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FROM CONVENTIONAL TO UNCONVENTIONAL MECHANISM: THE 

PUBLIC DILEMMA OF KIDNAPPING BUSINESS IN THE SOUTH-EAST 

AND SOUTH-SOUTH REGIONS OF NIGERIA 

 
Ayodeji O. Adedeji 

 

Otu Akanu Otu 
 

Abstract  
Kidnapping activities has become the most recurring organized crime in strategic cities, villages 

and communities in southeast and south-south Nigeria. It has generated a frenzy-like situation 

among members of the public. It needs to be known why civil police with its dexterity for 

conventional mechanisms in crime prevention and control are incapacitated to combat recent 

spate of kidnapping activities in Nigeria. Some pertinent questions about menace of kidnapping 

in Nigeria are: Why did conventional approach fail to control kidnapping activities in Nigeria? 

What control strategies were put in place by the respective state governments in southern states? 

What is the philosophy behind the adoption of unconventional means?  What are the instances 

of its effectiveness?  Is there any backlash with this strategy?  With fieldworks in two purposively 

selected states in the southern regions of Nigeria, the study recommends among others, the 

creation of a specialized court with the mandate to convict suspects/sponsors of kidnapping 

business if found guilty within a stipulated timeframe. 

 

Key words: Kidnapping, Terrorism, Conventional strategy, Non-conventional strategy, Public 

 

1.   Introduction: 

Occasioned by the recent spate 

of kidnapping, violent killings, hostage-

taking and mass abduction of innocent 

school-children across different 

communities, statistics has shown that 

Nigeria is ranked third amongst nations 

with high incidence of kidnapping 

activities in the world (Perlberg, 2013; 

Obarisiagbon and Aderinto, 2018). This 

unfortunate classification remains a 

source of major worry amidst scholars 

and non-citizens alike. Concerted efforts 

made by the various security agents to 

mitigate these heinous crimes against 

humanity have failed to yield desirable 

fruits. Rather than reducing with its sad 

nature, kidnapping business is becoming 

expanding more and more on daily basis. 

Kidnapping business is more or less a 

source of living for some bad elements 

(unemployed) in the Nigerian society 

without any sign of abating. As a latest 

phase of organized criminal activity in 

the Nigerian today, kidnapping activities 

has recently become endemic with the 

many religious priests, school-children; 

oil expatriates’ as well as unjustified 

killings of personnel of the Nigerian 

Police being the latest victims of the 

nefarious activities of kidnappers and 

other forms of banditry(Obarisiagbon, 

and Aderinto, ibid)  Scholars and non-

scholars alike have argued that 

kidnapping is now another dangerous 

dimension of terrorism in Nigeria 

 



 

 

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Ayodeji O. Adedeji; Otu Akanu Otu 

 

because of the resultant effects such 

heinous crime poses on the whole 

citizens at large. This horrible criminal 

act has not only shifted government 

attention on the latest approach to be 

adopted in combating the menace of 

kidnapping activities in the Nigerian 

society, but it has also dented the image 

of Nigeria as a ‘self-adulated giant of 

Africa’ in the global community.    

          

Although kidnapping is now the most 

prevalent criminal activity in Nigeria as 

a whole but its upsurge rise has been 

noticeable in the southern part of Nigeria 

which is the focal point of this paper 

where between January 2008 and 

August 2012, 938 people were 

kidnapped and over $200 million paid as 

ransom. A number of victims were also 

killed. However, just like the current 

style of ruthless and material-seeking, 

kidnapping is a transformation from the 

activities of Niger Delta militants who 

initially deployed it as a means of 

drawing government’s attention to 

degradation of Niger Delta region; the 

Nigerian society also responded to the 

menace by adding some unorthodox 

strategies to its hitherto conventional 

approach. In few states (Anambra and 

Imo states) in the south-eastern Nigeria, 

governments have adopted demolition 

of buildings owned by kidnappers or 

their parents or serving as kidnappers’ 

dens and invocation of deities to incur 

the wrath of gods to punish offenders 

and their sponsors in the south-south 

states (Edo and Cross River state). 

               

Unfortunately, the recent kidnapping of 

two Chinese at Ohaozara Local 

Government in Ebonyi state has further 

depicted a new transformation from the 

previously known ransom kidnapping to 

the unconventional strategy being 

employed by kidnappers in Nigeria. 

Ngwama (2014) in his own treatise 

explained that about 110 kidnapped 

victims have been recorded alone in 

Abia state from 2008 up till date where 

some victims were conditionally 

released after payment of ransoms while 

others are killed with about 70 arrests of 

kidnappers have been made. 

Unfortunately, this ugly scenario does 

not seem to be abating but with a 

changing pattern from ransom 

kidnapping to the demand for hard drugs 

such as tramadol among others by the 

kidnappers in Nigeria. In this study, 

some pertinent questions that arise 

include: Why did conventional approach 

fail to control kidnapping menace in 

Nigeria? What control strategies were 

put in place by the respective state 

governments in southeast and south-

south states? What is the philosophy 

behind adding unconventional 

means?  What are the instances and how 

effective are they?  Is there any backlash 

while adopting this strategy?  With a 

specific focus on why various 

governance reforms have failed at all 

levels to mitigate high incidence of 

crime rates in our society, this study 

seeks to interrogate these questions by 

adopting case studies approach to 

decipher the major link between 

conventional and non-conventional 

strategies to combat kidnapping across 



 

 

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in the following southern states in 

Nigeria: Anambra, Imo, Edo and Cross- 

River.  

 

2.0    LITERATURE REVIEW: 
 

2.1    What is kidnapping? 
Opinions vary amongst scholars and 

non-scholars alike as to the definitional 

perspectives of kidnapping across the 

globe due to the varieties, complexities 

and severity of recorded cases in 

different communities. Even though 

there is no universally accepted 

definition as to what kidnapping is all 

about in the literature of crime control 

and terrorism studies, but then, 

kidnapping is generally viewed as an 

organized crime against humanity to 

deny kidnapped victims of their 

freedom. In this paper, kidnapping is 

defined as the illegal movement or 

incarceration of any person or 

personality against their desire. 

Kidnapping can be conceived as a 

deliberate but forceful act to whisk away 

an individual or group of individual 

illegally either by hostage taking or 

abduction to a secluded place where no 

family or relations of the victims will 

have access to the person or group of 

persons except when ransom is paid to 

the kidnappers or for other reasons best 

known to the kidnappers. Forceful 

application and display of powerful 

weapons by kidnappers with a threat of 

severe punishment by the kidnappers 

against their victims is the main reason 

for compliance by kidnapped victims. 

The demand for financial ransom is the 

reason why some kidnappers do engage 

in this dastard act where some 

kidnapped victims can be released alive 

and others might be killed even with 

paid ransom; whereas some kidnapping 

cases occur in Nigeria for ritual purpose 

especially in the southern part of 

Nigeria; while other reasons for 

kidnapping in the society is for 

superiority of political influence of 

powerful money-bag holders against 

their political opponent.  

