INTELLIGENCE GATHERING ON KIDNAPPING INCIDENCE USING GEOSPATIAL TECHNOLOGIES ALONG ABUJA – KADUNA HIGHWAY OF NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

Of late, Nigeria has been posed to all forms of insecurities which threatens the existence of the entire nation. Of the several crimes being perpetrated, is the act of kidnapping. The crime of kidnapping for ransom has become so rampant in various parts of the country particularly on the highways. This has seen the abduction of several travelers on the highways. Most particularly, is the Abuja- Kaduna highway, which has witnessed incessant kidnappings that has claimed several lives. The security agencies saddled with the responsibility of ensuring safety of lives and property of individuals on the highway have come short in their duties due to poor information gathering and management skills to harness proper allocation and distribution of personnel, resources  and  logistics  to  aid  security personnel  to  effectively combat  the crime along the highway.  Fortunately, kidnapping being a spatial crime enables the application of GIS and remote sensing to effectively collect, manage and analyze kidnapping information with respect to the geographical features around the highway to determine geographical features that attract or detract kidnapping. However, an adequate GIS and remote sensing training skill in our armed forces, shall aid security agencies in strategic mission planning and positioning of personnel to prone areas. On the basis of the aforementioned, the research was framed to involve mapping the major land use and land cover (LULC), the divisional police stations, the potential kidnapping hotspots  and  outlining  the  spatial  relationship  among  LULC  information  and  kidnapping activities in the study area. Road network data, satellite imagery of the study area (landsat8 of 30m resolution) and the base map for the study area were obtained from the United States Geological  Surveys  (USGS).  Coordinates  of  the  kidnapping  hotspots  and  divisional  police stations were obtained from the field survey using Global Positioning System (GPS). The base map was overlaid on the satellite imagery and a 10km buffer was carried out on both sides of the highway. The areas of reference along the highway were areas with divisional police stations, namely Kaduna toll-gate, Rijana, Kateri, Jere, Tafa and Sabon Wuse. The image was classified into tree cover areas, grassland, croplands, built-up areas, and water body and a 10 km buffer was done on both sides of the road. Kidnapping hotspots, divisional police stations and kernel density maps were produced. Of the LULC obtained for the study area, tree cover dominates 43.97%,  croplands  34.15%,  grassland  15.46%,  built-up  6.17%  while  0.25%  of  the  area  is covered with water. The study revealed that the Kateri area which was the highest in vegetative cover (tree cover and grassland), but less in built up, had the highest case of kidnappings along the highway. Whereas, the Kaduna City Toll-gate, Jere, Tafa and Sabon Wuse areas which had more of their area covered with crop lands and  built-up, reported less cases of kidnappings. The research concluded that areas along the highway with very thick and large vegetation cover, sharp bends and bridges are attractors of kidnapping activities while areas along the highway with more built-up distracts kidnapping. However the presence of the divisional police stations in the areas could not be justified to be a hindrance to kidnapping along the highway. The study recommended a joint collaboration in the operations of security agencies and outfits. It also recommended adequate and routine training on GIS and remote sensing for security personnel, provision of necessary equipments and gadgets, proper allocation and distribution of security personnel and logistic along the highway, with more priority on the target and vulnerable areas.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Kidnapping is an unfortunate event whereby a human being is forcefully abducted by a fellow human or group of persons (abductors) who maybe armed, to an unknown location against the will of their victims for selfish reasons (Abdulkabir, 2017). Kidnapping is the act of taking a person or group of persons into captivity in order to achieve a defined aim (Ani & Ndubuisi,

2014).  It is the seizing or use of force to take away human being against his/her will for alternate wants or achievements (Sam, 2009). The act places a victim on hostage for the purpose of using the abducted to attain a goal. Therefore, to kidnap, there must be two parties which include the living-prey on one hand and the heartless-criminal predator who is there to manipulate terror in order to attain an outlined objective or societal cause.  Kidnapping and abduction are quite synonymous. At times it may involve hijacking of vehicles conveying people or goods for terrorism or gain. To cap it all, kidnapping in criminal law is an offence that involves taking away a person against his or her will by force or by fraud or intimidation and it is a grievous offence in many parts of the world ranging from life imprisonment to death penalty (Odoemelam & Omage, 2013).

