Abstract

The study examined the impact of kidnapping for ransom on the people of Nigeria with implications for National security. The general objective of the study was to examine the extent to which kidnapping activities have affected the right to life, personal liberty, freedom and progress of people in Nigeria and to determine the implication for Nigeria’s National security. The scope of the study covered the period between 2014 and 2022. The paper posits that kidnapping and kidnapping for ransom activities have negatively affected the life and freedom of people living in Nigeria and thus are a problem for National security. The study adopted the critical discuss analysis approach in the analysis of the phenomena of the study. Themes were generated from the research questions and the phenomena of the study were thus examined under various sub-headings for patterns and analysis. The findings show that kidnapping for ransom in Nigeria have negatively and mostly affected the right to life, freedom and progress of people in Nigeria and hurt National security; hence, the Nigerian security architecture is weak. Consequently, the study recommends that the government security forces should be complemented by private security outfits and vigilantes in all towns and villages; the security and intelligence capacity of the military and the police forces should be built up for effective management of information; and that people in Nigeria should be allowed by an act of parliament to carry arms for self-defence among others.

Keywords: Kidnapping, Kidnap for ransom, Renegade groups, National security, Unger-governed spaces