           

Different reasons can be advanced for 

incessant spate of kidnapping business 

in the southern part of the country. At the 

earliest stage of its development, 

kidnapping activities started in the oil-

rich south-south area with the frequent 

criminal activities of ethnic militias’ by 

agitating for resource control. In this 

area, kidnapping of foreign expatriates 

amidst pipeline vandalism became a 

major source of living for the militant 

boys who often engaged the military in 

arms hostility. Violent kidnapping of 

these expatriates’ is seen by the militant 

boys as a way of drawing government 

attentions to various environment 

hazards ravaging their communities due 

to the activities of multinational oil firms 

in the area. Today, the attendant 

disappearance of innocent individuals 

from the public; daylight banditry and 

other forms of human ritual sacrifice and 

killings have become so rampant in the 

south-south.  In the southeast area, 

reasons for kidnapping activities 

include; joblessness or youth 

unemployment; desire for quick wealth; 

superiority of strong political influence 

of the big-wigs over the weaker 



 

 

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Ayodeji O. Adedeji; Otu Akanu Otu 

 

opponents as well as the increasing arms 

inflows in the hands of dreaded cultist 

groups across many communities in the 

southeast area. 

   

2.2    Conceptual Analysis of 

Kidnapping: Its Motivations and 

Impacts 
The recent spate of ritual killings and 

public disappearance of innocent 

citizens have made the adoption of 

unconventional methods of combating 

kidnapping a widely accepted coping 

strategies in the southern part of Nigeria 

(Ezemenaka, 2018). Occasioned by the 

failure of government through the 

various security agents to protect life 

and properties of citizens, 

unconventional mechanisms become a 

self-help coping strategy for helps 

communities and cities to protect 

themselves through various means that 

are acceptable to their social standard 

(Ezemenaka, 2018).  Kidnapping 

activities in southeast and south-south 

Nigeria recently become an attractive 

business opportunity to some criminal 

elements among the jobless youths while 

some desperate politicians see 

kidnapping an avenue to express their 

political superiority over the weaker 

opponents (Omoweh and Okanya, 2005; 

Ogefere, 2015 cited in Chinwokwu and 

Michael, 2019). The recent upsurge in 

the recent kidnapping activities in 

Nigeria can be linked directly to the 

failure of the conventional mechanisms 

to combat the menace of kidnapping by 

the respective state governments and the 

civil police. As a latest discourse within 

terrorism studies and crime control 

mechanism, kidnapping depicts an 

interface between governance failure 

and joblessness, being the twin socio-

economic cum political malady in 

Nigeria. Arguably, the issue of youth’s 

restiveness/joblessness occasioned by 

governance failure as well as political 

desperation of the elite has been 

discussed as one of the factors 

responsible for the unceasing wave of 

kidnapping activities in Nigeria without 

any sign of abating. Arguably, high rate 

of unemployment and 

underemployment among youths is one 

of the causes of kidnapping in Nigeria 

(Ugwulebo, 2011; Adibe, 2012.).  In his 

own view, Ugwulebo specifically 

contended that the incessant cases of 

kidnapping activities in Nigeria would 

have been drastically reduced and 

combated if not for the youth joblessness 

amidst the lopsided security architecture 

in Nigeria. To him, these heinous crimes 

often take place at the cosmopolitan 

cities with high population density and 

several undercover grounds as hideout 

where kidnappers often keep their 

victims without genuine but concerted 

efforts from all government at the states 

or national level to stem the tide of 

kidnapping activities. Worst still, the 

financial inducement to supply illicit 

arms and ammunitions to kidnappers by 

some bad eggs among security personnel 

in Nigeria as well as kidnappers Hence, 

the ravaging syndrome of kidnapping 

activities in the southeast and south-

south areas of Nigeria can be attributed 

to various reasons such as socio-

economic and socio-political factors 

such as high rate of youth 



 

 

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unemployment; poverty, quest for 

human ritual sacrifice; financial gains; 

power struggle between political forces; 

weak nature of restraining institutions 

etc. In these two regions, 80% of the 

kidnappers are unemployed graduates 

and other school-leavers (Ibrahim and 

Mukhtar, 2017).  

          

Suggesting that conventional counter-

kidnapping is not wholly connected with 

unemployment, Ishaya (2010) seems to 

support Diara( 2010) when he argued 

that while most of the kidnappers are 

involved in the shady business owing to 

poverty, some are in the kidnapping 

business because of their insatiable 

desire to acquire wealth, while youths 

that are recruited in kidnapping but 

armed with dangerous weapons are lured 

into the menace for selfish political gain 

of the stronger elements in Nigerian 

politics. According to him, Omotayo 

Mobolaji Johnson, a Geologist and 

member of staff at Chevron PLC was 

arrested by the Nigeria Police in Lagos 

State for complicity in the kidnapping of 

a bank Executive in the State despite that 

this Chevron employee earns 

N1.2million monthly. This arrest was 

made on 1st June, 2010. Diara went 

ahead to state that, Social disconnection 

and social dislocation breed crime and 

violence. As a result, kidnapping is also 

traceable to displeasure and 

disenchantment with loathsome social 

and political arrangements in the 

society. This reveals that not all 

kidnapping cases are committed 

essentially and primarily for material or 

monetary gains, but as a backlash or 

means of voicing out social 

discontentment with and or disapproval 

of an existing political regime, 

framework, process, and culture. Ishaya 

(2010) supported this line of thought 

when he stated that when Movement for 

the Emancipation of Niger Delta 

(MEND) made its first capture of four 

expatriate oil workers on 12 January, 

2006, all efforts (including payment of 

ransom) to secure their release proved 

abortive as MEND refused to budge.  

         

In his own submission, Akpan (2010) 

suggests that kidnapping was initially an 

activity with no monetary attachment as 

the key motivation factor, and in most 

cases, it was part of the outcome of a 

confrontation between MEND and oil 

interest groups or the Federal 

Government of Nigeria. Ngboawaji 

(2011) on his part posits that kidnapping 

is also a ritual business particularly 

during election periods. According to 

him, Nigerians in the South West have 

always talked about how human parts 

are used for money-making rituals or to 

acquire spiritual power, or the social 

menace of child theft; so, such phrases 

as “gbomogbomo, ajaale” – meaning 

“kidnappers” or the link between 

Clifford Orji and the sale of human parts 

have been part of the local discourse. 

Anywhere kidnapping business thrives, 

all sectors of that society is 

affected.  Ikpang (2011) opines that, 

kidnapping drives away investors, as no 

investor would be ready to invest in a 

crises-ridden environment. Nigeria is 

therefore seen as a country in which 

insecurity to lives and properties looms 



 

 

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large and where criminality has assumed 

notoriety. Ikpang went ahead to state 

that the Niger Delta region in particular 

and Nigeria generally, appear not to be 

investment friendly. Moreover, the 

kidnapping of foreign nationals poses a 

lot of questions to the ideal sustainable 

democratic government in Nigeria that 

should engender economic 

development.  

