VZCZCXRO0198
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHOS #0003/01 0041225
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 041225Z JAN 10
FM AMCONSUL LAGOS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1151
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 0700
RUEHCO/AMEMBASSY COTONOU 0662
RUEHYD/AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE 0200

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 LAGOS 000003 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - HANDLE ACCORDINGLY 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR DS/IP/AF, DS/DSS/OSAC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KCOR KCRM ASEC NI
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON KIDNAPPING IN NIGERIA 
 
REF: A. LAGOS 482 
     ¶B. LAGOS 434 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Kidnapping in Nigeria is increasing in frequency, 
expanding in scope and changing in character.  This seriously 
under-reported crime may be occurring as frequently as 40 
times a week, and targets are  increasingly ordinary 
Nigerians.  Incidents are no longer geographically 
concentrated in the Niger Delta but have been reported in 16 
of Nigeria's 36 states in the last two months, including four 
states in the North.  The character of the kidnapping is 
predominately criminal not political, and is sometimes highly 
organized but largely risk free.  Kidnapping fraud is a 
lucrative off-shoot of the kidnapping industry.  Kidnapping 
will continue to plague the country until the police learn 
how to respond more effectively and victim's families and 
associates no longer pay ransoms.  END SUMMARY. 
 
---------------------------------- 
KIDNAPPING INCREASING IN FREQUENCY 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) In the period between September 15 and November 30, 
42 reported incidents of kidnapping occurred in Nigeria, 
including seven incidents involving multiple hostages, 
according to records kept by RSO.  On November 9, a total of 
nine separate kidnapping incidents were recorded.  Press 
reports citing the Nigerian police claim that by early 
November more than 500 people had been held for ransom to 
date this year, a substantial increase over the 353 incidents 
registered in 2008.  Some observers speculate that kidnapping 
is becoming more common because the use of credit cards and 
electric payments among the rich make armed robberies less 
lucrative; others believe it is the latest "fad" in crime, 
reflecting better police response to some armed robberies. 
 
-------------------- 
UNDER-REPORTED CRIME 
-------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Abduction for ransom is, however, a seriously 
under-reported crime.  The families of victims often 
negotiate and pay ransoms directly to the kidnappers because 
they lack confidence in the police.  The result is an 
unquantifiable number of kidnappings neither recorded in 
police statistics nor reported in the press, and an 
increasing sense of insecurity across the country.  Radio 
Vision Africa, a private radio network located in Abia state, 
recorded over 500 calls in just one month from listeners 
decrying the pervasive threat of kidnapping.  A contact told 
PolOff that at least one kidnapping occurred every week in 
the state of Akwa Ibom.  Another contact in Port Harcourt, 
Rivers State, estimated that a kidnapping occurred in that 
city alone every week.  RSO contacts estimate that altogether 
as many as 40 kidnappings occur in Nigeria every week.  If 
true, this would put the number of people kidnapped annually 
at over 2,000.  (NOTE: Mexico has the highest number of 
kidnappings annually, with an estimated 7,000 in 2008, 
according to the December 4 New York Times Magazine.  END 
NOTE.) 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
KIDNAPPPING CRIMINAL NOT POLITICAL IN NATURE 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.   (SBU) Most kidnappings involve criminal acts rather than 
political one.  In no recent case have kidnappers made 
political demands, although political motives can be assumed 
in connection with the kidnapping of the father of the 
Peoples' Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate in Anambra 
State. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The targets of kidnapping are only occasionally 
foreigners or prominent politicians. Increasingly the victims 
are ordinary Nigerians.  Victims in recent months included a 
nurse from a federal hospital (Imo, October 14), an actor 
(Rivers, November 9), a lawyer (Edo, November 9), and several 
businessmen (Zaria, September 24, Enugu, September 25, 
Anambra, October 15 and Delta, November 22).  Victims even 
included children in ten of the 42 incidents recorded between 
September 14 and November 30, with children often seized on 
their way to or from school. Children as young as five have 
been taken hostage.  Elderly parents, wives and even the 
 
LAGOS 00000003  002 OF 003 
 
 
servants of the middle-class have increasingly become the 
targets of kidnappings as well. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The criminal nature of kidnapping is ironically 
underlined by militant leader "Tom Polo" (Chief Government 
Ekpemupolo) claiming that he paid over 220 million naira 
(roughly USD 1.5 million) to secure the release of women, 
children and foreigners captured by rogue groups not 
associated with his own organization or the "Niger Delta 
struggle."  (NOTE: MEND spokesman Jomo Gbomo claimed that 
MEND had "saved" kidnapping victims from "criminals" or 
negotiated their release on humanitarian grounds on a number 
of occasions in the second half of 2008.  END NOTE.) 
 
------------------------------- 
ORGANIZED CRIME, COMMUNAL CRIME 
------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) RSO contacts claim that in a number of incidents 
kidnappers have demonstrated sophisticated organization.  In 
addition to good intelligence, often based on insider 
knowledge of a victim's pattern of movement and habits, 
victims are often moved long distances and kept at central 
"holding places."  A police raid in Edo state on December 3 
that resulted in the release of five hostages taken in three 
unrelated incidents and total of 14 kidnappers arrested is a 
case in point. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Another disturbing trend is the involvement of 
entire communities.  A contact in Edo State told PolOff 
December 7 that Edo's anti-kidnapping task force composed of 
both police and military had identified 2-3 communities in 
which "everyone including old women and children" were 
involved in and profited from the kidnapping business.  This 
corroborates reports that a shrimp trawler was forced aground 
near a fishing village last year and plundered by the entire 
village, including market women. (Reftel B) Likewise LEGATT 
Lagos reported the leader of one kidnapping ring was a family 
patriarch supported by the rest of his family, and that in 
every instance involving an American victim over the last 
three years, the hostage was free to walk around the village 
in which he was held, suggesting that all the villagers 
profited in some way from ransoms paid and so had no 
incentive to report to the police. 
 
