A former British Police Officer and security consultant, Vince Onyekwelu, says the economic climate, unemployment and a high level of criminality are responsible for the upsurge of kidnappings in Nigeria.

He said this while speaking on Channels Television’s breakfast show Sunrise Daily, while adding that it takes a lot of energy and planning to stage a kidnap.

This is following series of kidnappings that have recently occurred in Nigeria, most recent being that of 6 people who were kidnapped from a school in the Epe area of Lagos state.

The case which occurred in the early hours of Thursday, reportedly involved four students, a teacher and a vice principal of the school.

The kidnappers were said to be heavily armed, while invading the college and whisking away the victims.

Addressing the menace, Mr Onyelekwelu said there is a need to establish a difference between kidnapping and abduction.

He opined that majority of the reported cases, have been that of Kidnapping whereby the culprits request a financial or political ransom unlike the case of an abduction.

However, he said the current economic recession is something that everyone is experiencing, hence it should not be an excuse for anyone to venture into kidnapping.

He also asserted that there has not been enough justice against kidnapping.

“How many of them have been prosecuted successfully? Once there is a penalty, it will deter others who want to get involved in it also”.