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Abduction epidemic spreads nationwide
• Kidnappers relocate from highways to the cities of Lagos, Ogun, and Abuja.
•Thirteen other victims are held captive by abductors, who demand a ransom of N700m.
Bandits and other criminal elements have moved their operations into the nation's major cities, contributing to the nationwide abduction scourge that has crippled social and economic activities in the North-West.
The thugs have increased their attacks on citizens of Lagos, Abuja, and other urban centres recently. Previously, they were active on highways and in rural areas.
As the bandits who kidnapped seven family members demanded N700m for their release, the killing of four abducted victims from the Sagwari Estate Layout in the Dutsen-Alhaji area, Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, on Monday sparked a wave of anger.
Nabeeha Al-Kadriyar, a 400-level biological science student at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, was killed by the thugs on Friday due to an alleged delay in delivering the ransom. Her death sparked outrage across the nation and on social media.
The other five sisters, including 300-level Zoology student Nadherah and 500-level Quantity Surveying student Najeebah, were still being held captive as of Monday night.
On January11, the siblings and their father, Alhaji Mansoor Al-Kadriyar, were abducted from their Zuma 1 house in Abuja, which is near Bwari town.
Al-Kadriyar was freed by his captors after they demanded N60 million in ransom to free his daughters.
It was discovered that the bandits had increased the ransom to N100 million for each captive, demanding payment by Wednesday.
On the other hand, the Al-Kadriyar family turned to Nigerians for financial support in an attempt to secure the release of the hostages.
In cold blood, the bandits also killed Along with her mother and three siblings, 13-year-old Folashade Ariyo was kidnapped.
The murderous bandits also murdered two unidentified hostages, dumping their bodies near a former military checkpoint behind Idah junction on the Bwari-Jere SCC Road in the Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
According to reports, Folashade was buried on Sunday, but her mother and siblings remained in the hands of their captors.
Thirteen-year-old killed
Oladosu Ariyo, the bereaved father, has implored the Nigerian Bar Association's leadership to step in and help his family members who are under threat of death.
A user going by the handle @kcuzoka posted Ariyo's appeal on X (formerly Twitter), claiming that the message was copied from a WhatsApp group platform used by lawyers.
Monday night, Ariyo, a lawyer, claimed in the shared post that the kidnappers killed his 13-year-old daughter, even though he had raised N7 million of the N60 million they demanded through donations from friends and family, which the kidnappers had refused to take back.
He continued by saying that the kidnappers were requesting the NBA's intervention and threatening to kill his wife and his three minor children who were still in their captivity.
"Dear seniors & colleagues, most respectfully, I'm Oladosu Folorunso Ariyo, an Abuja-based lawyer," the post said. Around 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, January 7, 2024, a group of abductors wearing full military uniforms broke into my house in Sagwari Layout Estate in Dutse, Abuja.
"My wife, a lawyer, and our four kids were abducted by them. Through kind donations from friends and family, I was able to raise several million naira, which the kidnappers have vehemently refused to return. The kidnappers called and demanded a ransom of sixty million naira.
As of today, they have murdered my firstborn child, Michelle Ariyo, who is thirteen, and dumped her body on Kaduna Road. They have also threatened to kill my wife, who is still in captivity, and my three other children, who are all minors. I really need the NBA to step in, so please, please, please. When will the government stop pretending to be serious about the level of insecurity in our nation and put an end to these kidnappings? God bless each and every one of us.
Between January and December 2023, 4,049 cases of kidnapping occurred nationwide, and 9,754 fatalities were reported.
According to Beacon Consulting, an Abuja-based security risk management and intelligence consulting firm, this is stated in their 2023 Nigeria Security Report.
On December 15, 2023, no fewer than ten passengers were abducted while travelling along the Ette-Umuopu Enugu-Ezike Road in the Igbo Eze North Local Government area of Enugu State.
A nursing mother and her three children were abducted on December 12 by gunmen in Abuja, while a total of twenty-three residents of the Dei-Dei community in the Bwari area of the Federal Capital Territory were also kidnapped on the same day.
A musician and band appeared around six days later. members were kidnapped on December 18. September 17, 2023 saw the kidnapping of 19 individuals in Abuja and the abduction of 20 residents of the Madaki, Manasseh, and Gambo communities in Kuje, Abuja, by armed individuals.
March 12, 2023, saw the kidnapping of about ten residents of Grow Homes Estate near Kuchibiyi in the Kubwa neighbourhood of the Federal Capital.
On January 10, robbers abducted Malam Bello Janbako, the director of the Federal University Gusau's research centre in Zamfara State.
The state capital of Damba Gusau is home to Janbako, a senior lecturer in the university's Islamic Studies department, who was abducted.
The PUNCH was informed by a local resident, Nasamu Garba, that the bandits entered Janbako's home at around two in the morning and took him away.
Upon comparing the number of fatalities in each geopolitical region for the year 2023, it was found that the North-East had the highest number of cases—3,412—followed by the North-West zone with 2,290; the North-Central region with 2,002; the South-West recorded 774; the South-South recorded 698; and the South-East recorded 558.
The North-West recorded 1,728 cases of abductions, followed by the North-Central with 1,006 cases; the North-East recorded 795 cases; the South-South recorded 186 cases; the South-West recorded 169 cases; and the South-East recorded 165 cases.
The Economics of Nigeria's Kidnap Industry: Follow the Money, an intelligence report written by SB Morgan and published on August 23, 2023, claims that kidnappers' operations have become increasingly out of control over time.
According to the SB Morgan report, 3,620 people were kidnapped in over 582 kidnapping incidents in the nation between July 2022 and June 2023. A ransom demand of at least N5bn was reported, and over N302 million was actually paid—a figure that may be higher due to underreporting.
While the report did point out that the North-West and North-Central regions had higher-than-average numbers of abductions, the trend of kidnapping is currently moving to certain states in the South-West, such as Lagos and Ogun.
The family of Miracle Adereti, a 13-year-old schoolgirl who was abducted by an unidentified gang in the Ikotun neighbourhood of Lagos State, contacted the police in early December 2023 to inquire about their daughter's whereabouts.
It was rumoured that Miracle was abducted on her way home from school, and that the abductors followed her there first thing in the morning and lingered until almost dismissal.
Miracle and her sister were walking home when the gang, who had parked a short distance from the school, abducted her.
A second case that happened in Lagos was in mid-December at the Ladipo Spare Parts Market involving a car dealer known by the name of Ejike Conversion.
It was reported that at around one in the morning, Ejike and his employees were conducting an inventory of his recently imported goods in front of his plaza when a group of armed men launched an attack.