The Causative Agents of Kidnapping and Its Impact on Food Security in Nigeria

Kidnapping has become one of the most disruptive violent crimes in contemporary Nigeria, forcing farming households from their land and, in many cases, across the country’s borders, with serious consequences for food security and socio-economic development. This paper examines the principal causes of kidnapping in Nigeria and their impact on food security, drawing on a narrative review of secondary sources — peer-reviewed articles, scholarly books, government and international-agency reports, and reputable media. The analysis is framed by Robert K. Merton’s strain (anomie) theory, which situates acquisitive violent crime within the gap between culturally valued goals and the legitimate means of attaining them. The review finds that kidnapping is driven by an interlocking set of largely structural conditions — poverty, unemployment, marginalisation, the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, weak security institutions, and the political sponsorship of armed youths — and that its spread into rural, farming regions, most acutely in the North-West, depresses agricultural production through farm abandonment, displacement, the destruction of crops and livestock, and restricted market access, so raising food prices and deepening food insecurity. Because these drivers are primarily structural, the paper argues, durable responses must combine improved rural security with employment creation and the control of illicit weapons, rather than relying on force alone. It recommends strengthening the presence and responsiveness of professional security agencies in farming communities, expanding youth employment and skills-acquisition programmes, curbing the circulation of illicit weapons, and improving inter-agency coordination.