| Summary: | Nigeria is facing all sorts of criminal and safety problems, one of which is kidnapping which seems to be very rampant and predominant in the country. The hospitality sector and in particular, the lodging and hotel accommodation seems to be most affected by kidnapping phenomenon in Nigeria. This is said against the backdrop that mostly, international tourists visiting and touring in Nigeria would be lodged in a hotel that have been reserved for them. The concern is that, these days, these hotels are no safer for foreign tourists in view of the constant and persistent kidnapping taking place in different parts of Nigeria. Apart from the lodgings being unsafe, it is also very dangerous for foreign tourists visiting Nigeria to use road transportation to their hotel accommodation or to go touring anywhere in Nigeria as these roads are also targeted by kidnappers. Most of the attempts at kidnapping in lodgings are often successful as the kidnappers work in collaboration with hotel workers and car hire services drivers who avail the kidnappers with necessary information about the movement, accommodation and destinations of the victims, mostly foreign visitors or tourists. Most of the perpetrators and those who provide information to them kidnap international tourists based on the belief that huge sum of money shall be paid as ransom by their family or their home government for their release. What is more disturbing and worrisome is that sometimes, the law enforcement agents, particularly the police officers are complicit in kidnapping by either being involved in the plot or blatantly refused to take any step or action to secure the release of kidnapped tourist hence raising the questions of being incompetent or complicit. In conclusion, this paper postulates that the issues of kidnapping of foreign tourists should be tackled and combated. To achieve this, government should unleash its various securities apparatus and personnel to preempt through intelligence, arrest and successfully prosecute kidnappers when they are caught.
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