They thought it would never get to Lagos, Nigeria's most cosmopolitan state. Lagos, which boasts of a population of about 20 million people, according to a state government spokesperson, Lateef Ibirogba, in 2011, is made up of people from different parts of the world.
If reports in newspapers and broadcasts on social media are anything to go by, one may conclude that kidnap-for-ransom has become an established business in Lagos.
Saturday PUNCH observed that the threat is no longer just against expatriates living in the state as it used to be in the oil-rich Niger Delta. Nigerians now have a lot to worry about as well because they are now increasingly becoming targets of kidnappers.
Almost every week, there is a broadcast on social media about kidnappings.
In February 2012, Saturday PUNCH reported that a 29-year-old US returnee, Kemisola Ogunyemi, was kidnapped a few metres from her house in Ajah.
Ogunyemi was held for a week as her kidnappers kept calling her husband to demand N60m ransom.
Her husband had said at the time that he did not have the means to raise that kind of money. After she was released, a family source told our correspondent that the family had to source for N1m (about $6,300), which they gave to the kidnappers to secure her release.
Police never found the kidnappers.
In March 2013, a Briton working for a French geophysics company CGG, was abducted in Victoria Island, Lagos.
The Briton was released five days later. There was no word from the British consulate as to whether a ransom was paid or not.
On March 27, 2013, the same day the Briton was released, 44-year-old Yemi Owadokun, an employee of telecommunication company, MTN, was kidnapped at Ologunfe junction, Awoyaya, Lagos.
He was released 10 days later, after his family paid a N2m ransom.
On April 16, 2013, 16-year-old Olufolabi Adeniji, a student of American International School, Lagos, was declared missing. He was feared to have been kidnapped while being taken to school by his mother's driver.
The vehicle in which they were riding was later found abandoned at the Palms Shopping Mall, Lekki with his school bag inside the vehicle.
The driver has not been heard from since that day and police say the kidnappers have yet to make contact with the family.
The most recent case was the kidnap of the Chairman of Ejigbo Local Council Development Area of Lagos State, Kehinde Bamigbetan.
He was kidnapped on the road leading to his house in Ejigbo on Monday, April 15, 2013. The kidnappers later contacted the family to demand $1m (about N160m) as ransom.
He was set free five days after but told journalists no ransom was paid.
"At the end of the day, they just changed their minds that even without the money they would release me. I'm not too sure our security operatives can manage their level of sophistication," he stated in an interview while recalling his ordeal.
A family source, however, confirmed to our correspondent that N15m was dropped at Badore along Lekki-Epe Expressway for the kidnappers.
"The money was taken there in the morning and when we went there later in the day, the money was gone. The kidnappers demanded another N10m after that," the source said.
Findings by our correspondent corroborated Bamigbetan's account that kidnappers in the state are becoming increasingly sophisticated.
It was learnt that some of them use roaming lines in order to avoid being tracked.
Yemi James had often been called by an individual who always tried to find out about his location.
"The curious thing is that he uses a five-digit-number. I simply don't understand how that kind of number is obtained. Every time he calls, he asks where I am. I always tell him 'I am at home' but never tell him where my home is," he said.
A woman, who identified herself simply as Helen, said she had also got a similar call from a man a number of times, with the caller feigning familiarity to find out her current location.
Helen said, "The first day he called me, he mentioned my name as if he knew me well and asked where I was. I asked who he was and he laughed saying he found it funny that I would be asking him that.
"But when I asked him to describe me, I realised he did not know me. He has called many times since then and always wanted to find out where I was. I think he was trying to find out my regular location but I always give him a wrong address."
Saturday PUNCH has also learnt that the kidnapping cartel in the state have the ability to detect blank spots in cell tower coverage.
A man, Joshua Agidi, told our correspondent that when his wife's 35-year-old sister was seized in June 2013, the kidnappers' phone line was untraceable when the family contacted MTN.
When Ogunyemi was kidnapped at Ajah, her family told our correspondent that anytime the kidnappers contacted them, they were always moving in a vehicle to evade any attempt to pinpoint their location.
However, most of the families of victims our correspondent spoke to said they had no choice than to pay some money as ransom because they feared for the life of their loved ones.
When Nnnena Edu was kidnapped on April 14, 2013 at Good Shepherd Pasture parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Yaba, Lagos, she was released seven days later.
It was learnt that her family had to pay some amount of money as ransom.
However, there have been few successes in police investigation of kidnapping cases.
In a September 2012, Morenike Popoola was kidnapped between 9.30 and 10pm in Amuwo-Odofin on her way home.
Her car, a wine-coloured Toyota Corolla saloon in which she was abducted was recovered the following morning around Kirikiri.
Her brother told our correspondent, "The kidnappers used her phone to call my mom. We got the police involved and we were able to trace the area they were. But they threatened to kill her so we had to do what they said because we feared that if police moved in, she might have been killed.