Though, kidnapping is dated back to human history and could be said to be as old as human existence itself, it has been pointed out as one of the dangerous crime that is fast spreading around the globe today (Abdulkabir, 2017). The method of operation in Kidnapping has made it a key interest in most states because of the nature of its execution which in most occurrences is accompanied with violence and the use of arms and weapons resulting to victims losing their lives (Alexander and Klein, 2009). This trend is now on the increase all over the world as the Global Slavery Index (2014) reported that throughout 2014; men, women and children continue to be kidnapped in village raids and held as slaves by militias in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Globally, kidnapping increased rapidly in the 1990s in some part of the world leading to some cities being branded “kidnapping capital of the world”.  In 2001, Colombia recorded the highest absolute number of kidnappings and the highest kidnapping rate in the world and it was branded “Kidnapping Capital of the World”. In the same light, Mexico was branded in 2004. Iraq had an estimated 1,500 foreigners kidnapped in 2007. As at 2003, Colombia had roughly 4,000 kidnappings per year and Argentina had 2,000 per year. In 2013, Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics reported 1,695 kidnappings, a 20 percent increase over 2012. But experts estimated more than 90 percent of kidnappings in Mexico go unreported. Parts of the twentieth century saw the unlawful global trend becoming more rampart in various parts of the world like in Latin America and Pacific countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela and Peru (Roberts, 2017).

In 1999, kidnapping in the USA took the form of family and non family abduction with an estimated 115 kidnappings. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and The U.S Department of Justice, about 400,000 kids are reported missing annually due to family kidnappings (Hammer et al., 2002). Arizona was reported to be America’s kidnapping capital after hundreds of ransom for kidnapping occurred in 2009. Chicago, New Orleans, Houston, Atlanta  and  Detroit  are  other  major  U.S  cities  that  have  been  described  as  hotbeds  for kidnappings (Castillo, 2014; Williams, 2009).

In  Europe and Asia, quite a number of countries are equally battling with the problem of kidnapping. These includes: Venezuela, Bangladesh, Peru, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Lebanon, Afghanistan, India, Iraq (U.S Department of State, 2010), Taiwan (Yang, 2007), Malaysia, Syria, Pakistan, Yemen and the Indian Ocean especially near the Somali coast (Banlaoi, 2010) and North Korea (Yamamoto, 2011).

Approaching into the African Continent, kidnapping is relatively new and has been experienced in some counties (Essien & Ben 2013). Countries like Nigeria, Sudan, Southern Sudan, South Africa,  Horn  of  Africa  countries  such  as  Somalia,  Eritrea,  Djibouti  and  Ethiopia,  Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Tunisia and Uganda have experienced incidence of kidnappings  and  abductions  (Onuoha,  2010).  A  number  of  factors  appear  to  facilitate kidnappings  in  Africa.  Reports  indicate  that  the  instability  that  led  to  the  international intervention in Mali has increased the risk of kidnapping throughout North and West Africa. Malian-based militants and others located in Nigeria and Niger have carried out a number of kidnappings including in neighboring countries such as Cameroon. Further kidnappings resulting from conflicts have been experienced in the North and West Africa region (Onuoha, 2014). In some  other  African  countries,  political  rivalries  have  also  contributed  to  kidnapping.  For example, Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan once accused a “political party” of organizing his brief abduction by gunmen (Le and Cervantes 2013).

In Nigeria, the first act of kidnapping was in 2006 when the militants of the Niger Delta took total hostage to protest the inequality in the region (Anuoha et al., 2014). It started with the kidnapping of government expatriates, religion clerics, politicians and common men. The kidnapping business in Nigeria has been mostly perpetrated by criminal gangs and violent groups pursuing political agendas. Basically, they take hostage for two primary reasons political bargaining and economic gains. Taking a step further, kidnapping in Nigeria can be further categorized  as:  domestic  kidnapping,  political  kidnapping,  predatory kidnapping  and  staged kidnappings. Some groups in the Niger Delta have used the kidnapping of international oil workers to raise international attention regarding the plight of those living in the Delta, the environmental damage caused by oil spills and the oil industry, and the demand for more local ownership of the extraction of natural resources (Oluwaniyi, 2014). Hence, the Kidnap tactics normally might not be entirely politically motivated as the community might be looking for ways to have their voice being heard; nevertheless, there are reports of significant ransom payments in other instances which have then been used to fund the activities of other groups. The tactic now being seen as a very lucrative business makes a number of other criminal groups, militia, bandits and movements resolve into kidnapping to make money. Similarly, Boko Haram insurgents have used the proceeds of kidnapping to keep their insurgency afloat (Okoli, 2019). The insurgents engage in single or group kidnapping as a means of generating money to fund their activities.

