EFFECT OF KIDNAPPING ON SOCIO-POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Kidnapping and violent crimes are the trending social problems that are ravaging Nigeria at large. The crime rate was low and kidnapping was at infinitesimal level, read in the pages of newspapers, seen on movies and heard on radio or street talks. This social malady has now become a general phenomenon in the state. According to Dodo (2010), kidnapping is a crime of seizing, confining, abducting or carrying away a person by force or fraud often to subject him or her to involuntary servitude in an attempt to demand a ransom. The crime involves unlawfully seizing and carrying away a person by force or fraud or seizing and detaining a person against his or her will with the intent of carrying that person away at a later time (Garner, 2009). The strategies employed by kidnappers in the state include the use of telephones to lure their unsuspecting victims or trailing them to any location considered safe for them to strike.
In criminal the law of Nigeria, kidnapping is the taking away or abduction of a person against the person’s will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority. This may be done for a ransom or in furtherance of another crime. Nseabasi, (2010) posited that kidnapping in Nigeria can be different forms: the first form comprise of the ethnic militia who employ kidnapping as the major weapon of agitation from oppression, exploitation and environmental degradation. These set of kidnappers, kidnap expatriates who work in the oil companies. Another form is dislodged militias and other criminals that engage in kidnapping as a means of survival. The last form of kidnappers is not militants but elements in the society that engage in any venture they consider lucrative.
Other recent and digital forms of kidnapping have since emerged; terrorists or political revolutionaries like the Islamic militias (Boko haram) who employ kidnapping as a tactic to extort or seek concessions from the government and the digital or online kidnapping. This form of kidnapping directly and indirectly impacts on man and operates in two forms. One involves the kidnapping of the organisations website by hacking for a ransom while the other involves the stealing of images of children posted online by some parents.
The act of kidnapping pose serious security and development challenges to the people, residents and businesses in Ekiti State and the Nigeria at large. For some time now many persons and businesses have continued to suffer in the hands of the kidnappers. This social milieu has remained unabated and is now a threat to the sustainability of political development in the Ekiti State.
Criminality with impunity in Ekiti State has opened up avenues for dangerous socio-political degradation. This no doubt has implications for the socio, economic and political development of not only the local government but also for the whole state. The situation is such that economic activities in the area are almost grounded especially the oil companies have abandoned their various camps in the area for their refuge. Majority of the politicians are conveyed from another place amidst tight security to carry out essential official assignments while petty businesses are operated at abysmal levels and in trepidation.
According to Essien & Ben (2013), kidnapping being a major kind of violent crime can have a destabilizing effect on the socio religious, economic and political existence of the people. It can cause disruption of social peace and economic sabotage. They further posited that when an entrepreneur is kidnapped it could lead to the closure of his business, dis-engaging his labour force and creating more unemployment among the youths. In the same vein when the bread winner of a family is kidnapped, the family and his dependents suffer devastating social and economic hardship.
In a bid to arrest the ugly situation, various levels of governments and agencies in the state have applied a number of strategies to quell the situation. The youth bodies of various communities in the state have were either been banned or unbanned, their executives were dissolved and reconstituted,
The situation only abates temporarily and then resurfaces again; it is on this note that the study is embarked upon to investigate the effects of kidnapping on the socio-political development in Nigeria a case study of Ekiti state.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The incident of kidnapping has affected Nigeria's image as a nation abroad. It has also affected Nigeria's attempt to develop a viable tourism industry as visitors are regularly warned by their countries to be wary of coming to Nigeria.
Security challenges in the nation have hampered economic growth as the youth unemployment escalates. The horror of kidnapping has impacted the economy in the sense that it created a state of insecurity in all four walls of the nation (Ejimabo, 2013). This is evidence as we witness the torture of Boko Haram in the north, the insurgences of the militants in the south, the kidnapping waves in the southeast, and ritualism in the Midwest.