 

Ojukwu (2011) contended that the goal 

of generating at least 6000 megawatts of 

electricity in Nigeria can only be 

achieved if the life of investors who are 

working with the power sector will not 

be threatened by the kidnappers. On 

their own part, Alexander and Klein 

(2009) rightly argued that the 

psychological and physical effect of 

being a victim of kidnapping is 

traumatic and mind-boggling. 

Psychologically, the victim may have 

confusion, disorientation, shock, anxiety 

and withdrawal. Physically, the victim 

may have an exacerbation of pre-

existing physical condition such as 

asthma and diabetes. Nwadiora and 

Nkwocha, (2011) corroborated that 

many Nigerians have lost their lives as a 

result of beating, torture and inhumane 

conditions they are subjected to by the 

kidnappers. It is therefore, a fact that, 

kidnap victims, their families and 

relations always have serious 

psychological trauma, because of fear 

that the victims could be hurt or even 

killed. Many scholars and institutions 

have enunciated solutions to the menace 

of kidnapping in Nigeria.  

 

Osaghae (2011) noted that on 19th 

February 2009 Enugu State House of 

Assembly enacted an amendment act 

2009. This was an act to amend the 

criminal code Cap30 laws of Enugu state 

2004 inserted in section 315 of the 

criminal code, which prescribes death 

penalty for kidnappers. Ikpang (2011) 

asserted that judgment is often 

influenced by the politicians in the law 

court. Anosike (2009) added corruption 

on the side of police, court and judiciary 

as another factor that influences 

conviction of kidnappers. Recently in 

Nigeria, registration of Subscribers’ 

Identity Module (SIM) cards became 

compulsory in an effort to curb the 

incidence of kidnapping in Nigeria. This 

is exactly why Ugwulebo (2011) noted 

that the global system of mobile (GSM) 

telephone service providers should fast-

track their data capturing exercise. This 

according to him will help the security 

agents to know who is making a 

particular call and the location of the 

caller. Once ownership of numbers can 

be identified, handsets can be tracked, 

and their geographical locations become 

identifiable – then any call made to 

solicit for ransom would help to locate 

the kidnappers. Ikpang (2011) argued 

that in some countries, when telephone 

calls are made, the police have access to 

the calls but it is not the same in Nigeria. 

He later explained that kidnappers could 

switch off their phones; change location, 

or simply throw their phone away to 

acquire another because unlike other 

jurisdiction where every phone is 

registered and identity of the owner 

properly documented, habitual phone 



 

 

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purchase is the trend in Nigeria. Osaghae 

(2011) opined that the relatives of the 

kidnapped persons should cooperate 

with the security agents, because they 

can be of great help. However, the Police 

Force has been accused of aiding and 

abetting kidnappers, as a result people 

detest using police against kidnappers 

(Ugwulebo, 2011). Meanwhile, the 

police will not have information to react 

if cases of kidnapping are not reported to 

them. 

 

In order to combat the menace of 

kidnapping activities, Onyeishi and Eme 

(2011) suggested that government 

should re-organize the security agencies 

to take them through a new re-

orientation via training. Meanwhile, one 

of the major problems of security agents 

is training in order to match the well-

armed criminals.  As Osaghea (op.cit) 

rightly opined that police training must 

include infantry, weapon handling, and 

antiterrorist training in order to match 

the well-armed criminals. He also 

opined that prison warders must be co-

opted in the fight against kidnapping 

because criminals that act outside are 

known by the inmates. But, Nigerian 

prisons are faced with many problems 

and challenges due to the institutional 

decay and structural weaknesses.  

Furthermore, Ugwuoke (2011) argued 

that the application of community 

policing initiatives in Nigeria villages 

would obviously allow the various 

communities and police departments to 

work together to reduce crime of 

violence such as kidnapping and to 

improve the quality of life of Nigerian 

citizens. On his own part, Erhabor 

(2012) acknowledged that the university 

campuses which are expected to play a 

major role in the countries human 

development and to serve as vibrant 

centres of productive research and 

academic excellence are not spared from 

the vestige of violent crime rocking the 

national scene by ethnic militant 

groups.  

 

In his own view, Oni (2001) noted that, 

the university should develop a policy of 

providing a well-articulated and 

comprehensive programme of guidance 

and counseling to identify violent 

suspected cult members. It is believed 

that violent associations appear to be 

training ground for kidnappers. 

 

2.3   Conventional Mechanism to 

Counter-Kidnapping: 

Recognized by the relevant laws, 

statutes and other legislative enactments 

(Penal Code Section 271, 273; Criminal 

Code 364; Terrorism Act 2011 etc) in 

the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a 

serious crime against humanity with 

different punitive measures such as: 

payment of fine; life-imprisonment and 

death penalty etc, conventional methods 

to counter-control kidnapping activities 

in Nigeria have yet to yield appreciable 

degree of results in Nigeria (Egbe, 2017; 

Akingbehin, 2017; Umego, 2018). 

Rather, kidnapping activities continues 

to be worsening day by day across 

different cities and communities amidst 

the on-going arms-banditry by the 

rustlers. Conventional methods to 

counter-control kidnapping is the sum 



 

 

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total of all legal means/solutions 

(kidnappers’ arrest, trial and prosecution 

in law courts; Security raid and vigilance 

at the nation’s forests; Creation of a 

combined teams of anti-kidnapping 

squad units of the Nigerian Police and 

other security agents; government 

ransom payment to freed kidnapped 

victims either conditionally or 

unconditionally from kidnappers’ den)   

 

2.4     Unconventional Mechanism to 

Counter-Kidnapping: 
Unconventional methods are strategic 

part of community policing mechanisms 

adopted by different cities and villages 

in collaboration with government in 

some states, and without governments’ 

involvement in some others. 

Unconventional methods are deeply 

rooted in socio-cultural background of 

the various communities because of 

people’s beliefs and perceptions in its 

efficacy. These methods are introduced 

to combat the heinous activities of 

kidnappers in different localities. 

Governments’ failure to secure and 

protect citizens’ life and properties 

necessitates the introduction, practice 

and acceptance of the various 

dimensions of unconventional 

mechanisms to counter-control 

kidnapping. Buoyed by the recent 

successes recorded across different 

states in the southern part of Nigeria 

against kidnappers’ den, abode and 

hideouts, the prevalence of 

unconventional methods of counter-

kidnapping remains relevant amidst the 

on-going agitations and public outcry to 

rejig security architecture of the 

Nigerian state.  

 

The unconventional mechanisms to 

control kidnapping activities vary from 

one state to another. This includes: 

demolition of buildings owned by 

kidnappers or demolitions of buildings 

owned by kidnappers’ parents; public 

invocations of local deities with a view 

incur the wrath of gods; public placing 

of curses on perpetrators of kidnapping 

activities as well as the use of 

community vigilante groups. These 

unconventional methods were adopted 

because of the failure of civil police to 

combat the ugly trend of kidnapping 

trend that is alarming. The strong belief 

in the fetishism and occultism fight to 

punish any culprits of kidnapping might 

have been responsible for the reasons 

why these unconventional methods were 

adopted by different communities. For 

instance, In Edo state, tradition was 

invoked by consulting local deities and 

publicly placing curses on perpetrators. 

