BusinessDay... the voice of business: 'Farming' as new name for worsening kidnap enterprise in N/Delta

'Farming' as new name for worsening kidnap enterprise in N/Delta
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IGNATIUS CHUKWU on 04 May, 2008 02:00:00
 
The recent kidnap of toddlers, some as young as 18 months, in Port Harcourt,
Rivers State, has opened a new chapter in the deteriorating state of insecurity
in Nigeria's oil capital. It is no longer news that businesses are on the run,
and that families are relocating just as companies have since been fleeing.
What is intriguing is the extent to which criminals can go to extort money from
their victims, and the extent to which core African values such as respect for
the aged and babies are being crushed in the mindless craze to make money
through evil enterprise.
Now, kidnap of persons including toddlers and old persons is dubbed in criminal
circles as “farming”. This involves setting up the business which involves
location (warehouses to keep hostages), telecommunication gadgets, and an army
of spies and informants
Though the toddlers belonging to Rufus and Choice Okorocha were released early
morning Saturday, March 1, 2008, the agony of the saga while it lasted was
shared by the entire populace through hourly update on some city radio stations.
This was how public angst spread when one station reported that the younger
toddler, Chimaroke, who was still on napkins, had fallen ill. The mother,
Choice, wept on radio and the world seemed to cry along with her. But to the
'Farmer', it was all business.
The kidnappers even went beyond the limits by threatening to behead the kids.
This was before the abductors reported that one of the kids was ill, setting
fear and panic within the populace. A psychologist in the University of Port
Harcourt was sure the scare of the trauma would affect the two affected toddlers
and others like them later in life. This, they said, has gone beyond what
three-year-old Briton; Margaret Hill went through last year.
Kidnap of infants in the Niger Delta attracted public attention early July 2007
when the Hill incident hit the airwaves. Margaret was being driven to school
when the abductors struck. The gang soon demanded for $5m ransom. The case
attracted the intervention of international organizations and foreign
governments who kept the presidency busy with inquiries. Threats even began to
emanate from underground gangs outside Nigeria who felt like taking revenge on
Nigerians.
This brought huge pressure on the federal government and on the then Celestine
Omehia administration in Rivers State, especially when the father of the girl,
Mike, dropped dead soon after the release of his daughter. It must be because of
the Hill saga and the earlier kidnap of Omehia's own mother, Cecilia that he
opted for a showdown with the cultists and militants ravaging the state.
Truth is that kidnap of babies as part of resource control struggles did not
begin with Margaret Hill. Before it, three-year-old Michael Stewart, son of
Linda Somiari-Stewart, a female legislator representing Okrika in the Rivers
State House of Assembly, was kidnapped. She was later released following the
payment of a ransom, though both the government and affected parents did not
publicly admit this.
Mike Hill was working with an oil servicing company known as Lone Star
Drilling, which had been under pressure by militant groups to part with some
huge millions of Naira. If Lone Star did not take the threat seriously, they had
to take cue from what befell  Jason Lane (Australia), George Saliba (Lebanon),
Andreas Gambra (Venezuela) and Kiwis Brent Goddard and Bruce Klenner (both from
New Zealand) in the creeks. Shell was forced to abandon some of its oil
platforms in Nembe, Bayelsa State where Lone Star was working.
The resort to child kidnap has attracted widespread condemnation, but that does
not seem to be the concern of the Farmers. What seems to occupy their minds is
the huge sum being raked in.
Some groups are believed to have raked in as much as N400m from some state
governments who tried to prove they were capable of looking after their
territories in the days of President Olusegun Obasanjo. Now, some families part
with as low as N20,000, though many have paid N300,000.
A man, Godwin Amadi, whose corpse was found February 29, 2008, was said to have
paid up to N2m, yet he had to die. Some groups are so comfortable with their new
found businesses that they even drive the victim to the bank to withdraw and pay
them up.
Another deadly angle to the Farming business is that some persons close to
governors, chief executives, and targeted families are part of the gangs. As an
enterprise, the Farm executives seem to invest huge sums and get good support
services.
