Thread by @AyoBankole

It is scary that we have normalised kidnapping. It is no longer priority for media & security agencies. Our govt now acts as if kidnapping is another sector like textile. And it is. Between June 2011 & March 2020, at least $18.3m ransom was paid to kidnappers in Nigeria. Thread

About one & half months ago, @sbmintelligence published a report on "The economics of Nigeria’s kidnap industry". The report revealed a damn scary trajectory in terms of numbers of kidnapping, fatalities and monies exchanging hands in the kidnapping business. Govt was quiet.

As if that data on the top 10 states is not bad enough, this map of Nigeria shows that kidnapping occurs in all states of Nigeria, except 2, including FCT. This should raise serious concerns with govt. I don't know any serious country that won't declare an emergency with this.

But here we are. Our governments at the Federal and state levels carry on business as usual while groups of criminals have created a multi-million dollar trade by kidnapping its citizens and in many cases, killing them. With the President's home state ranking high on the list.

As if the deafening silence that followed @sbmintelligence's comprehensive report in May wasn't enough, @HumAngle_ published an article two days ago showing that 89 people died across the country between Monday, June 29, and Friday, July 3. WITHIN ONE WEEK!!!
Again, silence.

The silence of the govt has emboldened the kidnappers. They've created a massively lucrative business from the crime & the numbers show the growth. According to SBM, out of the $18.34m paid as ransom since 2011-2020, 60%($11m) was paid between 2016 & 2020 alone! Huge growth!

But while our govt sleeps, the world is awake, watching what we are doing and how our govt is enabling terrorism and kidnapping with its silence. Travel advisories on various govt's websites advise citizens against Nigeria. Kidnapping features prominently.
gov.uk/foreign-travel…

The travel advisory by the USA is even worse than that of the UK, listing most Nigerian states as Do not travel zones. Ofcourse this has tremendous impact on economic activity - tourism, trade, FDIs, etc. We are, unfortunately, an unserious country.
travel.state.gov/content/travel…

According to the UNCTAD 2020 World Investment Report, FDI flows to Nigeria totalled USD3.3bn in 2019, a 48.5% decrease from USD6.4bn in 2018! Something is terribly wrong. The signals are blinking red. But we are more concerned with dirty politicking and looting. God help us all.