According to Chief Edebiri, the Esogban 

of Benin Kindgom in Edo state, whoever 

fails to heed the warning of Oba through 

the invoking of local deities will incur 

the wrath of the gods especially if the 

perpetrator ever drinks the water from 

the kingdom or set his/her foot in Benin 

Kingdom (Tony Osauzo, 2019:).The 

essence of this tradition invocation is to 

set free the victims from the den of the 

kidnappers from whatever had been 

administered on them. Essentially, the 

ultimate goal of this unconventional 

method of fighting kidnapping business 

is to sanitize the society of all criminal 



 

 

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activities. It is also believed that the 

placement of curse on perpetrators of 

kidnapping activities and their 

collaborators would be seriously dealt 

with by the gods, and also affects those 

who aid and abate kidnapping business 

in their lands 

 

2.24 Conventional versus 

Unconventional Mechanisms: Is there 

any difference? 
Primarily, security of life and properties 

of citizens remains the sole 

responsibility of the government (formal 

civil police and other security agencies), 

but the recent spate of violent killings 

amidst public disappearance of school 

children and other innocent citizens 

made members of public, communities, 

villagers to resort to self-help to protect 

themselves locally since the formal 

institutions(the military, civil police and 

other security officials) have failed to 

gain legitimacy and respect of the 

inhabitants and proven to be incapable 

of providing citizens with basic security. 

As such, mistrust in these formal 

institutions and authorities governing 

them have made people to resort to the 

alternative solutions to cope with their 

everyday lives and safeguard their basic 

human security. Therefore, major 

difference between conventional and 

unconventional mechanisms depends on 

its legitimacy perspective. The strong 

belief in the efficacy of the various 

dimensions of unconventional 

mechanisms such as the adoption and 

use of building demolition and local 

deities to invoke gods to punish 

offenders through fetishism and 

occultism fight to punish any culprits of 

kidnapping are part of the reasons why 

these unconventional methods were 

adopted by different communities.  

           

Also, Nigerian citizens especially from 

these troubled areas have trust in the 

immediate application of punishment 

and resolution of cases through 

unconventional methods over 

conventional mechanism because most 

of the high profile cases of kidnapping in 

Nigeria that have involved the formal 

security institutions have been swept 

under the carpet without immediate trial 

and judgments; some high profile cases 

pending before the law courts to punish 

kidnappers are numerous. This ugly 

scenario makes it difficult to wipe out 

kidnapping activities in Nigeria. Justice 

delayed they say is justice denied. 

          

Unconventional method of counter- 

kidnapping is adopted to sanitize the 

society of all criminal activities due to 

citizens’ strong beliefs in the supremacy 

and public trust in its effectiveness over 

conventional means. Many kidnappers’ 

buildings have been demolished either 

by vigilante groups or governments were 

never built again.  Wiping out the 

operational base of kidnappers’ den by 

the demolition of their buildings or 

buildings that belong to their parents 

have a great potency to reduce 

kidnapping activities in most areas such 

approach has been adopted. Exposing 

kidnappers’ dens through buildings 

demolition brings public shame and 

ridicule to anyone associated with 



 

 

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kidnappers in form of syndicate in these 

communities. 

 

3.     Theoretical Framework  

Interrogating conventional to 

unconventional mechanism: the self-

efficacy theory 
This study adopts the self-efficacy 

theory to interrogate the rationale behind 

the adoption of unconventional method 

after the failure of the conventional 

mechanism to counter-kidnapping. Self-

Efficacy is a person’s particular set of 

beliefs that determine how well one can 

execute a plan of action in prospective 

situations (Bandura, 1977). The major 

thrust of the theory is that People belief 

in their ability to succeed in a particular 

situation. Kathy Kolbe (2009) also 

provided her own perspective to self-

efficacy theory. She opines that self-

efficacy connotes determination and 

perseverance – seeing as how it helps 

one overcome obstacles that would 

interfere with utilizing those innate 

abilities to achieve goals. People’s 

beliefs about their abilities have a 

profound effect on those abilities. 

Ability is not a fixed property; there is a 

huge variability in how you perform. 

People who have a sense of self-efficacy 

bounce back from failure; they approach 

things in terms of how to handle them 

rather than worrying about what can go 

wrong (Bandura, 1977b). This theory is 

sufficient as people of southeast and 

south-south Nigeria refused to worry 

about what can go wrong as Bandura put 

it, rather they bounce back from the 

failure of conventional mechanism to 

unconventional mechanisms to counter-

kidnapping. 

 

 4.        Data and Methods:  

 

4.11    Research Design:  

The nature of this study requires the 

adoption of eclectic method of inquiry 

and analysis. A combination of methods 

proved enriching, as all the adopted 

methods complemented one another in 

gathering and analyzing the data about 

the menace of kidnapping activities’ in 

Nigeria: The study utilized survey 

design (Key Informant Interview [KII] 

and In-depth interview methods [IDIs], 

historical, descriptive and interpretative 

design and analysis. The historical 

method performs the linkage function by 

connecting the on-going records on 

kidnapping activities with the past; the 

descriptive method helps to describe the 

demographic characteristics of not only 

the respondents in the interview but also 

the kidnappers. The interpretative 

method allows for detailed questioning 

beyond mere description. As such, some 

pertinent research questions raised are: 

Why did conventional approach fail to 

control kidnapping activities in Nigeria? 

What control strategies were put in place 

by the respective state governments in 

southern states? What is the philosophy 

behind the adoption of unconventional 

means?  What are the instances of its 

effectiveness?  Is there any backlash 

with this strategy? This paper seeks to 

interrogate these questions. 

 

 

 



 

 

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4.12      Sources of Data: 

Both primary and secondary data were 

employed in this study. Primary data 

were generated from interviews and 

field work was carried out in various 

towns/villages of the two states that 

were purposively and randomly selected 

in South-East (Anambra and Imo states) 

and South-South (Edo state and Cross 

River state). These selected states are the 

major deadly zones where kidnapping 

activities have been rampant and 

unceasing without any sign of 

abating.  Secondary data were sourced 

from internet materials, library 

materials, journals, texts, published 

commentaries, newspapers; and other 

archival materials etc. These texts were 

subjected to content analysis and these 

efforts were complemented with a 

detailed archival search carried out 

across different libraries in southern part 

of Nigeria. 

