KIDNAPPING AND MORAL SOCIETY: AN ETHICO-RELIGIOUS EVALUATION OF THE NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE

Abstract

Kidnapping has become a lucrative venture in Nigeria in recent times. Kidnapping first attracted national attention on 26 February 2006 when Niger Delta militants kidnapped foreign oil workers to press home their demands. Kidnapping has since become ubiquitous, politicised, and commercialised. It has spread from the Niger Delta to virtually all nooks and crannies of the country. This study therefore, examines the good and evil of kidnapping in Nigeria from ethical and religious perspectives and identifies the factors encouraging the venture. The study uses available news reports as well as personal and neighborhood witnesses, in addition to the consultation of some related literature. Possible causes of kidnapping were identified in relation to economic and political motivations as well as conceiving kidnapping as an instrument of liberation struggle including failure of the government to provide basic amenities, unemployment, inefficiency and corrupt security system. The paper posits and recommends the need for inclusive governance whereby all segments of stakeholders have the benefit of empowerment and capacity building as opposed to the current practice of elitist governance including good parental upbringing of children, a reordering of our societal values, and provision of functional education among others.