| Summary: | Nigeria is a complex society with a rapid population growth of over 200 million people
comprising of 250 distinct ethnic groups with over 500 different languages. Thus,
uniting these numerous groups into one unified political entity since the amalgamation
of Nigeria in 1914 is an enormous task. Apart from other social vices that accounted for
the protracted state of Nigeria problem, Nigeria has plunged into waves of kidnapping,
banditry, armed robbery, and Boko Haram insurgence perpetrating almost every part of
the country. Although, the menace of kidnapping in Nigeria started in the Niger delta
in 2006, the number of cases deteriorated in Nigeria from 2007 to 2018, in which several
people have been kidnapped. On foreign relations, beside local people, kidnappers have
kidnapped several foreign expatriates working for multinational oil companies. The
kidnappers demanded either for ransom or a reciprocal for releasing their member being
capture by the authority's or other demands. Therefore, this study aims to analyse the
root causes of kidnapping in Nigeria and its implications on the national security and
foreign relations of Nigeria. The objectives of the study were achieved using a
qualitative approach. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with
10 participants comprising of security personnel, victims and academicians., as well as
official documents, books, journals, dissertations, and other unpublished manuscripts.
The data were analyzed using the Braun and Clarke's six stages of thematic analysis
with the aid of Qualitative Data Analysis software, i.e., Atlas. ti. The study found that
kidnapping posed an immense threat to Nigerian national security with deprivation of
the constitutional right of movement and imposed post-traumatic stress disorder on the
victims. The foreign relations impact of kidnapping involves inhibition of tourism,
deterrence of foreign investment, and inflicting Nigeria into a visa-banned nation by
some foreign nations. The findings also revealed that the negligence of the Nigerian
government to address the root-causes of kidnapping, such as unemployment and abject
poverty, resulted to the force-driven security threat in the country. Despite the efforts
made by the security agencies to tackle the menace of heinous crimes in Nigeria,
kidnapping is evolving with a massive impact on the socio-economic development of
the country. Some policies, institutional and legislative recommendations were offered
by this study in order to stem the tide of kidnapping in the country. This study offers
great importance to the policymakers in tackling kidnapping cases. It will also assist the
government to establish good relations with foreign nations to come together, forged
ahead, and coordinate to bring the perpetrators to justice so that foreign partners and
international bodies will see the efforts in curtailing and stemming the tide of
kidnapping in Nigeria as a success.
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