Huge sums are often paid as ransom by the victim’s families and associates to secure their release. In addition to militants and insurgents, organized local and transnational criminal syndicates have been involved in kidnapping. This is happening to apocalyptic proportions in North West Nigeria where rural bandits engage regularly in kidnapping in the states of Zamfara, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Kaduna (Okoli, 2019).

Kidnapping as a variant of armed robbery is infinitely more disturbing as it now occurs in the open  not  only  among  persons  going  about  their  normal  business  but  also  targeted  at  the executive, legislative, and the judicial branch of the government (Anucha, 2018). The widening scale of it occurring to travelers on the remote parts of some highways where security is more difficult to manage is the new trend. One of the highways that have recorded a large number of incidences is the Kaduna-Abuja highways. As a result, several dreadful attacks have been carried on innocent commuters along the Abuja-Kaduna road, which includes attack on government dignitaries, politicians and more. The most recent along the Abuja-Kaduna road is the abduction of  the  board  chairman  of  Universal  Basic  Education  Commission  (UBEC)  alongside  his daughter. Another Abduction of about 30 travelers in early April 2019 instigated a public outcry which saw many Nigerians charge security operatives to put an end to the menace (Ayuba, 2020).   The unrelenting efforts by security agents to root-out criminal elements terrorizing commuters along Abuja–Kaduna expressway have seen security operatives engaging these criminals in gun battles (Egbegi et al., 2019).

However, kidnapping like other major crime such as armed robbery, banditry, and theft have a spatial phenomenon, that is, the incident locations are geographically defined. Hence it could be managed with the aid of Geographical Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (Satellite technology) to reduce its intensity. An example of studies done using GIS and Remote Sensing to aid crime management and control includes, mapping crime risk distribution using GIS (Eman et  al.,  2013).  Spatio-temporal  analysis  of  reported  kidnapping  activities  in  Nigeria  using ‘MORANS I’ by (Aubrey, 2014). Similarly, (Chhachhiya, 2017) carried out a study to reveal the “Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Kidnapping and Abduction of Women in Chandigarh”.

1.2 Statement of the Research Problem

The Abuja- Kaduna expressway has in recent years been branded “kidnappers den for innocent citizens” as it has witnessed and recorded several kidnapping activities (Onucha and Okolie, 2019). Just recently, “ASIS International” raised the alarm over the payment of over N1billion to kidnappers as ransom on the Kaduna-Abuja highway which in turn is suspected to be deployed to purchase more arms by the kidnappers in an unending vicious cycle (Nwezeh, 2019). The scenario of this crime in Nigeria particularly Abuja-Kaduna highway disregards class distinction in the society, as both high (haves), and low (have not), experience similar and equal attack of the criminals from time to time. The resultant tragedy, suffering, colossal loss and distress, occasioned by these inimical attacks, have been pervasive and had left an indelible mark on our national psyche and societal tranquility. Worse still, is the fact that the law enforcement agencies are yet to be fully computerized for effective record keeping to enable easy reference, retrieval and storage of information to help the analysis of cases, particularly spatial analysis, strategize and adequately plan the combating and eradication of crimes in general (Balogun et al., 2014) . However, several studies on crime have been embarked on using spatial analysis. Most of these studies focused on a set of crime in a location over a period of time. Balogun et al. (2014) developed crime hotspots, areas deficient of security outfit, areas of overlap and areas requiring constant police patrol in Benin City using buffering analysis. Olajuyigbe et al. (2016) revealed a transport route cutting through Akure metropolis is prone to crime activity using neighborhood and statistical analyses with GIS.

Unfortunately, very little spatial analysis has been documented on specific crime type such as kidnapping.

1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of this study was to carry out intelligence gathering of kidnapping hotspots in the study area.

To achieve this aim, the secondary objectives are to:

i.         Derive Land use and land cover map of the study area.

ii.        Identify and map Divisional Police Stations in the study area.

iii.       Identify locations of kidnapping hotspots in the study area.

iv.        Examine the spatial relationship among land use and land cover information, security posts and kidnapping activities in the study area.

