‘Life is More Important Than money’: Ransom Mobilization and Delivery to Kidnappers in Northeast Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Despite growing research on kidnapping in Nigeria, little is known about how families mobilize resources and deliver ransom to kidnappers. Information in this regard is important to appreciate the experiences, challenges, and coping strategies of those with family members who have been kidnapped. Using exploratory design and in-depth interviews, data were elicited from released kidnapped victims, two women whose husbands had been kidnapped, ransom negotiators and deliverers, and security agents in Adamawa, northeast Nigeria. Findings showed ransom negotiators were either nominated by families or by the person kidnapped. Kidnappers used threat and beating of their captives to unsettle families and pressure them to raise ransoms. Family members raised ransoms through family, church and community donations, and through loans. Wives of kidnapped persons coped with spiritual support from church, experiences of others who faced similar situation, and counseling from Significant others.

Acknowledgements

The authors appreciate the participants in this research for sharing their experiences with us. We would also appreciate the contribution of the two anonymous reviewers of Deviant Behaviour for their helpful comments. The comments and editorial assistance of Dr Oluwatosin Adeniyi is appreciated.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ Blueprint Newspaper Editorial (2020) Kidnapping: Adamawa residents abandon homes. January 22, 2020. https://www.blueprint.ng/kidnapping-adamawa-residents-abandon-homes/ accessed 5-3-2022.

² Punch (2020). Kidnapping: Adamawa youths block highway, protest death of 10 residents, January 7, 2020. https://punchng.com/kidnapping-adamawa-youths-block-highway-protest-death-of-10-residents/.

³ One of the kidnapped here was kidnapped twice. On the second occasion, his only younger brother who tried to resist his being taking away was shot dead right before his eyes.

⁴ Kidnappers seem to us to have mastered the environment and ensured that they use difficult terrains in the forests as their den. Difficult terrains and security gadgets limited the police to move into the forest when they are informed. This is why timing of kidnapping may also have factored when the capable guardian may be low. This allows them to move into the thick forest, usually after trekking some hours, settle down and start the process of kickstarting demand for ransom and negotiations.

⁵ This implies that they should not negotiate to pay high sums of money but should rather negotiate for lower ransoms and not portray themselves as people who can raise any amount demanded.

⁶ It is not in all cases that kidnappers collect ransoms and allow the captive to reunite with his/her family. In Ogbomoso, in the southwestern part of Nigeria, some kidnappers kidnapped a hotelier and a university student working in that hotel. They bargained to receive five million naira and upon delivery, they killed all their captives and the commercial motorcycle operator who took them to the agreed location while the ransom deliverer escaped death and sustained injuries. Vanguard Newspaper, August 4, 2022 https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/08/kidnappers-kill-abducted-lautech-student-hotelier-other-after-ransom-payment/ accessed 10 September 2022.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Oludayo Tade

Oludayo Tade teaches crime and delinquency, deviation, social control and sociology of mass communication and public opinion. He was a Laureate of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA); Partnership for African Social and Governance Research (PASGR) and the British Council. Tade is a certified Policy-Engaged Research Communication expert and Head of Communications, Conflict Research Network, West Africa (CORNWEST Africa). A member of the Nigeria Society for Criminology, Tade scholarly publications on Bokoharam terrorism, cybercrime, victims of crime, piracy, child trafficking, peace and security, family, transactional sex/prostitution, and juvenile delinquency, among others have appeared in learned international journals such Comparative Sociology, Canadian Journal of African Studies (CJAS), International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, International Review of Victimology (IRV), Journal of Financial Crime (JFC), International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology (IJOTCC) to mention but a few. He is an associate editor on the Board of IJOTCC. He can be reached at [email protected]

Jude A. Momodu

Jude A. Momodu is a professor of peace and security studies and the current Chair at the Center for Peace and Security Studies, Modibbo Adama University, Yola. He holds a doctorate degree in peace and conflict studies from the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. He is a seasoned scholar and has many publications in national and international journals. His research interests span areas such as violent non-state groups, national security management, countering violent extremism and post-conflict peace building