--------- 
LOW-RISKS 
--------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Kidnapping in Nigeria is comparatively low risk 
because victims and their families do not report most cases 
to the police.  Even in cases that are reported, police do 
not pursue kidnappers after a hostage has been released, 
according to an attorney practicing in the Niger Delta.  This 
contact argued that it is considerably less dangerous to "nab 
a school-girl on her way home" than to carry out an armed 
robbery or break into someone's house, but the rewards were 
potentially greater because entire families will pool their 
resources for the release of a relative.  One explanation of 
the police's apparent inaction was suggested in a New York 
Times Magazine article on December 4 which quoted the lawyer 
of a kidnapper claiming the police was informed of 
kidnappings in advance and received a cut of the ransom 
money.  While this cannot be ruled out, Post believes that 
insufficient resources are the principal reason why the 
Nigerian police do not pursue kidnappers after the release of 
hostages.  The recent introduction of capital punishment for 
kidnapping in a number of states will have little deterrent 
effect as long as there are only slight chances of arrest. 
 
---------------------- 
RANSOM DEMANDS FALLING 
---------------------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Ransom demands have fallen as the victims become 
less prominent and less prosperous.  Ransoms demands ran in 
the millions of dollars when foreign oil workers were the 
preferred target.  Total ransoms paid in Nigeria between 2006 
and 2008 exceeded USD 100 million, according to the inspector 
general of the Nigeria Police Force Mike Okiro as quoted in 
the press.  When targeting ordinary Nigerians, the ransoms 
are much more modest.  The employee of a Nigerian NGO told 
PolOff that kidnappers seized his sister in September and 
held her for two days while the family negotiated the ransom 
down from the initial demand of 25 million naira (USD 
165,000) to 1 million naira (USD 6,650).  Another contact 
told PolOff that in Rivers State kidnappers charged 25,000 
 
LAGOS 00000003  003 OF 003 
 
 
naira (USD 167) for the release of school children, the 
equivalent of a month's salary for a domestic worker in 
Lagos.  The RSO in Lagos has heard of ransom demands of as 
little as 5,000 naira (USD 33).  Although these sums seem 
small, in a country where 70 percent of the population earns 
less than USD two dollars daily, these ransoms often 
represent a significant financial burden on relatives. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
KIDNAPPING NO LONGER CONCENTRATED IN THE NIGER DELTA 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Kidnapping is no longer concentrated in the Niger 
Delta.  Almost half of Nigeria's states have become venues 
for kidnapping.  The highest number of kidnapping incidents 
in the period September 15 to November 30 was recorded in 
Rivers State (nine), but Edo State had the second highest 
number of incidents (seven).  Four incidents were reported in 
the same period in each Abia, Anambra, and Delta states, 
three each in Ebony and Enugu States, two in Kaduna and 
Benue, and a single incident was reported in Cross River, 
Niger and Ogun states.  Press reports on kidnapping from this 
period alleged incidents in Lagos, Oyo, Ondo and Imo States 
as well. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Notably, abductions for ransom were reported in 
three states in the North of Nigeria (Niger, Kaduna and 
Benue), while the core Niger Delta State of Bayelsa did not 
figure in the statistics of recorded incidents for the time 
period examined.  However, Akwa Ibom was also absent from the 
statistics, although incidents allegedly occur there 
regularly.  (COMMENT: The absence of both these states from 
the data available reflects under-reporting rather than 
freedom from this kind of crime.  END COMMENT.) 
 
------------------------------------- 
KIDNAPPING FUELS SECONDARY INDUSTRIES 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶13.  (SBU) Mediating between kidnappers and the families of 
victims has developed into an independent business, crime 
specialist Dumo Otujaye is quoted saying in the Nigerian 
press.  Mediators charge a "transaction fee" and allegedly 
have taken, in some cases, the largest share of the payment 
by greatly exaggerating kidnappers' demands.  The business of 
mediation is booming as the number of kidnappings increase 
and people remain reluctant to involve the police. 
 
¶14.  (SBU) Nigerian fraudsters also capitalize on Nigeria's 
growing reputation as one of the kidnapping capitals of the 
world.  The most common tactic is to establish a false 
internet identity and develop a virtual relationship with a 
foreigner before sending or having an accomplice send frantic 
messages to the foreigner alleging that the fraudster has 
been kidnapped and a ransom must be paid into the bank 
account provided. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶15.  (SBU) Kidnapping is no longer a "Niger Delta" problem. 
Moreover, the GON amnesty has not had any significant impact 
on its frequency within the Delta.  The underlying stimulus 
to the phenomenon is inadequate response of the police, which 
has made kidnapping a low-risk crime and encourages people to 
negotiate and pay ransoms rather than involve the 
authorities.  As long as victim's families or employers pay 
ransoms, kidnapping will remain a lucrative business and can 
be expected to continue to spread to other parts of the 
country, increase in frequency, and impact ever larger 
segments of the population. 
 
¶16.  (U) ConGen Lagos has coordinated this telegram with 
Embassy Abuja. 
BLAIR