"We had to pay some amount as ransom but I cannot disclose how much. She was released four days later. Police arrested four people when they eventually raided the area in Okota. My sister could not recognise them when she went to the police station because she was blindfolded all through the time she was held captive. But she recognised the voice of one of them."
However, Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Ngozi Braide, does not believe that kidnapping is actually on the rise in the state.
She said, "Kidnapping is alien to this part of the country. I don't agree with you that it is on the rise. We are conscious of the existence of some kidnappers in the state though.
"This is why we have intensified stop-and-search. We only want to implore people in the state to be patient whenever police stops them for search on the road. Our men have been trained to identify kidnap victims in distress in any vehicle they are searching even when kidnappers tell them not to say anything.
"This is also why getting a licence for tinted vehicles is important. Some kidnappers use vehicles with tinted glasses. But we can get as much information as possible about motorists when they come for their licences."
Braide said the stop-and-search raids conducted by the police had led to the arrests of some kidnappers at Mushin and on Lagos-Badagry Expressway.
Our correspondent spoke to some residents of Lagos. Their opinion on kidnappings in the state showed their apprehension.
Mrs. Ngozi Okorie, who owns a boutique in Ogba, Lagos, told our correspondent that she had noticed a rise in newspaper reports of kidnappings in the state.
She said, "Only God can save us in this state because there is no way one could know if one is being trailed or watched by kidnappers. I always ensure that my car doors are locked anytime I'm going home from my boutique. Because of robbers and kidnappers, I make sure I don't stop anywhere else when I'm leaving for home in the night.
"In some of the reports I have read, I realised that victims were waylaid anytime they make a stop. I speed a lot when I'm going home. We don't want Lagos to turn to a haven of kidnappers where people are abducted at will. The Inspector-General of Police has to focus on this issue because it will not augur well for everybody if Lagos turns to such place."
Another resident, Elias Aluko, an engineer who works in Lagos Island but lives in Ikeja, told Saturday PUNCHthat the fact that not just politicians or millionaires were targeted by kidnappers had shown that nobody was safe.
"I don't even know what my family will do if I get kidnapped. I don't blame those who don't wait for police investigation before paying ransom to kidnappers. We are talking about lives here. The life of my family is more important to me," he said.
For a Lagos lawyer, Mr. Ugwummadu Malachy, it is no surprise that kidnappings are now on the rise in the state.
His opinion was that the government had failed to address issues that would forestal it. Malachy said, "These kidnappings are signs of impending implosion in our society. All the variables that will bring about implosion in this country are now here with us.
"The rise in kidnappings in the state is drawn directly from the inability of the government to combat insecurity in other parts of the country. Lagos is not immune to kidnappings.
"There will be further escalation if issues as unemployment are not addressed. Lagos used to be relatively peaceful truly, but what was done at the time to prevent what is now happening? Even if this state has the most robust security trust fund the insecurity spill over from other states will always creat a problem here."
Asked if he personally felt safe in the phase of the incessant kidnappings, Malachy said it did not matter.
"As far as the other man cannot afford to secure himself as I can, I am not safe, nobody is safe," he said.
A security expert who also spoke with our correspondent provided an insight into the problem and how he thought kidnapping could be tackled.
Retired Commissioner of Police, Mr. Frank Odita, said kidnappings in the state had been aggravated because families of victims kept paying the ransom demanded.
He said, "Kidnapping is one of those cases that are usually not preventable. This is because when kidnappers want to set out on an operation, they conduct surveillance without alerting their victims.
"Even though it is not preventable, it can be properly managed. But the problem is many people don't wangt to wait for police investigation. When you pay the ransom, you reduce police effrot to nothing. It is not that the police does not have the capacity to combat kidnapping.
It is like blackmail, paying is not the solution because it will not stop.
"Kidnappers are having a field day in Lagos because people don't have the patience to sustain police investigation. Also, victims need to understand that there is need to immediately raise the alarm at the point of kidnap because then they have more chances of getting help. There is no guarantee that without raising the alarm, one would still not be killed even after paying ransom."
Security Tips:
• Make use of rear-view mirrors at all times.
• Avoid bumper-to-bumper driving
• Drive in the middle lane if possible to be able to manoeuver easily.
• Be conscious of those you employ as domestic staff
• Ensure your drivers don't take the same route everyday
• Emergency numbers should be on your speed dial
• Avoid taking strangers home.
• Be cautious in taking old friends home
• Take parties to event centres. Parties at home may give strangers unnecessary access
• Night-crawlers should avoid moving alone
• If you must go to a late night event, take low-profile vehicles. 'Big' vehicles attract kidnappers.
• Turn down your car stereo and roll down car windows when possible in the night to be able to here strange sounds around.
• Very affluent individuals shoud avoid employing domestic staff from very poor background. They may arrange your kidnap
Source:The Punch
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