was adopted to discover necessary information highlighted in this study. The paper therefore, recommended the way forward to eradicating the menace such as provision of poverty alleviation programme, security sector reform like purchasing of sophisticated weapons and re-training of security agents, judicial reform and public awareness campaigns for the citizens.