 

4.13        Method of Data Collection:   

This paper adopted interview method of 

data gathering. The interview was 

conducted with the five categories of 

respondents in mind: One, the Civil 

Police, who are the law-enforcers of the 

land especially in the affected 

communities; Two, The Opinion/ 

Community Leaders in these towns; 

Three, the local hunters/security agents 

in the affected communities; Four, the 

traditional priests/herbalists in charge of 

the invocation of local deities to incur 

wrath of gods in such communities; 

Five, members of the general 

public.  The Civil Police, Opinion 

Leaders, and traditional priests were 

purposively selected while both the local 

hunters and some members of the public 

were randomly selected. Respondents in 

this study were individually interviews 

across different towns where the study 

was carried. Most importantly, this study 

relied on information elicited from the 

various respondents about the incessant 

spate of kidnapping and political 

activities in their respective 

communities. The respondents’ life 

experiences formed the bedrock of the 

primary data to this study.   The various 

towns in Nigeria where the field works 

were conducted includes:  Benin 

metropolis in the Edo state capital; 

Calabar Municipal Area in Cross River 

state where houses were demolished 

with bulldozers; buildings’ demolition 

took place at  Aguleri and Umuleri 

towns but specifically in two 

communities (Umuatulu and 

Umueri)  which are located in Anambra 

East Local Government of Anambra 

State; Mgbidi town in Oru East Local 

Government of Imo state; and Ohoba 

community in Ohaji Egbema Local 

Government Area of Imo state.  Facts 

and figures from derived from interview 

were complemented by secondary data 

in this study. 

 

5.     Case Studies: 
Two states from Southeast region and 

two states from South-south region were 

purposively and randomly selected. 

These are (Anambra and Imo states) 

from Southeast and (Edo state and Cross 

River state) from South-south. These 

selected states are the major deadly areas 

in the regions where kidnapping 



 

 

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From Conventional to Unconventional Mechanism: The Public Dilemma of Kidnapping Business in the  

South-East and South-South Regions of Nigeria 

Ayodeji O. Adedeji; Otu Akanu Otu 

 

activities have been rampant with its 

attendant ritual killings without any sign 

of abating. The selected states from 

these regions are chosen to explain why 

conventional approach failed to counter-

kidnapping activities in Nigeria and the 

philosophy behind the adoption of 

unconventional means. These case 

studies which constitute the fulcrum of 

unconventional means to counter-

kidnapping would be analyzed on state 

by state basis; 

 

 Anambra State:  

Created in August 27, 1991, this is one 

of the five states in the Southeastern part 

of Nigeria that belongs to Igbo people. 

The state represents a major gateway to 

heart of Igbo land through Onitsha, 

being the commercial hub/centre of all 

eastern states even though its capital is 

located at Awka.  In this study, findings 

show that between 2012 to 2015 no 

fewer than ten buildings or kidnappers’ 

den have been demolished by the 

Anambra State Government especially 

during the yuletide season when sons 

and daughters of the state would be 

trooping home to felicitate with their 

loved ones (Joe Chukwudi, 2014). At 

Aguleri and Umurueri, both towns in 

Anambra East Local Government Area, 

three building that belonged to 

kidnappers were demolished. These 

buildings as hideouts for kidnappers 

were owned by businessmen from the 

state that specialized in kidnapping 

business. Another demolition of 

buildings occurred at Umuatulu and 

Umueri communities where a one-story 

building and an adjoining boys’ quarter 

which belonged to late Ozoemena 

Egwuatu but were used by his twins’ 

nephew for kidnapping business were 

also demolished by the state 

government.  The state government 

adopted this approach to combat 

kidnapping so as to wipe out the 

operational base of the kidnappers in 

their area and to annihilate the hideout of 

kidnappers in the area (Joe Chukwudi, 

2014; p2).   In other round of building 

demolition, the state government with 

the aid of members of police force 

demolished a building at Umunbo 

Ayamelum Local Government area of 

the state where the building owner 

(Celestine Ughamadu) was alleged to 

have used the building as a hideout for 

kidnapped victims (Chidinma Eze, 

2014: p1). Based on our findings, the 

total numbers of 16 buildings have been 

demolished in recent times in the state 

(Chidinma, Eze, 2014). Official 

information that was reported in The 

Daily Post Newspaper of August 26, 

2014 gives a reliable credence to the 

above figure from Mr James Eze, the 

Senior Special Adviser (SSA) to the 

state Governor on media. Demolitions of 

the kidnappers’ buildings have been a 

routine exercise with the belief that 

kidnapping activities would be stopped. 

However, these ugly scenarios continue 

to manifest itself across villages with no 

sign of abating due to the conspiracy on 

the part of some unscrupulous elements 

in the area. These kidnappers are drug 

addicts in unknown communities but are 

usually being co-opted into the business 

by the power-brokers in the society. 

 



 

 

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Imo State:   

With the capital of this state located at 

Owerri, Imo state is one of the oldest 

states in Nigeria which was created in 

February 3, 1976.  The state is also one 

of the five states in southeastern Nigeria. 

Findings in this study revealed, a hotel 

and five buildings which belonged to 

three suspected kidnappers in Mgbidi, 

Oru East Local Government were 

demolished by the state government on 

Saturday July 22, 2018 in Imo state 

(Chidiebube, Okeoma, 2018: 

p10).  Even though the various 

demolitions of hotels and building which 

belonged to the kidnappers in the state 

did not curb the activities of kidnapping. 

Rather, the ugly situation continues to 

rear itself without any sign of abating. In 

May 26, 2016, buildings that belonged 

to two suspected kidnappers in Ohoba 

community in Ohaji Egbema Local 

Government Area of Imo state were also 

demolished. (Gibson, Achonu, 2016: 

p5).  These kidnappers are youths of a 

working class between 28 to 30yrs of 

age. This study discovers that the recent 

case of building demolition in Imo state 

occurred in February 20, 2020 as 

reported by The Punch Newspaper 

where a building that belonged to a 

suspected kidnap kingpin in Owaelu, 

Uratta in Owerri North Local 

Government Area of the state 

(Chidiebube, Okeoma, 2020: p1).    

 

Ebonyi State:  

Created in October 1, 1996 as one of the 

five states in the southeast Nigeria, 

kidnapping activities occurred in July 

13, 2013, where kidnappers’ hideouts 

were demolished at Emezabi community 

in Mgbo at Ohaukwu Local Government 

area of the state. The building was 

demolished completely as aftermath of 

the kidnap of one Mrs Winifred Ogbu, a 

wife of one of the principal officers of 

Ebonyi State House of Assembly in 

2013 by a group of six kidnappers who 

kidnapped the woman in Abakaliki 

(Peter-Okutu, 2013).  

