Benue State University, Makurdi

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF KIDNAPPING IN THE CONTEXT OF ITS SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS IN NIGERIA

Eseosa O. Enobakhare and Eguonor J. Oleabhiele,
Department of Sociology & Anthropology,
Benson Idahosa University,
Benin City.

Abstract

Kidnapping has become a bane to many African societies. This is because it is a crime that has been identified to attract so much money in the form of a ransom fee. In Nigeria, it has become commonplace for citizens to report cases of kidnapping almost on daily basis. It has been observed that kidnapping has gone beyond the transactional nature and it is now associated with robbery, terrorism, political strive and blackmailing. In light of the foregoing, this paper analyzed kidnapping in view of its trends in countries of the world, its conceptual definition, historical background, statistics on kidnapping in Nigeria, socio-economic implication of kidnapping and challenges to combating kidnapping in Nigeria. The study employed a qualitative meta-analysis of literatures on kidnapping. It was observed in this paper that one of the many reasons hindering the reduction of the frequency of kidnapping operations in Nigeria is centered on socioeconomic reasons. This study recommends that government should partner with private sectors for the creation of jobs and also upgrade security architecture.

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