Kidnapping and National Security in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper examines the phenomenon of kidnapping in Nigeria with a view to underscore its implications fornational security. This is against the backdrop of the rising incidence and prevalence of the crime incontemporary Nigeria. By way of qualitative analysis, predicated on secondary sources, the paper posits thatkidnapping has been motivated and sustained by criminal quest for material accumulation. The paper adds thatthe situation has been compounded by the growing trend of criminal impunity in Nigeria wherefore thegovernment’s capacity to sanction and deter crime is abysmal. The paper observes that kidnapping portendsdangerously for Nigeria’s national security in view of its untoward impacts and implications. The paper submitsthat crimes like kidnapping would continue to prevail in Nigeria until pragmatic measures are taken to deter theiroccurrence as well as penalize their commission.Keywords: Kidnapping; organized crime; queer ladder theory; national security; criminal impunity; kidnappingransom value (KRV).