Rising Rate of Kidnappin in Nigeria

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A current trend in Nigeria is the rising rate of Kidnapping in the Country. Kidnapping can be defined as the taking away of a person against the person's will usually for a ransom or in futherance of another crime. The roots of the recent spate of kidnapping in Nigeria can be traced to the armed struggle by the Niger Delta Militants which started in **** . The Niger Delta Militants who claimed to fight against the injustice of Oil companies and Government towards the Niger Delta People, used Kidnapping of Oil workers, especialy foreigners as a means to scare away the oil companies as well as funding their struggle through the huge ransoms paid. The armed strugle in the Niger Delta has since been put aside due to the Amnesty programme innitiated by the Federal Government, however the success of the Niger Delta kidnappers did not go unnoticed and has been seen by many unscrupulous elements as a means of getting Rich. The trend which spred from the Niger Delta to the Eastern part of the country has now been replicated in some Western part of the country. In recent times, the victims of Kidnapping have increased to family members of Affluent Celebrities, the Rich and Political appointees, basically anybody that can be blackmailed into coughing out a ransome is a potential victim of ransome motivated kidnaps. It can be implied that the high rate of unemployment is a major contributor to the recent trend of kidnapping, however it could also be infered that the trend would not have spread if the initial acts of kidnapping by the Niger Delta Millitants had been curbed by the Nigerian security forces, however the Security forces seem to be ill equiped to handle the situation. Nigeria is fast becoming a major kidnapping capital of the world and this has negative implications for Investment and Development. From the kidnap of Pete Edochie to the kidnap of John Mikel Obi's
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