  

Abia State: 

The state government demolished a 

building popularly known as Akoto Bar 

and Resort Limited and a two-bungalow 

that was owned by Olisagbo Ifedike 

(a.k.a Ofeakwu) who happened to be 

involved in dual business of kidnapping 

and armed robbery (Anayo, Okoli: 

2013). As reported in the This Day 

Newspaper of April 17, 2016, another 

round of building demolition (four 

bungalows) by Abia State government 

occurred at Etitiama Nkporo 

Community in Ohafia local government 

area of the state. These building were 

reduced to rubbles after the demolition 

had taken place (Emmanuel, Ugwu, 

2016). Another case of building 

demolition that belonged to kidnappers, 

The Government of Abia state in June 

26, 2017 demolished two buildings that 

were owned by twin brothers at 

Umuerim Nsirimo in Umuahia South 

local government area of the state 

(Ogbonnaya, Ikokwu: 2017)  

 

Cross River State:  

As one of the six states in south-south 

Nigeria, Cross River state was created in 

May 27, 1967 with its capital located in 



 

 

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Ayodeji O. Adedeji; Otu Akanu Otu 

 

Calabar and it borders Cameroon to the 

east. As findings in this study has shown, 

kidnapping activities has been a 

recurring decimal across the state even 

though state government often 

demolishes their hideouts once kidnap 

cases are reported. Precisely, in August 

13, 2020 cases of building demolition 

that belong to kidnappers were recorded 

in the state.  Unfortunately, these 

kidnappers are mostly youths of a 

working age bracket but their sponsors 

are big wigs in society especially from 

the already tensed political atmosphere 

in the town. Many houses belonging to 

the kidnappers as hideouts have been 

demolished. Recently, A Special 

Adviser on State Security in Cross River 

Dr Alfred Mboto led a combined team of 

anti-kidnapping forces to demolished 

some buildings at Calabar Municipal 

Area of the state capital where 

kidnappers ranging from 28yrs of age to 

31yrs of age were arrested (Ada 

Wodu,2020: p5);    

 

Edo State:   

As one of the six south-south states in 

Nigeria that was created in August 27, 

1991, cases of kidnapping business and 

other violent crimes have been occurring 

and unceasing mainly among the 

unemployed youths either as indigenes 

or strangers’. Worrying by the recent 

spate of kidnapping activities in their 

entire lands, findings shown that 

congregation of herbalists/traditional 

priests in Benin Kingdom gathered 

together and invoked the different 

deities as an aged-long traditional 

practice to stem the tide of the 

kidnappers’ activities out of their lands. 

They resulted to this self-help 

community policing method of 

combating crime because they were 

disturbed by the upsurge in cases of 

kidnapping activities and other violent 

crimes in their domain. The essence of 

this land-cleansing is to appease the 

gods for any infractions that may be 

responsible for such heinous acts in their 

lands given the seeming incapacitation 

of the civil police to stem the 

tide.  Curses were heaped on those 

responsible for the dastard acts in their 

communities as it was described as 

sacrilege to partake or sponsor 

kidnapping business in their domain 

(Tony Osauzo, 2019: p1) Most 

importantly, in all the states in south-

east, there are evidences where the 

various unconventional strategies have 

worked and with little cases of backlash 

recorded in some areas. 

 

6.    Discussion of Findings: 
An in-depth assessment of the major 

findings from the fieldwork in this study 

depicts plethora of issues as to why 

conventional approach to kidnapping 

failed and the rationale behind the 

adoption of unconventional mechanisms 

to combat high rate of kidnapping 

business in the south-south and 

southeast Nigeria. Hence, our findings in 

this study raise some contending debates 

about failure of conventional approach 

and why unconventional mechanism 

was adopted: financial inducement 

versus youth unemployment; religious 

fundamentalism versus politics. This 

study situates our discourses on these 



 

 

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contending issues within the context of 

our interactions with the respondents at 

the fieldworks in the affected 

communities; 

 

Conventional Mechanisms: Why did 

it fail?  
As recognized methods known to 

Nigerian laws in crime control and 

prevention by formal institutions of 

government (civil police and other 

security agencies), conventional 

mechanism to counter-kidnapping has 

been adjudged to be failure due to the 

following reasons: 

  

Financial inducement or politically 

induced kidnapping:  
Is attraction to kidnapping business a 

matter of financial inducement or a 

display of political influence/ 

desperation of the sponsors of 

kidnapping?  Nnam McPherson 

(2014:71) linked the incessant spate of 

kidnapping as an organized crime to 

godfathers and high class political 

gladiators as sponsors of kidnapping 

business in the southeast 

Nigeria.  Kidnappers have their sponsors 

amongst the big-wigs in the affected 

states in Nigeria. References to 

kidnapping sponsorship by the powerful 

elements/rich men in the society is an 

attestation to the fact that kidnappers 

have strong root in the affected states 

and that kidnappers are being used to test 

and suppress the political influence of 

their political opponents as kidnapped 

victims.  Sponsors of the kidnapping 

operations in the affected states also see 

kidnapping as a modern-day business by 

targeting their victims from the rich 

homes and often demand for hefty 

financial ransom.   

 

Our findings show that kidnapping 

activities continue to be unabated in 

Nigeria due to the collaboration between 

high class politicians and the 

unemployed youths as kidnappers in the 

affected communities. Sponsors of 

kidnapping activities are financially 

privileged to lure the unemployed 

youths into kidnapping business because 

they are socially disadvantaged (Nnam, 

McPherson, 2014:72). Consequently, 

unemployed youths often see financial 

attraction in kidnapping business as an 

opportunity to pay the state back in its 

own coins by engaging in kidnapping 

activities. The argument here is that 

rampant cases of kidnapping activities 

go beyond economic inducement; it is 

also for political surrogacy on the part of 

the powerful elements in Nigerian 

politics against the weaker political 

opponents.  A respondent who craved 

anonymity during our fieldworks 

however expressed pessimism that the 

predatory role of the sponsors of 

kidnapping business makes it difficult to 

arrest their sponsors and thereby making 

it difficult for the government to stem 

the tide of kidnapping through 

conventional mechanisms. Sponsors of 

kidnapping see themselves to be above 

the law due to their financial clout and 

influence in the society. This is one of 

the reasons why conventional 

mechanisms to combat kidnapping has 

failed in Nigeria. 

 



 

 

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Ayodeji O. Adedeji; Otu Akanu Otu 

 

Increasing Inflow of Arms and 

Ammunitions/Security Personnel’s 

Conspiracy 
The focal point of this discourse on 

kidnapping business bothers on the 

linkage between rising arms’ inflow and 

conspiracy of some bad elements among 

security personnel with kidnappers in 

Nigeria.  These bad eggs among the 

security operatives have been aiding and 

abetting kidnappers’ activities in the 

affected communities, a scenario which 

frustrates all the known conventional 

mechanisms to combat kidnapping. 

Findings have shown that the rising 

inflow of dangerous arms and 

ammunitions are the handiwork of some 

unscrupulous elements among the 

security personnel. Suspected 

kidnappers rely on their dastard 

relationship with the bad eggs among 

security operatives for the supply of 

arms.  Unfortunately, the incapacitation 

and weakness of the civil police to 

mitigate these heinous crimes in the 

affected communities often encourage 

people to resort to self-help through 

local vigilantism with fetishism by 

invoking the wrath of gods/deities on the 

sponsors of kidnapping business and 

other violent crimes.  Responses from 

the local hunters/priests in-charge of 

deities, community leaders and other 

members of the public in the affected 

communities alluded to the urgent need 

for ‘self-help’ to combat kidnapping 

since civil police is structurally and 

operationally weak and incapable to 

curb kidnapped activities in their 

communities. This is another reason 

why conventional approach to 

kidnapping has failed (Emma-Amaize, 

2013).  

