Sadly: Nigeria's National Kidnapping Crisis Is Expanding

Across the country, Nigerians have seen an uptick in violent, ostensibly non-political, crime. Further, there is anecdotal evidence that crime has become more gratuitously violent. Nigerians are especially concerned about the upsurge in kidnapping, which affects an increasingly wide spectrum of the Nigerian population.

In the past, kidnapping mostly occurred in the south and west of the country, but now, it has become national epidemic. In some parts of the country, kidnapping has become a business, with whispers of involvement by politicians and the police as well as entrepreneurs in it simply for the money.

In the northeast and in the Delta, kidnapping has been used as a political weapon by dissidents. Boko Haram, for example, made headlines in April 2014 when it kidnapped 276 schoolgirls in Chibok, over one hundred of whom remain captive.

More: https://www.cfr.org/blog/nigerias-national-kidnapping-crisis-expanding