The fate of hostages: Nigeria's conflict theatres in comparative perspective

Abstract

The violence against hostages in Nigeria's armed conflicts is alarming. Killings, physical mutilation, sexual abuse, forced marriage, religious persecution, forced labour and conscription of hostages have all been recorded during Nigeria's conflicts in recent times. This trend has increased the concern for the fate of hostages in the country. However, there have been a few exceptions: some have escaped from their abductors, while a few others have been released for ransom or rescued by security operatives. This study examines the fate of hostages captured in Nigeria's conflict theatres, namely the Niger Delta region and the northern region of the country. The study seeks to understand the variations in the fates of hostages, their survival strategies, and the efficacy of Nigeria's crisis management approaches in the aforementioned conflict theatres.

Political leadership and Nigeria’s image crisis

“…Government also made efforts to fight Boko Haram insurgency; wage war against terrorism, kidnapping and hostage taking; and above all political instability by fortifying all the security architecture of the land. However, security experts have argue that the application of suppressive force interlaced with some counter-insurgency strategies, hence, the approach to fighting insecurity generates retaliatory violence (Akinjuru & Ruddock, 2016;Ichili, 2016;Oyewole, 2016;Sampson, 2016).…”

“…NHRC was established to create an environment for the extrajudicial recognition, to fight any form of human right violations, and the promotion, protection and enforcement of human rights. However, the violent killings, physical mutilation, sexual abuse, forced marriage and labour, religious persecutions, conscription of hostages among other nefarious treatment have all been recorded in Nigeria's Fourth Republic (Oyewole, 2016). All these instances negate the international treaty of human rights protection that Nigeria state did signed.…”

Trends of Kidnapping and Hostage Taking in 21st Century Nigeria: A Reflective Discourse

“…In Africa for instance, statistics showed that the following countries: Ghana, Mali, Kenya, Cameroon, Somalia, Nigeria, are prone to kidnapping related activities and threats (Okeowo, 2013;Onuoha & Okolie-Osemene, 2019). In fact, Nigeria is regarded as the arrow head of operations on kidnapping activities having received half of the kidnapping statistics in the entire Africa (Ngwama, 2014;Oyewole, 2016a;Assanvo & Okereke, 2019;Attah et al, 2021). Although, kidnapping and hostage taking is not a new development in Nigeria, its rates, dimensions, and implications are what have continually generated attention in the 21 st century (Ebohon & Ifeadi, 2012;Ngwama, 2014;Okorie-Ajah, Nwokeoma & Okpan, 2018;Tade, Ojedokun & Aderinto, 2019).…”

“…The significant kidnapping cases in Niger Delta started as a political agitation for the development need of the region based on the exploration of oil therein. This region began the formal act of kidnapping in the entire country when foreigners working at multinational oil companies -Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited -Total -Chevron Nigeria Limited -Mobil Producing Nigeria Limitedwere kidnapped (Akpan, 2010;Badiora, 2015;and Oyewole, 2016a). These kidnapping activities usually come with requests for financial returns before the release of such victims.…”

Making the Sky Relevant to Battle Strategy: Counterinsurgency and the Prospects of Air Power in Nigeria

“…Many children and young men and women were conscripted to join the insurgent campaign and served the self-proclaimed caliphate as fighters, spies, traps, armor bearers, transporters/porters, cameramen, technicians, cooks, sex slaves and medics. 31 In 2014, Boko Haram was reported to have outsourced parts of its campaign in Nigeria to some Nig eriens for US$3,085 (N500, 000: Nigerian Naira). 32 Besides locally produced weapons, the insurgent relied on trans-Sahel arms trafficking.…”