 

Governance reforms’ failure/ lopsided 

security architecture in Nigeria 
The current security architecture/ 

arrangement is skewed to favour the 

north against southern region in Nigeria. 

Majority of the members of security 

agencies deployed to protect cities and 

communities in the southeast and south-

south states are from the north. This ugly 

scenario does not allow for effective 

policing and crime control since many 

personnel of these security agencies do 

not understand the body language/ 

culture of the communities they are 

deployed to protect. This is one of the 

reasons why public agitation for 

community policing and vigilantism vis-

à-vis restructuring of the ailing security 

architecture of the country has been 

rampant especially in the southeast 

Nigeria. Is there any nexus between 

kidnapping and governance 

failure?  This study argued that 

governance failure/lopsided security 

arrangement in Nigeria has a direct 

consequence on whole gamut of human 

life and security.  

          

Worst still, previous governance reforms 

engineered by successive Nigerian 

governments in the security sector have 

not yielded any appreciable level of 

development due to the prebendal but 

predatory orientations of its succeeding 

leaders to effectively carry out genuine 

security reforms that has human faces. 

Hence, issues of human security in the 

development agenda of any nation is 



 

 

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very tasking and daunting. Experts and 

non-experts alike have continuously 

analyzed the nexus between human 

security and development (Akinola, 

2011; Shanum, 2013 cited in Yagboyaju, 

2019).  It has been argued that 

sustainable development through the 

various socio-economic variables 

cannot be achieved outside a genuine 

cause for human security (Shanum, 2013 

cited in Yagboyaju, 2019).  Human 

security here is seen as nerve-centre of 

any sustainable development. Peace and 

security of all human life and properties 

without ethnic consideration and party 

affiliations is major indices for 

measuring national development vis-à-

vis performance indicator of 

governance.  

         

Sadly, enough, several indicators’ of a 

failed and bad governance have been 

raison d’être for insecurity vis-à-vis 

kidnapping activities in the affected 

states, with the phraseology that Nigeria 

as a ‘self-adulated giant of Africa’ to be 

classified as one of “the 19 poorest, 

unhappiest, unhealthiest and most 

dangerous nations in the world” 

(“National Assembly’s Amendment of 

CCB Act Cannot Stand,” 2016 p.24 

cited in Yagboyaju, 2019).  While 

corroborating the above viewpoint, two 

respondents during our fieldworks 

alluded to some indicators that have 

been responsible for the rampant nature 

of kidnapping activities in the southern 

part of Nigeria.   In another words, this 

unfortunate scenario may have formed 

the basis of the submission of a London-

based Newspaper, The Independent, 

which described Nigeria as a nation with 

the “5th most dangerous country in the 

world with the lowest rank in safety and 

security” depicting the presence of Boko 

Haram, armed kidnappers and other 

violent crimes (Sarah Schmalbruch, 

2017).  Consequently, it is on the 

threshold of above security failure in 

Nigeria that kidnappers operate their 

unlawful business without any sign of 

abating. Failure on the part of the 

succeeding governments over the years 

to genuinely carry out security sector 

reforms has weakened the quest to 

combat kidnapping activities and 

thereby makes the fight against 

insecurity occasioned by rampant 

kidnapping an insurmountable task since 

Nigeria returned to civil rule in 1999. 

 

 Rising Youth Unemployment or 

Influence of Drug Addiction: 
Is there any nexus between youth 

unemployment/drug addiction and 

kidnapping activities?  Can gainfully 

employed people be lured into 

kidnapping business? Are there drug 

addicts among kidnappers?  As evident 

from our engagement with the various 

respondents from the fieldworks, this 

study found out that kidnappers in the 

affected communities and villages are 

unemployed youths who are lured into 

the business by the powerful elements in 

the society. Not only this, kidnappers are 

also drug addicts who have been 

deported from the developed climes at 

one time or the other.  Consequently, the 

rampant cases of kidnapping in the 

affected communities are a reflection of 

danger posed by the rising wave of youth 



 

 

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From Conventional to Unconventional Mechanism: The Public Dilemma of Kidnapping Business in the  

South-East and South-South Regions of Nigeria 

Ayodeji O. Adedeji; Otu Akanu Otu 

 

unemployment in Nigeria (Inyang and 

Ubong (2013). The dilemma that is 

inherent in idleness or joblessness has 

been luring many youths to kidnapping. 

Presently in Nigeria, statistics has shown 

that kidnapping provides opportunities 

for unemployment youth to be lured into 

kidnapping activities as survival or 

coping strategy. Our findings show that 

youth unemployment occasioned by 

their uncontrollable access to hard drugs 

and being used as political thugs by the 

desperate politicians create a veritable 

platform for kidnapping activities in the 

affected states.   

          

Corroborating the foregoing, Iwarimie-

Jaja (2003) cited in Nnam (2014) argued 

that those who are unemployed are poor, 

frustrated physically and 

psychologically to embrace any 

available survival means or demand of 

orderly behaviour in line with their 

economic circumstances and these 

unemployed youths are posed to engage 

in kidnapping as an opportunity to pay 

society back in its coin. So many 

atrocities like kidnapping or political 

assassination are being committed by 

these jobless youth under the influence 

of drug such as tramadol among others. 

Most of these kidnappers are ex-

convicts, drug addicts and political thugs 

etc. 

 

Poor Remuneration/Poor Condition of 

Service of Security Personnel 
Can poor remuneration/condition of 

service affect the morale of security 

personnel?  This study found out that the 

citizens’ major concern over lack of 

dedication to work and lack of genuine 

commitment to the task of internal 

security assignment within the civil 

police in Nigeria is poor welfares. 

During the interview of some security 

officials in the affected states, some 

officers gave reliable credence to their 

poor remuneration/condition of service 

which affects their job performance. 

Worst still, the major concern is the 

painful experience and feelings of some 

families of combat security officers who 

incidentally die in the course of duty 

while engaging kidnappers in gun-duels. 

They are often being neglected to suffer 

by the Nigerian Police Force and this 

ugly scenario cannot engender serious 

patriotism or dedication to work from 

the security officers who feel their 

conditions of service is poor in relative 

comparison to what average politicians 

earn. Hence, poor remuneration/ 

condition of service is a threat to 

conventional strategy to combat 

kidnapping and other crimes in Nigeria.  

