What began as a local drama has now grown into a full movie. If you tune in to any global news station like CNN or EuroNews, it is making the headlines, the rampant kidnapping of top foreign oil workers by some masked and unmasked mercenaries in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

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These guys are armed with the latest sophisticated guns and ammunitions, and are ready to shoot an ant. Their faces depict horror, murder and desperateness, just to mention but a few.

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In the beginning, their activities got few criticisms by most citizens of Nigeria because of the marginalization they faced as the country. Good schools, road, health facilities and other basic amenities were all missing in this region, in fact the Niger Delta region did not witness any development it deserve.

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As a result of this poor condition, the youths revolted against this injustice by the leaders and the several oil companies that are operating in their region. When this happened, the government failed to handle the situation by adopting the military style.

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The then president and head of state, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo ordered the military to wipe out an entire community in Bayelsa state, so the war was then intensified.

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Sine that ugly incident of massacre, the youths in Niger Delta became more and more violent, oil pipeline vandalization increased, sea pyrates heightened and later the at of kidnapping for ransom emerged.

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Among all these violent acts performed by these youths, kidnapping proved to be the most lucrative for them, so they channeled most of their interest on that, which made it a more violent and deadly activity.

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The government failed to handle the situation again by deploying more soldiers in this region to combat these deadly gunmen, instead of following them through peaceful dialogue with major stakeholders and youth leaders from the states that make up the Niger Delta region. Therefore, the more soldiers the government deploy, the more deadly the kidnappers become.

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Another significant thing about these guys is the fact that they are not just ordinary gunmen, they are highly trained and they combine their combat with spiritual charms that prevents bullet from penetrating their bodies and also assists them to vanish when combat becomes so intense.

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These deadly act has now spread so wide like malaria fever, and it is now difficult to stop or control because they have tasted the money and have acquired the necessary ammunition required to carry out the most critical kidnapping.

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When youths from neighboring states in Nigeria saw how their counterparts were making millions of dollars so easily from kidnapping, they were lured into the act, but they crossed boundary by kidnapping  both foreign oil workers, politicians, successful businessmen and their relations, top company and bank officials etc. This brought so many criticisms from almost all the citizens of Nigeria, and as a result of this, state legislatures started passing death sentence bills on kidnapping cases, and now the case is punishable by death penalty.

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HOW CAN THIS BE STOPPED?

If this problem must be solved, the government of Nigeria must recognize and accept their initial mistakes and must welcome the idea of peaceful dialogue with the youths and stakeholders in this region since military action has failed many times.

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They need to set up a reconciliation committee to reconcile with the Niger Delta youths first, then they need to intensify the development of Niger Delta by providing them with adequate health centers, clean water, housing, good roads, school facilities etc.

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They should also initiate realistic educational scholarship aids specifically for the Niger Deltas, as a way of encouraging them to further their education careers. I am not from the Niger Delta region, but I must say the truth, Niger Delta is poorly developed when it comes to basic amenities and infrastructures, so the government must look into this with good interest.

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Lastly, the government needs to work in hand with all the oil companies operating in Niger Delta to provide job opportunities for the teeming youths in Niger Delta region, because most of them are jobless, which is the bane of this scourge.

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WHO AND WHO ARE KIDNAPPED?

Like I mentioned earlier, in the beginning only foreign oil workers (expatriates)  were kidnapped in request for a ransom, but they later spread to kidnapping both government officials, top bank and company staff, successful businessmen etc. in most cases, their request is between the range of $500,000 to $3,000,000 per a hostage, and any effort made to free the hostage without paying the ransom always led to the death of the hostage, so it is always safer to bargain with them and pay peacefully if you really love the person that was kidnapped.

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Despite the huge ransom request by these guys, citizens of Nigeria refused to criticize these kidnappers because they believed that what the government did was inappropriate by ignoring the development of the Niger Delta region to develop regions that owe no tribute to our country’s oil economy.

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But they forgot the fact that it is wrong for one to ignore to stop a desert encroachment just because he or she lives far from the affected area, when it is obvious that this is a continuous act. Now that every prominent citizen is kidnapped, all citizens are crying out loud.

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WHAT EXACTLY DO THEY WANT?

Most of these guys were loyal citizens in the past, but hunger and unemployment awakened their corruption and limitation, and they are now wild and brutal like the lion.

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If I am asked, what do they want? I would tell you that they want job, better living, good leadership, fair judgment, equal treatment, regional development, reliable education and employment after graduation from school.

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I don’t think they were born to be kidnappers, they were shaped by the injustice and unfair treatment of the world, and I believe strongly that they can still be reoriented if appropriate measures are taken.