Editorials Opinion and Analysis
kidnapping: More questions than answers
By An OOLer
Kidnapping for ransom now appears to be the latest and greatest business venture in Nigeria with even the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro, recently describing it as a ‘booming business’.
What started as a pastime of militants in the Niger Delta, who abducted foreign oil workers while claiming a political message has now assumed frightening proportions. Although originally a phenomenon most seen in the South-South of the country, it has spread at an alarming rate and now appears to have infected a whole nation. Children, spouses and parents of people in all levels of society are now exposed to this increasingly lucrative trade.
Don’t get a job. Get a hostage!
While the kidnappers appear to be raking in the cash, they are rarely caught. So – the inevitable questions must be asked... How do they do it? Who is doing it? Who is assisting them? Who aids their escape?
Increasingly people are alleging that security operatives, particularly soldiers, must be involved in the new national industry, ‘Kidnap Inc.’
Some say that soldiers not only provide logistical support to the gangs that carry out these raids but that they also ensure safe passage to their hideouts. Many believe that soldiers actively collaborate with the kidnappers.
Some say after a successful raid and the capture of an unsuspecting victim, some soldiers act as escorts for escape vehicles.
Stories that abductors are spirited through check points by police already paid to look the other way are whispered quietly in corners all over the southern states. People point to the fact that vehicles transporting military personnel are rarely subjected to the ‘stop and search’ procedures commonly carried out on other commuters.
The Joint Military Task Force is heavily represented in the Niger Delta region, yet the kidnaps continue.
Could it really be that some members of this unit collaborate with cultists, criminals and militants? Are they communicating details of the force’s movements? Could it be that it is with this knowledge that kidnappers know when to strike?
OOL Factoid: In 1986 under the regime of General Ibrahim Babangida, then police spokesman, Alozie Ogugbuaja, ruffled a few feathers of the military high command with his statements that Nigerian soldiers were an idle stock. According to him, they did nothing but ‘drink pepper soup and plan coups’. It should be remembered that at that time in Nigeria’s history coups were considered fashionable and appeared also to be a favourite pastime of idle but ambitious soldiers.
It should also be noted that Ogugbuaja made this observation while testifying before a Judicial Commission of Inquiry. Embarrassed by the pepper soup and coup theory expounded, the Babangida government allegedly ‘exiled’ him from inner circles.
In a recent interview, Ogugbuaja said: “Babangida has not forgiven me for that till today. He said how can a police officer make that statement? Under a military regime, I spoke to them pointing in their face in their regime… Nobody supported me in my constituency.”
Question: So does this mean that while operating under a democratic dispensation, the Nigerian military have so little to occupy themselves with, that personal projects are being created? Is there really such an absence of official assignments?
National media has widely covered the allegations that army officers were involved in the mis-appropriation of arms and ammunition from the Kaduna armoury. If you believe the allegations - the arms were sold to militants in the Niger Delta.
Question: Is it using these weapons that they now attack security operatives and destroy oil installations? Is it those guns that are now being used to abduct?
So could it be said that the conduct of some soldiers should be attributed to economic and social factors? Are financial hardships in the country compelling some to seek other ways to augment their earnings? It is said right now that the Nigerian military is nowhere near reaching its full potential. So...
Question: Is it the quality of its men and manpower? Is the military under-utilized? Considering the prevailing socio-political climate, how can Nigeria achieve the military it needs and should deserve?
Analysts contend that re-engineering of the institution would place it on a better foundation for growth.
So would it be fair to suggest that the military be trained to assist the police to fight crime? OR... Should they be engaged for mechanised farming which would increase food production adding in a growth in federal revenue and a nation free from its dependence on foreign imports?
Think about it... Assisting local communities in self sustainment, for example, would be good right? Working in local villages and communities can’t be bad. Can it? Aiding in the reacquisition of lost skills in agriculture would be beneficial to an unemployed and underdeveloped youth population – right? Or are we mad?
Wouldn’t a country that is so increasingly dependent on a skilled and specialised workforce employed in mainly oil related fields be insane to let an untapped and underutilised work force sit idle? Wouldn’t this breed resentment and hostility? Couldn’t it lead to an increase in criminality? Wouldn’t gangs of disgruntled, resentful and pissed off people start congregating, planning and plotting ways to get what they might perceive as their fair share of an economy that appears to have left them behind? Oh wait! It already has.
But back to the military..........
Mr. David Okoirhon, a retired soldier was reported by journalists as saying... “no amount of bush exercise and military hardware training can engage military men positively in peace time without good governance. The military is made up of human beings, who also feel the pinch, like others in society. Therefore, government policies should be on the side of the people. There is so much suffering in the land and this tends to drive people into inappropriate behaviours. But there is no justification for crime.”
I guess the answer to all these questions? Good governance. Surely?
