Poverty and Commercial Kidnapping in Post Amnesty Niger Delta

This study takes a look at the relationship between poverty and the ever increasing spate of commercial kidnapping in the post amnesty Niger Delta region. Kidnapping for ransom peaked in the region in 2006 with increased activities of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta MEND and other militant groups, prompting President Yar, Adua to prioritize Niger Delta issues in that Seven Points Agenda, which culminated in the granting of amnesty to repentant militants upon renunciation and return to obedience. In the attempt to answer the question on how poverty influences commercial kidnapping in the Niger Delta region this study deployed the relative deprivation theory as a tool of analysis. The nexus between poverty and commercial kidnapping was established as some other causative factors that influences the menace were noted, including poverty as the chief culprit, unemployment, drug addiction,, cultism and general insecurity in the area. The paper therefore recommended amongst others, poverty alleviation programmes, proactive community policing, expansion of the amnesty programme to accommodate non militant youths in the region and general socio economic and infrastructural development as a panacea for the reduction of crime and criminality. Diri, Benjamin B | Tamunosisi Gogo Jaja "Poverty and Commercial Kidnapping in Post Amnesty Niger Delta" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-5 | Issue-1 , December 2020, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd38260.pdf Paper URL : https://www.ijtsrd.com/humanities-and-the-arts/political-science/38260/poverty-and-commercial-kidnapping-in-post-amnesty-niger-delta/diri-benjamin-b