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State Response to Kidnapping for Ransom and Its Implications for Economic Development in Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Adamu Auta Adamu, Prof. Hassan I. IMAM, Victor Chikezirim EZENWA, Danyawo Musa ADAMU. PhD

Abstract

This study examined kidnapping for ransom in Nasarawa State, Nigeria, situating it within broader challenges of insecurity, weak state capacity, and socioeconomic vulnerability that have intensified violent crime in North Central Nigeria. The objectives were to assess the nature and effectiveness of state responses to kidnapping, examine the socioeconomic impacts on affected communities, and evaluate existing strategies with a view to proposing sustainable solutions. A qualitative methodology was adopted, relying on documentary analysis of government reports, security records, academic literature, and policy documents, complemented by theoretical insights from state capacity perspectives. The findings revealed that state responses remain largely reactive, fragmented, and enforcement driven, with limited preventive orientation, while kidnapping continues to impose severe economic and social costs on agriculture, commerce, mobility, and household livelihoods. The study concluded that the persistence of kidnapping reflects structural governance deficits, inadequate intelligence coordination, and unresolved socioeconomic drivers. It therefore recommended integrated and preventive security strategies, strengthened intelligence led policing, accelerated judicial processes, targeted economic recovery for affected communities, and sustained investment in youth employment and rural development as pathways to reducing kidnapping in Nasarawa State.

Keywords

Kidnapping for ransomState responseInsecurityEconomic developmentGovernance capacitycrime prevention

References

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