Abuja – January 26, 2023 – From our Stand (102) .
Over the past years, the pandemic of kidnapping in Nigeria has become so dangerously endemic that it is becoming harder to control its growth and severity.
Nigeria is one of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa that has faced high incidents of kidnapping.
Nigeria is in the grip of a kidnapping epidemic and available data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime show that Nigeria ranks third behind South Africa and Cameroun in the number of kidnapping cases in Sub-Saharan Africa.
In recent times, the consequences of kidnapping, particularly in the real estate sector have become of immense interest .
Even the Federal Capital Territory, hitherto the oasis of safety in a national desert of insecurity, is now the theater of some of the most frighteningly lethal abductions.
The kidnapping of a Nigerian-American professor of political science who retired from a Mississippian university and purchased a home in Abuja is one recent example of how unsafe Abuja is; the professor was held captive in downtown Abuja and only freed after paying a N8.5 million ransom. This incident is capable of causing significant damage to the real estate industry as other residents in the vicinity may be forced to relocate and even prospective property buyers would be highly discouraged.
The high rate of kidnapping in nigeria has had numerous implications on existing real estate business as much as it serves as a disincentive for foreign investors
Many of the kidnapping hotspots have experienced a decrease in the number of residents, with some even relocating.
Some developers have lamented the fall in home purchases as a result of most buyers being afraid of certain kidnapping hotspots.
Others have bemoaned the large number of locals leaving the region because of the high number of abductions.
Kidnapping and hostage-taking constitute a prevalent societal issue in Nigeria, with detrimental effects on the nation’s real estate market and growth. There doesn’t appear to be an end in sight to the problem of abduction and hostage-taking, which has taken on an unparalleled magnitude in Nigeria.
Lack of advanced equipment to find criminals, low security officer motivation, miscommunication and a lack of synergy among security agencies, and improper documentation , and migratory patterns among Nigerian residents are all contributing factors to abduction cases.
Since no real estate developer would want to invest in a situation with a weak security system, both the government and private citizens have lost enormous sums of money and property as a result of the incident, and most investors have lost interest in making investments in the nation.
The way Nigeria now handles abduction and hostage-taking situations needs to be reviewed with the following recommendations.
1.Specifically, an examination of the current laws and the degree of its implementation is necessary to ensure stiffer penalties for kidnappers.
2. Friendly policies from all levels of government should be implemented in order to encourage developers to feel comfortable making real estate investments.
3.It is also imperative that security agencies raise public awareness and actively involve the public in addressing the issue of abduction and hostage-taking.
4. Estates and residential areas should be properly protected, and security agency personnel and men should be provided with valuable knowledge so they may in turn raise awareness among the residents.
5. The security agencies must be equipped with up-to-date gear.
6. Merit-based hiring practices should govern security agency employment in order to ensure that home security systems are highly effective.