The CEO makes his reconnaissance and obtains a list of "prospects". This list
is dropped with 'vetters' who confirm the ones that can "fetch". A selected
target is followed all over the town. The 'info' is fed into a computer that is
at the Headquarters, only accessible to the CEO. The info includes all telephone
numbers of the target, his movements, family, residence, job description, etc.
Even his last meal is important.
With the close details, the CEO decides which of two strikes to adopt. The
popular one is to abduct and demand ransom according to the grading and hostage
value A - C. Now there is a D category. Category A used to be expatriate oil
workers especially from United States, Britain and Germany. B used to be Asians
and other oil workers, C used to be affluent Nigerians. Now, the scarcity of
Grade A and the invasion of the Farming business by common criminals have
bastardized the business such that some hostages are graded as lowly as D to H,
including those who fetch as lowly as N20,000.
The other strike option is called Hit. This involves calling and confronting
the target with the details to prove to him/her that the threat/danger was real.
The caller identifies his group with horrible names such as the Extremists. They
demand sums and insist on payment, else, "we will wipe off your family".
Those who fall to Hits usually follow the instructions and dump the money at
agreed places, usually lonely open places such as middle of school compounds.
Those who resist often contact the security agencies who use the facilities at
the GSM networks to track the gangs. Some arrests have been made by this method
while a particular gang had to beg the target to spare them when he was made to
understand that he was being fenced (trapped).
Some other times, the security agencies have not acted fast. When homes of the
rich are attacked such as that of the Lulu Briggs and the boat building 
company, calls went out but the JTF and police SOS teams never turned up until
the gangs pulled out after about two hours of shooting.
The JTF has however admitted that the situation is getting out of control. A
statement by the spokesman, Sagir Musa, a lieutenant colonel, said: "The JTF has
observed with concern the increasing wave of criminal (commercial) kidnaps in
Rivers State . The upsurge blatantly exposes the lawless and criminal nature of
the miscreants under the guise of the Niger Delta struggle". The statement
pleaded for help from the public through alerts and other information.
Security analysts wonder what can be more alerting than distress calls by
residents near where a home is being attacked. Others wonder who would save the
society if no agency has stood up to confront the kidnapers. Experts say it is
no-longer fashionable to call the kidnapers militants because even the militant
groups have since denounced the commercial kidnappers or Farmers, known to be
former full-time armed robbers and 419 operatives
Sources said most of the later criminals have their havens in nearby towns such
as Ogbakiri, Omuma and Etche. The boys also move in motorcycles and snatch bags
from persons coming out of banks as another branch of their "business.”
The dividends of Farming are said to be very huge, according to those who have
made confessional statements. This is why they can engage drivers, relations and
personal assistants of their victims. Security sources said some of those relied
upon to advise the person paying the money are the same persons who arranged the
kidnap.
The returns are heavy. The Farm CEOs ride the biggest Jeeps and Beasts in town.
They are said to be setting up decent businesses such as filling stations, fast
food outfits, etc, with the returns from bad business. This is a form of money
laundering. Entire family members have been implicated in some cases as acting
together.
More danger looms ahead because more persons are joining the Farming business
because of huge returns. The trend is also said to be fast spreading into the
eastern states of Abia, Imo and Anambra with the danger of posing bigger threat
to national security if it is not treated as an emergency.
Experts at the Centre for Security Studies (CSS) and Nigerian Institute of
Security (NIS) told Business Day that measures were available to tackle this
type of crime. The frontal attack on gangs by the Omehia administration is being
recalled with nostalgia.
Also, a crack team could be trained on how to get tale-tales and act. A high
response team can also be set up to track and confront any gang. Telecom
tracking has also been suggested whereby numbers used in calling victims can be
traced fast and given to response teams.
Finally, it has been suggested that massive combing by combined teams could
unveil groups and reveal a lot. A woman recently freed said: "These boys are
well dressed men you can hardly suspect. They live with us in the city and keep
their hostages in the buildings where people live, just that you will not know.
They treated me well and served me food and tea. They are always on the phone
and their computers".
Truth is that the creek boys may have an ideological mission but the invading
gangs from the upland just want the cash. The government may wake up when there
is nothing to protect.