UNBURDENING THE BURDEN OF KIDNAPPING AND SECURITY CHALLENGES IN IDAH LOCAL GOVERNMENT, KOGI STATE NIGERIA (2008 - 2018)

Abstract

Kidnapping is a global and historic issue in Nigeria and other parts of the world and good government does everything humanly possible to ensure that the kidnappers are apprehended and punished. This work was undertaken with a view to ascertain the effort made so far in the area of combating crime and insecurity as it poses greater challenge on the development of local governments in Nigeria with a focus on Idah Local Government Area of Kogi State covering 2007 to 2017. The degree at which kidnapping is growing in Nigeria in general and Idah to be specific is too alarming and if this continues, the future of Nigeria is getting darken because of the immense rate of this criminal trade and practice emanating from every nook and cranny of the Nigerian society. The study adopts the “Theory of Class Struggle”  in analyzing this concept of Kidnapping and assessed the problem of insecurity and its attendant consequences on Idah Local Government and beyond. The research adopts both primary and secondary sources of data collection as a framework of analysis. The triangulation was descriptively analyzed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences(SPSS) . Findings of the study showed that, not only Idah Local Government Area but also Nigeria is currently engrossed in insecurity issues, there is a significant relationship between the effects of insecurity and development in Nigeria, the level of insecurity in Nigeria is high and its effects on national development is high. The study argues that the abysmal failure of successive administrations in Nigerian Local Governments to address challenges such as poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, kidnapping, inequitable distribution of wealth, cultism, armed robbery and others had brought us to this level of insecurity. The study submitted and recommends the need for inclusive governance whereby all segments of stakeholders have the benefit of empowerment and capacity building as opposed to the current practice of elitist governance. A re-ordering of our societal values and provision of functional education among others could serve as a measure in combating kidnapping and insecurity in our local government areas.