How kidnappers are using online platforms to lure victims
Kidnapping has, unfortunately, become an endemic crime in Nigeria and everyone is now a potential victim. The sad reality is that the kidnappers are not just after the rich and mighty anymore. Ordinary, struggling people are being hunted as the perpetrators continuously devise means to carry out their operation.
The new method that a particular syndicate currently operating in Rivers state employs is to invite their target to a fake job interview through social media or pretend to be buyers on some online classified websites. Once the victims arrive for the presumed interview or delivery, they’ll grab the person and call their loved ones for ransom.
Abiodun Badmus, who was recently kidnapped by a group in Rivers took to Twitter to share his experience and how he was released after paying an undisclosed amount of ransom. It turned out that he wasn’t the only one as many others joined in on the conversation.
“I was kidnapped on 22/02/2020 in River state. I was released yesterday after my ransom was paid by my friends and family. Today am back home with my family. Thank God for my life,” he tweeted.
“Pls [sic] if anybody calls you for job in River state, that they got your number from jiji or Facebook, or any social media, pls and pls try and verify the person‘s identity before traveling to River state. A guy named Ogbonna Emmanuel Valentine is still in their custody. He is a student of Federal University Otuoke in Bayelsa state, 200l, Computer Science. I pray the guy regain his freedom too.”
A coated floor artisan resonated with the story and went on to recount his own ordeal as well.
“From your story, I deduced that it was the same guys that kidnapped me 3 weeks ago that also did the same thing to you. I called Jiji to start warning people on their platform. Same scenario, I even tried to escape and they almost killed me, very horrible experience,” he said.
An emotional man, Johnny Akole who talked of how he was almost killed and thrown into a well in the Etche area of Rivers state swore nothing will ever take him to the state again.
“They called me for job around Etche, that they got my number from WhatsApp. I carried my toolbox and went there, and I saw 5 of them at the address they gave me. There was no big house that they said am going to tile. When I sense what’s happening and wanted to escape, they chased me and drag me to the well to throw me inside. I can’t go to that state again,” he recounted.
“The problem is that when you report them to the police, nothing will happen. I don’t know if they are afraid of them. They [the police] behave like they don’t know what is happening.”
The police are yet to address the issue.
There has been a barrage of kidnappers in Nigeria for some time now. The act which was popularized in the early to mid-2000s by the militant groups in the creeks of the Niger-Delta has taken a more monstrous prevalence in all parts of the country today.
There are some kingpins who have turned kidnapping into a full-blown enterprise. Chief among them was Chukwudidumeme Onuamadike a.k.a Evans, whose operation spanned across the country. He was notorious for charging astronomical ransom and ordering the murder of the victims who couldn’t meet his demands. He was eventually arrested in June 2017 and his case is still in court.
According to the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, about 685 people were kidnapped in Nigeria in 2019 while 1,071 were killed in crime-related violence. But the actual number of kidnap incidents in the country dwarfs the figures given by the police. Many kidnappings often go unreported as kidnappers warn against getting the police involved. The instruction is followed to the latter out of fear for the safety of the hostages.
Just recently, violent kidnappers were laying ambush along major highways and kidnapping travellers for ransom. One of the most dangerous routes was the Abuja-Kaduna expressway, which became a nightmare to road users. A lawmaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, Sulaiman Dabo was kidnapped alongside three students from Ahmadu Bello University during this time.The road was deserted at one point and it took many military interventions to rid the roads of the bandits.
But down in Rivers state, some kidnappers armed with social media and the internet, are now luring job seekers, NYSC members, artisans, online retailers, and just ordinary social media users into their traps. The practice is also spreading to other states as some kingpins adopt the method.
Some of the victims have been warning others to steer clear of messages or calls about job offers that sound too good to be true or that they didn’t apply for. It is also advisable to report some of these suspicious activities to the police to help tackle the issue.
