Kidnappers on the prowl

As we all look on seemingly helpless, kidnappers are on the prowl again picking people at random for huge ransoms. I know some will disagree with this wondering if they actually left or we simply adjusted our psyche in order to accommodate kidnapping. The truth is kidnappers have only become more daring; they’ve always been with us. They kidnap not only for the megabucks, but also for paltry sum like N10, 000 at least from what I gathered from victims’ families.

And while we may argue till eternity over the reasons why President Muhammadu Buhari decided to withhold his assent to a bill sent to him over four months ago, some Nigerians are losing their lives in the hands of fellow citizens who kidnap for money. In the last two weeks, two schools, Osun State College of Education, Esa Oke; and Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo; have been thrown into mourning as some of their staff were kidnapped. Various accounts in different newspapers alleged that Fulani herdsmen were the kidnappers but that is neither here nor there, the most important thing is that suddenly, travelling in the Osun-Ekiti-Ondo axis of the south west has suddenly become a dangerous venture. One that must not be done without extra caution or using flashy cars, otherwise you’re toast.

A former boss of mine visited Nigeria from his base about three months back and wanted to visit his village in Edo State, it was the plea of his family members in Lagos that held him back. He asked for my opinion and I told him to shelve the trip as kidnappers are on the prowl in that part of our country. He thereafter opened up telling me that was the same reason his family cited in warning him against the proposed visit. At a gathering over the weekend, an elderly friend whom I asked whether he would be visiting Kogi, his home state for Christmas, answered that he would not be going as he has even been warned by his family not to venture coming. They agreed to meet at his sister’s place in Abuja for their end of year rendezvous. It’s as bad as that. The last painful story I heard involved a family member’s company where a sales representative was kidnapped and the staff contributed money to pay for the ransom before he was released. He was kidnapped in the same Ondo-Ekiti axis.

We can no longer continue to pretend that all is well, as we have normalized the absurd. Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State visited the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic campus earlier this week to commiserate with the school staff over the death of one their colleagues. He was killed, as they could not raise the ransom demanded by his kidnappers. He was kidnapped in company of four other people, including a pregnant woman, last week while travelling on the Owo-Akure road. The kidnappers first demanded N100 million before lowering it to N7 million and eventually N500, 000 that his colleagues raised and actually dropped at the agreed point before he was still killed. Akeredolu disclosed that the incident happened “some five minutes” after his convoy passed the place and he deployed some security men to rescue the victims. “These kidnappers have become more daring and desperate; this is because we are moving towards the festive period; but the state police command has assured us that they will not limit their operation to stop and search only, but that they will also increase road patrol,” the governor added.

The Esa Oke kidnappers were magnanimous to release four students among the eight they kidnapped and killed one person in the process. They were all picked on the Ibokun-Ijebu Jesa road and as at the time of writing this, they have not been released. But we all still pretend not to be aware since our family or friends are not involved. Again, one is forced to ask, what’s the life of an average Nigerian worth? The highest we talk about security is the Boko Haram menace of the north east but it is apparent we have to tackle kidnapping too, it has assumed a dangerous dimension and it will not go away unless we fight it.

Since our leaders gleefully advertise their lack of reading skills one is reluctant in recommending a book to them but they will do well to read Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s News of a Kidnapping originally published in Spanish in 1996 as Noticia de un secuestro which recounts the kidnapping, imprisonment and eventual release of prominent figures in Colombia in the early 1990s by the Medellin cartel, founded and operated by Pablo Escobar. It is a non-fiction account by the Nobel Laureate of the kidnappings in that country; Colombia has never recovered from the terrible period. Hopefully, we will not become another Colombia with the rate of kidnappings we are experiencing.