Kidnapping: The Audacity of Criminality in Nigeria

Abstract

Every nation at every stage of her development experience one form of criminality or the other. Nigeria is not an exception, for crimes such as murder, armed robbery and kidnapping occur on frequent basis. The thought about kidnapping is very frightening, the experience of the crime is traumatic to the victims and their relatives and its effects generally on the psychic of the people and the serious challenge it poses to various levels of government have all actuated the greater need to investigate the crime in this treatise, particularly in the South-South, South–East and more recently South–West geo–political zones.  The investigation of the crime will also attempt to find answers to the many problems generated by the crime and how the crime can be tackled successfully. The paper begins by stating the problems occasioned by the crime, examines the causes and effects of the crime in Nigeria and defines the relevant terms. Next, the paper discusses the elements of kidnapping, kidnapping and other crimes, the crime of kidnapping in Nigeria and also attempts legal and sociological prescriptions with a view to tackling the crime. Conclusion wraps up the paper.