1.4 Research Questions

The following are the research questions that can be deduced from the study. i. What are the major land use and land (LULC) types of the study area?

ii. How is the spatial distribution of the divisional police stations along the expressway?

iii. Where are the potential kidnapping hotspots within the study area?

iv. What is the spatial relationship among land use and land cover, distribution of security posts and kidnapping activities in the study area?

1.5 Scope and Limitation of the Study

The study area was defined as the length of the road Dikko junction and Kaduna city gate with the width of 20 kilometers on both sides along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway.  Coordinates of kidnapping hotspots within the study area was taken on the field with the aid of the Nigeria Police Force. Similarly, the divisional police station within the area of study was identified and their coordinates taken. Specifically, the research produced maps of hotspot locations of within the study area, divisional police stations and the land use and cover map of the study area.

1.6 Justification for the Study

Abuja being the capital city of Nigeria obviously houses more of the prominent people in the country. Various dignitaries; top government officials, international ambassadors, socialites, business men and women. Relatively, Kaduna being one of the border states to Abuja and the successor of the old Northern Region of Nigeria, which had its capital at Kaduna and now the state capital to an estimated 8,252,366 million people (Nigerian Population Commission, 2016) is also home to influential and prominent dignitaries, thereby making the only major road (Abuja – Kaduna) that links it to the federal city, busy and fluxed with highly prominent persons who are  mostly  the  targets  of  the  kidnappers.  Despite  the  much  gap  yet  to  be  filled  by  the Government, particularly the police force. The force have received so much commendation in it its effort in battling kidnapping. Of the bold measures put in place by the government over the years, includes The Nigerian police anti-kidnapping squad introduced in the 2000s to stem the menace in spite of which kidnapping has still prevailed even with the series of engagement by other security forces on kidnappers along the highway. The effort so far has been to no avail mainly due to lack of sufficient information management.

As an entity, kidnapping like other spatial crimes has spatial attributes, that is, location, time and process. In essence, availability and quick access to timely and up-to-date spatial information about crime prone areas, to the law enforcement agencies, will in no small way contribute to effective policing of the entire area. Generally speaking, policing methods in Nigeria are still manual and un-automated. The old filing system of record-keeping is still in use. This limits the force from having the technological edge over the ever increasing technology sophistication of the criminals (Balogun et al., 2014).

Also, the nature of forests, which comprises of land, trees and other forms of vegetation pose it a security threat as bandits, criminals, armed groups, rebels, insurgents and terrorists can use them in carrying out their activities (Ladan, 2014). However, recent operations by the Nigeria police against kidnappers have seen an exchange of gunfire between the police and kidnappers in forests off Kaduna – Abuja highway. In relations to this, intelligence report suggests that some of the heavily armed notorious criminal gang situate their base and hideouts in the thick forest off Abuja- Kaduna highway. However, routine surveillance and raid by the police have unveiled kidnapper’s hideouts to within and outskirt of villages along Abuja-Kaduna expressway (Onuoha and Okolie, 2019). They identified portions of the highway bordered by Kakau, Rijanah and Jere communities as the deadliest portion on the highway.

In generality, it is vital to note that criminals take cognizance of both manmade (settlements: villages) and natural features: land cover (thick forest), weather and season to situate, plan their hideouts and perpetrate crime (Michael et al., 2001). Fortunately, these features are geographically defined by their locations in coordinates. Nonetheless, not much has been documented with regards geo-database creation and map production which can be used to know areas highly risked to kidnapping, the spatial distribution of security posts, their operational distance to the locations where we have recorded kidnapping activities and kidnapping hideouts for proper spatial analysis to develop models and maps to help security operatives monitor and manage kidnapping activities and in essence take informed decisions along Abuja-Kaduna highway to counter kidnapping.