 

Unconventional Mechanism:  Reasons 

for its adoption & Effectiveness. 
This study explores three major forms of 

unconventional mechanisms that were 

employed to tackle kidnapping activities 

in the affected communities. These are: 

demolition of buildings owned by or 

serving as kidnappers’ den; traditional 

invocation of gods by consulting local 

deities and public heaping of curses on 

kidnapping sponsors; and the use of 

local hunters as community vigilante 

groups to search for kidnapped victims 

or kidnappers’ kingpins. Hence, this 

study found the following about the 



 

 

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three unconventional mechanisms that 

have been used to tackle kidnapping 

activities in the affected communities; 

 

a. Supremacy and Traditional Beliefs 

in gods/deities:  

The philosophy behind unconventional 

strategy is the perceived supremacy and 

liberation that traditional invocation of 

local deities to incur the wrath of gods 

can be used to set free kidnapped victims 

from kidnappers’ den and to punish 

sponsors of kidnapping business in their 

communities.  This strategy has been 

adopted for two reasons. One, there is a 

firm belief in the efficacy of African 

traditional religious practices by 

appeasing the gods to dispense natural 

justice without fear or favour.  They 

believed that justice will prevail. Two, it 

is believed that kidnapped victims in the 

den of the kidnappers would be set free 

unconditionally.   Consequently, 

citizens’ beliefs in the traditional laws of 

the land to punish offenders accordingly 

and to set free the victims from the 

captive of the mighty (kidnappers) are 

the reasons why local community 

policing is preferable to formal civil 

policing. Essentially, this 

unconventional method of combating 

kidnapping activities is to sanitize the 

society of all criminal activities. It is also 

believed that the heaping of curses on 

sponsors of kidnapping activities and 

their collaborators would be seriously 

utilized by the deities, and also punishes 

those who aid and abet kidnapping 

business in their respective 

communities.  

 

Invocation of gods/deities through the 

efforts of the congregation of 

herbalists/traditional priests is an aged-

long traditional practice to stem the tide 

of the kidnappers’ activities out of their 

lands. The practice is now known to be a 

‘self-help methods’ owing to the 

failure/weakness of civil police in crime 

control and prevention. It is a land-

cleansing method of appeasing gods for 

any infractions that may be responsible 

for kidnapping activities in the lands. 

Kidnapping is described as sacrilege for 

anyone to partake or sponsor. To a large 

extent, this unconventional mechanism 

has yielded some appreciable result in 

the reduction of kidnapping cases in the 

affected areas. 

 

b. Demolition of Kidnappers’ 

Buildings: 

Of what relevance is demolition of 

building to combat kidnapping?  This 

study argued that the essence of this 

unconventional method is to wipe out 

the kidnappers’ base in the affected 

communities (Local governments in 

Anambra state, Cross River state and 

Imo state) where it was adopted.  As a 

routine exercise, demolition of buildings 

by the state governments which are 

directly owned by kidnappers or the one 

serving as kidnappers’ den is to wipe out 

the operational base of the kidnappers in 

their area and to annihilate the hideout of 

kidnappers especially where they often 

keep their victims. This is the rationale 

behind the adoption of this 

unconventional means by the respective 

state governments. Even though 

demolition of buildings as an 



 

 

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Ayodeji O. Adedeji; Otu Akanu Otu 

 

unconventional means works to a large 

extent, our findings discovered some 

noticeable instances of backlash at 

Awara community, Ohaji/Egbema Local 

Government area in Imo state where 

conspiracy with the arrested kidnappers 

on the part of a traditional ruler ( who 

was paid for the services rendered) 

provided operational vehicle for the 

kidnappers; a native doctor provided 

protective charms against the 

operational hazard and arrest of 

kidnappers and worst still a pastor 

provided spiritual guide for their 

kidnappers operations(Chidiebube-

Okeoma, 2020).  These act of 

conspiracy of major stakeholders in the 

affected communities put strong 

limitations on the efficacy of 

unconventional mechanism to combat 

kidnapping in these communities. 

 

c. The Relevance of Local 

Hunters/Vigilante Groups:  

Are local hunters’/vigilante groups 

legitimate to be law-enforcers? Can 

vigilante groups legitimately be 

substituted for Civil Police? Is this a way 

forward to the gradual emergency of 

state-community policing in 

Nigeria? The phenomenon of local 

vigilantism in these affected 

communities as a veritable means of 

neighborhood security has gained 

greater currency and utility across most 

states in the south-south and southeast 

Nigeria. These local hunters or vigilante 

groups’ work in harmonious relationship 

with the civil police to combat 

kidnapping activities and other violent 

crimes in the affected communities. 

Their main responsibility is to make 

arrest of the kidnappers and other 

criminals in their domains and hand 

them over to the civil police for 

prosecution. To a large extent, this 

unconventional means yielded positive 

results except few cases where vigilante 

groups have become demigods by using 

their positions to witch-hunt innocence 

people.  Formal institutions have failed 

to gain legitimacy and respect of 

Nigerians and proven to be incapable of 

providing citizens with basic security. 

As such, mistrust in these formal 

institutions and authorities governing 

them have made people to resort to the 

alternative solutions to cope with their 

everyday lives and security. 

 

7.     Conclusion and 

Recommendations 
In other to stem the tide of the incessant 

spate of kidnapping activities in Nigeria, 

this paper explores the synergy between 

kidnapping and insecurity in Nigeria 

with a specific focus on the conventional 

and unconventional mechanism for 

combating kidnapping business in the 

southeast and south-south Nigeria. This 

study argues that incessant spate of 

kidnapping and other violent crimes in 

the southern part of the country is a 

result of civil police incapacitation in 

crime prevention and control in Nigeria; 

conspiracy of some political big-wigs 

who see investment opportunities in 

kidnapping by luring unemployed 

youths into this crime.   

        

Essentially, this study interrogates the 

nexus between the weakness of civil 



 

 

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police in crime prevention and control as 

a driver of unconventional methods to 

combat kidnapping in Nigeria, using 

purposively selected states in the 

southeast and south-south Nigeria as 

case studies.  Adopting unconventional 

mechanisms to combat kidnapping by 

governments/herbalists/traditional 

priests in the affected communities to 

shame perpetrators and sponsors of 

kidnapping business by annihilating 

their base in the entire southeast and 

south-south Nigeria. Most importantly, 

unconventional method through 

invocation of local deities helps to set 

free victims of kidnapped activities.   

  

From all the available information 

gathered from the respondents in this 

study, various communities resort to 

self-help in combating kidnapping 

through the various unconventional 

means that are in line with their 

traditions and values since the civil 

police are incapacitated and weak in 

crime prevention.  Admittedly, 

government personnel amidst the 

security sector in the affected areas 

believed that unconventional strategy 

through demolition of the kidnappers’ or 

their fathers’ buildings helps to wipe out 

the operational based of the kidnappers 

in the affected areas. Essentially, this 

paper recommends that governments at 

all levels need to restructure the security 

architecture in the country in line with 

the dictate of the modern-day for 

community policing across different 

states in Nigeria. There need to be inter-

agencies collaboration between security 

agencies and local hunters/vigilantes not 

only in the affected communities. This 

can be done effectively by creating 

Special Forces to combat kidnapping. 

Government should enact national 

legislation/law that serves as deterrence 

for kidnappers and their sponsors in 

Nigeria and creation of a specialized 

court with the mandate to convict 

suspects/sponsors of kidnapping 

business if found guilty within a 

stipulated timeframe. 

 

 

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