286 children kidnapped in nigeria

They are not a new thing, the first kidnapping incident occurred exactly 10 years ago, when in 2014 the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram kidnapped 276 schoolgirls, many of whom were later released upon payment of a ransom or managed to escape.
Boko Haram means 'Western education is a sin', and according to its version of Sharia law, women should stay at home to raise children and take care of their husbands, not at school to learn to read and write. According to some human rights organisations, some girls and women are kidnapped to take the place of wives and perform domestic work and sexual services.

The disturbing phenomenon of mass abductions

On 7 March 2024, another mass kidnapping took place with very high numbers: 286 children were abducted from a school in Kuriga, a town in Kaduna State in Nigeria. According to local authorities, the kidnappers allegedly demanded a ransom of 1 billion naira, about $620,000, for their release.
The mass kidnapping in Kuriga was the third in northern Nigeria in March alone; 48 hours later, a group of armed men abducted 15 children from a school in another northwestern state, Sokoto, and a few days earlier, 200 people (mostly women and children) were kidnapped in the north-eastern state of Borno. Kidnappings meanwhile continued; Human Rights Watch reports that on 18 March more than 87 people were abducted in Kajuru, a community also part of Kaduna State.

No group has claimed responsibility for the recent kidnappings, however with regard to the kidnapping in Borno, the local population points the finger at Islamic extremists who are leading an insurgency in the north-east of the country. Sometimes kidnappings are politically motivated: Boko Haram's kidnappings are also seen as a way for the group to signal its strength to the Nigerian government and population. With regard to more recent kidnappings such as that of Kuriga, the perpetrators appear to be violent criminal groups and armed gangs with no ideological affiliation who have adopted this tactic as a pure source of profit.

In fact, many of the recent kidnappings are motivated by economic desperation; the kidnappers mostly ask for money as ransom, although sometimes they have demanded foodstuffs, motorbikes and even petrol. Motorbikes are 'an easy and less demanding economic tool for many unemployed youth in the north and relatively easy to use for terrorist attacks', says the report by SB Morgen, a Nigerian geopolitical consultancy.

SB Morgen has released its June 2023 updated report on the kidnap economy in Nigeria. The company reports that between July 2022 and June 2023 alone, 3,620 people were abducted in 582 kidnap-related incidents in Nigeria and ransom demands of at least $5 billion ($6,410,256 as at 30 June 2023) were reported.

Measures implemented by the government

The kidnappings highlight the economic and security crisis afflicting Africa's most populous country, a situation aggravated especially after the coronavirus pandemic.
Armed groups have turned kidnappings into a profitable business, taking advantage of the Nigerian government's propensity to pay ransoms and bow to pressure from public opinion and the international media. As a result, ransom demands have dropped, with extortionists starting to demand lower amounts and abducting more people.

The numerous recent kidnappings certainly undermine the credibility of the government. The official government position was that the security forces should secure the release of the hostages without the payment of any ransom sum. Paying to release hostages has been illegal in Nigeria since 2022 and carries a prison sentence of at least 15 years, a measure that has in fact never been enforced. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who came to power in 2023, had promised a decisive change on the issue of kidnappings and violence caused by Islamic terrorism, criminal gangs and widespread violence within the country; recent events have inevitably already caused him widespread criticism on the security front within the country.

According to Kemi Okenyodo, executive director of the NGO Partners West Africa-Nigeria, it is no longer enough to bring children home, those responsible must also be held accountable to end the widespread practice of kidnapping.

Mondo Internazionale APS - Reproduction Reserved ® 2024

Translated by Flora Stanziola