In recent times, the Nigerian dailies and news channels have been flooded with news of kidnapping and banditry, even though most of the high profile incidences have happened in the Northern part of the country, there have been other unpublicized reports of kidnapping in the south west and many other parts of the country.

It’s no gain saying that Kidnapping in Nigeria have become a menace not only for the security agencies but also a cause for concern for everyone living in Nigeria. Victims and their families have been made to go through torrid emotional torture in the hands of their kidnappers.

7 Ways to Avoid Kidnapping on Nigeria Roads

While the police and the other security agencies work out plans to curb the space of kidnapping of the vulnerable, it is our duty at Sheriff Deputies to also share some insight to can help reduce this menace to the barest minimum. Sometimes having the right information can be the best ammunition you can harm yourselves with.

In this article we take a quick look at 7 ways you can avoid kidnapping in the desperate times.

1. Explore Online Tools

The nationwide lockdown caused by covid-19 pandemic in March, 2020 have exposed many of us to the existence of tools like zoom, freeconference call, mixlr and so on. You can stay at the comfort of your home to attend meeting which would have made you travel hundreds of miles to attend. We have been able to save money, time, prevent road accidents and save us of logistics headaches that would have arose as a result of setting up a venue for your meetings.

We can prevent kidnapping on the road because the roads would have been avoided, you will not have to travel out your homes, this way you are safer.

2. Explore Alternative Means of Transportation

If the roads appears to be unsafe, travel only when it’s necessary, which is only if you are unable to explore aforementioned alternative. But if you must travel for a function especially if you are going to areas with a high incidence of kidnaping, you will be doing yourself some good by traveling by air or rail – these means of transport are adjudged to be safer compared others.

3. Adequate Vehicle Checks

Ensure your vehicle is road worthy and have the engine and other important part of the vehicle checks by your mechanics or rewire specialist before embark on a travel.

This is to prevent a vehicle breakdown, kidnappers take advantage of stranded travelers, for them they see such as an easy catch because they know their victims have nowhere to run to.

So why expose yourself to these kidnappers when you could have prevented it by taking your vehicle for proper checks!

4. Avoid night travel

Night travel can be fun, but it can quickly turn sore, FC Robo, a women football team based in Lagos where attacked by gun men along Ijebu-Ode road in Ogun state on night of February 23rd. The robbers stole valuables from the team, including their playing kits, smartphones and money.

This just one of very few survival cases of robbery and kidnapping. It’s a situation that would have been avoided if they had travelled during the day.

Regardless of how economical or relaxing it appears to travel at night, now is not a good time to attempt night travel. Please be guided!

5. Install vehicle trackers

Vehicle trackers helps us to know where and when a vehicle is in transit, if an abnormally is observed it is quickly reported and the police can easily track and recover its passengers. This trackers are particularly important for operators of interstate transport.

Peradventure if the abnormally discovered is a case of kidnap, data gotten from the tracker can serve clue to finding the locations of the victims if their captors have ditch the vehicle with the tracker.

6. Be conservative

Kidnappers so often go for influential personalities for obvious reasons, they believe they can make more money in ransom. While going through our daily activities it important that you are conservative in your spending, avoid living the flashy lifestyle.

It is no wrong to live your life to the fullest if you have the money to live a luxurious life but in the times we live in, it is best you enjoy it in the most moderate way, don’t go throwing money in the streets, you will only be inviting kidnappers to come for a threat at their den.

7. Escort services

Escort services are offered by licensed security organizations to anyone who needs an extra security measure. It is usually based on request, the elites are the biggest beneficiary of this service because they are target for armed robbers, kidnappers and other criminals.

A number of kidnapping have been prevented by escorts, they serve as shield for their employers, the sight of escorts in a convoy is enough to ward off kidnappers.

Action point

Kidnapping must be made non attractive for this unscrupulous element in the country by taking heed to the mentioned advices. By doing these we are making it easier for the security agencies to do their job. Security is everyone business, and unless we provide the security agencies with the right information, it will be difficult to fight crime.

Like we use to say here at Sheriff Deputies “if you see something unusual, you should report to the closest security officer”.

Click any of the social media icons below to share with your friends online, this could just help someone avoid being kidnapped. Stay safe!