Conclusively,  with  the unending incidence of kidnapping in  the country,  particularly along Kaduna – Abuja highway, where kidnappers mostly target citizens on transit, to and from the federal capital city. The essence of this research is to come up with solutions through spatial analysis of spatial data and data on reported kidnap cases along Abuja – Kaduna road to help stake holders, security agents and personnel for proper planning and allocation of resources, security post facilities and deployment of security personnel to ensure the safety of lives and property around the area

1.7 Study Area

1.7.1 Geographical location

This study was carried out for Abuja – Kaduna expressway which lies between the boundaries of the Abuja, Niger and Kaduna states (Figure 1.1) and falls within longitude 6  00  to 8  00  east of the Greenwich Meridian and latitude 9  00  to 11̊ 00  north of the Equator with a total length of 123km, from Diko Junction to Kaduna. (See figure 1.2).

The Abuja-Kaduna expressway lies between the borders of the Federal Capital Territory, Niger state and Kaduna state with major part of the road in Kaduna State. Therefore, the weather, climate, soil, vegetation, relief and drainage and socio-economic activities of FCT, Kaduna and Niger state shall be adopted for the study area for the purpose of this research.

1.7.2 Weather and climate

The Abuja – Kaduna expressway experiences the tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate beginning from the tropical rainforest climate boundary in southern Nigeria to the central part of Nigeria, where it exerts enormous influence on the region. The tropical savanna climate exhibits a well marked rainy season and a dry season with a single peak known as the summer maximum due to its distance from the equator. Temperatures are above 18 °C (64 °F) throughout the year. Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city found in central Nigeria, has a temperature range of 18.45 °C (65.21 °F) to 36.9 °C (98.4 °F), and an annual rainfall of about 1,500 mm (59.1 in) with a single rainfall maxima in September. The single dry season experienced in the tropical savanna climate in the central Nigeria beginning from December to March, is hot and dry with the Harmattan wind, a continental tropical (CT) air mass laden with dust from the Sahara desert prevailing throughout this period.

With the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) swinging northward over West Africa from the  Southern  Hemisphere  in  April,  heavy  showers  coming  from  pre-monsoonal  convective clouds mainly in the form of squall lines also known as the north easterlies formed mainly as a result of the interactions of the two dominant air masses in Nigeria known as the Maritime tropical(south westerlies) and the Continental tropical(north easterlies), begins in central Nigeria while the Monsoons from the south atlantic ocean arrives in central Nigeria in July bringing with it high humidity, heavy cloud cover and heavy rainfall which can be daily occurrence lasting till September when the monsoons gradually begin retreating southward to the southern part of Nigeria. Rainfall totals in central Nigeria varies from 1,100 mm (43.3 in) in the lowlands of the river Niger Benue trough to over 2,000 mm (78.7 in) along the south western escarpment of the Jos Plateau (Olayemi et al., 2014).

1.7.3 Soil and vegetation

Basically the vegetation of the study area could be termed to be partly Sudan Savannah type, characterized by scattered short trees, shrubs and grasses and partly Guinean forest-savanna mosaic, made up of plains of tall grasses which are interrupted by trees, the most common across the country. The soil type is mostly loamy to sandy type. A substantial amount of clay is found also.   (Ako et al., 2014).

1.7.4 Relief and drainage

The study area is part of the extension plains of northern Nigeria. The general relief of the area is fairly plain, with isolated rock outcrops of inselbergs found in the area, thus creating undulations. The  inselbergs  are  granitic  in  origin,  formed  from  underlaid  basement  complex  rocks. Depressions are found along the water courses where streams occur. The Niger River Basin Drainage System is the major drainage system of the study area (Clement, 2013).

1.7.5 Socio-economic activities

The economy of the settlements along Abuja – Kaduna express way is agrarian based, with agriculture as their major economic activity, which serves as the bedrock of other activities. These activities include food and cash crop production, livestock rearing, poultry trading and crafts making.

The major system of farming practiced is the subsistence farming by peasant farmers, with few people investing in commercial farming which produces large quantity of agricultural products. A little dry season farming is practiced in the area by people living close to the rivers. Tomatoes, pepper, vegetables, onions, okra and sugar-cane are grown in the Fadama areas. These additional products attract traders from surrounding urban centers and towns, thereby constituting a major source of income.

Animal rearing is also an important occupation which is carried out in a form of subsistence mixed farming, apart from the Fulani in the area who depend largely on cattle rearing. These animals supply organic manure to farm lands, provide income and also are used for consumption. Animals such as cattle, goats, pigs, sheep and poultry are the predominant animals reared in the area. Trading activities also form another vital occupation that combines both agricultural and non-agricultural commodities made from crafts (Adewuyi et al., 2019).

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