Al Nassr secures 5-1 victory over Al Ain to edge closer to knockout stage    Saudi Deputy FM meets Lt. Gen. Al-Burhan of Sudan    Al-Khateeb: Saudi Arabia is the largest global investor in tourism sector "Saudi Land" pavilion inaugurated at World Travel Market in London    Saudi Crown Prince, Japanese PM discuss over phone efforts made to achieve peace in the region    Saudi Arabia, in its drive to enrich Arab culture, launches Arab Week at UNESCO in Paris    Neymar exits Al Hilal match with muscle injury, leaving fans disappointed    AlHisn Big Time Studios unveiled to transform film and TV production in Riyadh    Saudi Arabia approves cooperation agreement with US for the use of outer space for peaceful purposes    Quality of Life Program CEO highlights Saudi urban transformations at UN-Habitat conference in Cairo    Almarai wins 'Best Corporate Sukuk' at Asset Triple A Islamic Finance Awards    Top climber falls to death after rare Himalayan feat    US voters flying home in time for election    Drones and snipers on standby to protect Arizona vote-counters    India's Modi condemns violence after Canada temple incident    Elon Musk can keep giving $1m to voters, judge rules    Mitrovic's hat-trick leads Al Hilal to 3-0 victory over Esteghlal    Al Ahli extends perfect start with 5-1 victory over Al Shorta    Quincy Jones, titan of US music, dies aged 91    Hidden sugars in Asia's baby food spark concerns    HONOR unveils pre-order of the stunning HONOR MagicBook Art 14 Featuring an ultra-slim design, HONOR Eye Comfort Display and AI Cross-OS WorkStation    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Muted Eid celebrations for millions of Nigerian Muslims    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Nigeria: Middle class in fear as kidnappings rise
By Jon Gambrell
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 08 - 07 - 2010

Masked armed men guard Nigeria's elite in this volatile oil-rich region, but the country's middle class can only lock their doors and pray each time their children leave home.
Kidnappers who once targeted foreign oil workers are now abducting children – including one as young as eight months old –for whatever ransom they can get.
The abduction crisis has forced the price of German shepherds to skyrocket, as only the wealthiest can afford private security in a country where most people earn less than a $1 a day.
President Goodluck Jonathan, himself from the Niger Delta, has decried the explosion of kidnappings and pledged to use the military to “crush” those behind it.
“We can no longer continue to live in a society where even if your wife is going to church, you have to look for an (armored personnel carrier) to follow her,” Jonathan told a crowd of ruling party supporters last month.
“If the children are going to school, you have to look for machine-gun-carrying security people to follow them. How many people can afford that?” he asked.
Kidnappers once targeted only foreign oil workers and contractors for six-figure ransoms. Now, with oil firms keeping their workers hidden behind razor wire and under paramilitary protection, gangs have increasingly turned to middle-class Nigerian families.
In recent months, kidnap victims have been as young as an eight-month-old baby seized in Port Harcourt in February. The elementary school-age son of a local village chief was seized while still in his school uniform; the boy was eventually released, presumably after the kidnappers' demands were met. Often-targeted doctors have gone on strike to protest the ransom market.
Nigeria's perpetually underpaid federal police force, whose officers routinely extort motorists at checkpoints, keep no official records on the number of kidnappings sweeping the delta. However, newspapers carry near-daily reports of kidnappings and ransom demands, and even the state-run television broadcaster has had to acknowledge the epidemic.
Those who can afford it hire police officers from elite and lethal units like the Mobile Police, or “kill-and-go” as Nigerians refer to them. A report by the Soros Foundation's Open Society Justice Initiative suggested about a fourth of the nation's officers are hired out as private security guards for the elite.
They are a routine sight in Port Harcourt and elsewhere in the Niger Delta – paramilitary police units outfitted to battle militants pulling private guard duty for the country's elite.
Pickup trucks filled with masked men armed with Kalashnikovs speed through the streets, sirens wailing, followed by black sport utility vehicles with tinted windows carrying VIP clients.
It didn't use to be this way. Foreign oil companies have worked for 50 years in the Niger Delta, a region of swamps, mangrove fields and palm-tree-lined creeks almost the size of South Carolina.
At first, many foreign oil workers moved freely in a caterwauling nightlife of prostitutes and cheap drinks as revolving military dictatorships kept strict and violent control over the region.
That began to change in the 1990s as local communities began to run off oil companies. By 2006, it turned into a full-fledged insurrection, as militants, upset about the delta's unceasing poverty, blew up pipelines, kidnapped oil company workers and fought government troops.
Today, oil companies like Royal Dutch Shell PLC keep workers ensconced in massive double-fenced compounds or transport their offshore rig workers directly to the sea from regional airports.
Much of the militant activity dropped off in recent months after many gang leaders accepted an amnesty deal offered by late President Umaru Yar'Adua. However, small arms and machine guns remain all too prevalent in the region, analysts say.
“It's the foot soldiers that are kind of left by the wayside. ... They've just got to kidnap what they can,” said Mark Schroeder, the director of sub-Saharan Africa analysis for the U.S. security think tank STRATFOR. “The individual in the Nigerian middle class just doesn't have the security safeguards that the oil workers have.” As a result, middle-class children, as well as priests, politicians and doctors have been targeted by criminal gangs. Typically, most are released in a week or two after their families pay whatever ransom they can scrape together.
Oil workers went for sums upward of $165,000 (25 million naira). However, middle-class Nigerian families can pay much less, so gangs resort to kidnapping more of them to make the same profits, Schroeder said. Many victims' families leave the police out of it, for fear officers in one of the world's most corrupt nations will demand their own cut. As a result, figures on kidnappings remain hard to gauge.
The overwhelming poverty and allure of fast money drives criminality, says local human rights activist Anyakwee Nsirimovu. In a nation of 150 million ruled by an often corrupt elite, some see it as the only way to get ahead.
“They've created an environment where the only way you can get what you want is by engaging in criminal activity, Nsirimovu said.


Clic here to read the story from its source.