The obvious challenge facing the nation is to streamline measures to tackle the impediments or obstructions to the solution of kidnapping behaviors. Nigeria has turn to a playing ground of carnage, restiveness, Religious violence and incessant kidnapping which discourage many people to have hope in better Nigeria or to have belief in promised changed, this research discovered that things have completely changed in Nigeria because the kidnappers determined highly influential people to gain grand of huge ransom and those behind it are youth that supposed to be the leader of tomorrow but because of corruption, injustice, poverty and unemployment they are now kidnapping the leader of today as the only means of getting money to survive.
There is no gain in saying that mass-media has exhausted their tenacity in reporting the cases of kidnapping in Nigeria. Because the speed with which evil is growing in Nigeria and the merciless ways that lives of innocent ones are being wasted are worrisome.
In view of the above, the present study will examine the effect of kidnapping on socio-political development in Nigeria a case study of Ekiti state.
1.3 Objective of the Study
The general objective of this study is to examine the effect of kidnapping on socio-political development in Ekiti State while the specific objectives are to;
i. identify the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents;
ii. identify the immediate causes of kidnapping;
iii. ascertain the effect of kidnapping on the political development Ekiti state; and
iv. identify the factors that inhibit the eradication of kidnapping in Ekiti state.
1.4 Research Questions
To solve the problems of this study the following research questions were raised:
i. What are the socio economic characteristics of the respondents?
ii. What are the immediate causes of kidnappings in Ekiti state?
iii. What are the effect of kidnapping on the political development of Ekiti state?
iv. What are the factors that inhibit the eradication of kidnapping in Ekiti state?
1.5 Research Hypotheses
Ho1: There is no significant difference between socio-economic characteristic and the respondents.
Ho2: There is no significant difference between kidnapping and the causes of kidnapping
Ho3: There is no significant difference between kidnapping and political development
Ho4: There is no significant difference between the factors inhibit kidnapping and the eradication of kidnapping in Ekiti state
1.6 Significance of the Study
The study will serve as a guide to a better and safe Nigeria which will eventually lead to socio economic development of the Nation by attracting both local and foreign investors.
As the study will help the government of the Nation to understand the impediments to the control of kidnapping activities in the Nation and as well as implementing possible solutions to be a better Nigeria where all and sundry will live safely.
Finally, it will be an added research work and literature on the effects of Kidnapping on socio political development in Ekiti state
1.7 Scope of the Study
This study was carried out in Ekiti state. It showed the effect of kidnapping on socio political development in some selected local government in this area.
1.8 Limitations to the Study
The researcher faced some limitations in the course of carrying out this study some of which are lack of cooperation by the respondents and limited places to visit due to cashless policy. However, the researcher through persistence and persuasion was able to overcome the above mentioned challenges.
1.9 Definition of Terms
Effect: A change which is a result or consequence of an action or other cause. Something brought about by a cause or an agent; a result. The power to produce an outcome or achieve a result; influence. A scientific law, hypothesis, or phenomenon. It is also the condition of being in full force or execution.
Kidnapping: The action of abducting someone and holding them captive, an act or instance or the crime of seizing, confining, inveigling, abducting, or carrying away a person by force or fraud often with a demand for ransom or in furtherance of another crime.
Development: Development is basically an economic concept that has positive connotations; it involves the application of certain economic and technical improve people's quality of life.
National security: National security is the security of a nation state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government, the safety of a nation against threats such as terrorism, war, or espionage. National security can also be said to be the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic power, diplomacy, power projection and political power.
1.9 Organization of Chapters
The study comprises of five Chapters. Chapter one examined background to the study, statement of problem; significant of the study, Objective of the study, research hypothesis, scope of the study, definition of terms and organization of chapters. Chapter two also consider literature review and theoretical framework. Chapter three examines the research methodology, where sampling method, study area, data analysis would be considered. Chapter four looks at data presentation and interpretation. Lastly, chapter five examines the summary, recommendations and conclusion.
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