CURRENT WAVE OF KIDNAPPING IN NIGERIA: A BREACH OF RIGHTS OF THE VICTIMS?

Abstract

The incidence of the kidnapping of human beings in recent times has taken an alarming dimension for reasons not well addressed by successive governments in Nigeria. This unlawful act has persisted in Nigeria despite the various legislations prohibiting kidnapping both at the state and federal levels of government and at the international level. The law against kidnapping has been passed since 2013 by the federal government of Nigeria with Lagos state domesticating the law in 2017; the United Nation Convention against Transnational organised crime 2000 and the protocols thereto set the pace for the laws against kidnapping yet these laws seem to yield little or insignificant success. There are several accounts of kidnappings of the citizens of Nigeria in 2018 under review. The primary objective of this paper is to identify why kidnapping of human beings has persisted notwithstanding the Constitution, Terrorism (prevention) Act, 2013 and similar laws in the component states. This paper also identifies what constitutes kidnapping, instances of kidnapping in Nigeria, causes of kidnapping and make recommendations towards stemming the tide. This paper approaches the topic by reference to statute books, Law Text Books, Law Reports, Internet sources and Newspapers. The findings in this paper are that widespread poverty, inadequate security network and corruption promotes kidnapping in Nigeria.