Survey Highlights Effects of Unemployment, Poverty on Society

Obinna Chima

The latest public opinion poll results released by NOIPolls have revealed that majority of Nigerians cited the level of unemployment and poverty as the two top reasons for the spate of kidnappings in the country.

Greed was also mentioned by 15 percent of the respondents as another major reason why people choose kidnapping as their source of revenue.

Additionally, the survey showed that 60 per cent stated that kidnapping was very prevalent in Nigeria and 43 per cent said they had heard about some kidnap cases in their locality in the last three months further buttressing its prevalence. Interestingly, a minor five per cent claimed that there hasn’t been any case or incidence of kidnapping in their neighbourhood.

To provide a brief insight into the outcomes of the various kidnap cases reported in the country, a large proportion (87 percent) of the respondents who specified that they know a victim personally said that the victim was rescued while 35 percent disclosed that a ransom was paid before the abductors released the victims.

Also, 16 percent indicated that the kidnappers were only arrested while eight per cent confirmed that the perpetrators were both arrested and prosecuted.

“This indicates the need for more vigilance and alertness on the parts of individuals while the security agencies improve on their methods of tackling such cases.
“Our results also show that Nigerians have high expectations for the security agencies in handling kidnap cases as almost seven in 10 respondents (69 percent) mentioned that they would alert the security agents if they suspect any kidnapping scene,” it added.

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