tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/kidnapping-24323/articlesKidnapping – The Conversation2023-05-09T11:56:06Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2040542023-05-09T11:56:06Z2023-05-09T11:56:06ZKidnapping in Nigeria: criminalising ransom payment isn’t working - families need support<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524076/original/file-20230503-176-5xqprb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Parents and relatives of students from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization in Kaduna, who were kidnapped, hold placards during a demonstration in Abuja on May 4, 2021.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kola Sulaimon/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Kidnapping for ransom has become a national <a href="https://theconversation.com/whos-at-risk-of-being-kidnapped-in-nigeria-184217">security threat</a> in Nigeria. How it’s done varies from targeted individuals, to indiscriminate kidnappings and mass kidnapping in schools and communities.</p>
<p>And there has been a growing body of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2019.1628155">research</a> on the subject. However, there remains a gap in the understanding of how families mobilise resources and deliver ransom to kidnappers.</p>
<p>To fill this gap, my <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jude-Momodu">co-researcher</a> and I combined our expertise, mine on the <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/oludayo-tade-244002">science of criminality and the victims of crime in Nigeria</a> and his on peace and conflict.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01639625.2023.2197548">study</a> interrogated the roles that families play in finding support and in raising ransom money and ensuring it is delivered to kidnappers to get their loved ones released from captivity.</p>
<p>This information is important to appreciate the experiences, challenges, and coping strategies of those with family members who have been kidnapped. It can help to design post traumatic therapy for victims who have been rescued, as well as those who are close to them, and who may have been traumatised by the kidnap incidence.</p>
<p>We concluded from our findings that the Nigerian government’s decision to <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/27/nigeria-outlaws-ransom-payments-abduction-punishable-by-death">criminalise</a> ransom payment by families missed the point because it fails to address the protection of potential victims. It should be revisited.</p>
<h2>The study</h2>
<p>Our study focused on the Adamawa State in northeast Nigeria, where at least <a href="https://www.blueprint.ng/kidnapping-adamawa-residents-abandon-homes/">300 people</a> were kidnapped in 2019. </p>
<p>We interviewed <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01639625.2023.2197548">12 people</a>, through referrals. The sample size is appropriate for a research of this nature due to the confidence building process required to secure participation from, already traumatised, families and friends of people who have been kidnapped. </p>
<p>The people we interviewed included ransom negotiators, a pastor of the church of one of the victims, two police officers from the Force Intelligence Bureau and a Divisional Police Officer, one State Security Service agent, two wives of kidnapped people and five released kidnapped persons.</p>
<p>Our study showed that ransom negotiators were either nominated by families or by the person kidnapped. Kidnappers used threats and the beating of captives to unsettle families and pressure them to raise ransoms.</p>
<p>Family members raised ransoms through family, church and community donations, and through loans. Wives of kidnapped persons coped with spiritual support from church, experiences of others who faced similar situation, and counselling from significant others. Below we outline some of the nuances of our findings.</p>
<h2>Finding support</h2>
<p>People’s experience varied according to the relationship they had with the victims. For those at the scene of the kidnapping, the emotions and trauma experienced was heightened. </p>
<p>Ill-health, age, and ability to withstand pressure also increased the burden on family. </p>
<p>Our participants unpacked the support mechanisms they used to strengthen and give hope to the immediate family of the kidnapped person. </p>
<p>The church was a pillar of support for some. Others turned to family members, friends and neighbours. Others took loans to pay for the release of their family members.</p>
<p>Friends and brothers risked their lives to negotiate with kidnappers as well as take the ransom to the den of kidnappers. </p>
<h2>What’s usually needed</h2>
<p>We found that organising for the release of the kidnapped involved the following:</p>
<p><strong>Support systems:</strong> The immediate family of the kidnapped person would need a support system. This included emotional support as well as ensuring that the family had food to eat. The church provided spiritual support.</p>
<p><strong>Ransom negotiation team:</strong> Selecting or nominating the ransom negotiator was done by a person in the kidnappers’ den or by the family. In some cases, those kidnapped would be asked to drop names of people who could bring ransom money to the kidnappers. </p>
<p>One kidnapping victim gave the name of his father because the father was already a retiree and could mobilise family members to rally round and raise any amount. One nominated his childhood friend. </p>
<p><strong>Role of religious leaders:</strong> Spiritual support was provided by the church (prayer and empathising with victim’s family members). Our sample did not include people of other religious persuasions.</p>
<p><strong>Fund raising:</strong> Negotiators reported that they eventually mobilised and paid between 271,232 Naira (US$651.49) and 1,807,104 Naira (US$4,343.29) ransom depending on how well they could bargain and how the family cooperated. They highlighted the need to ensure that a wrong signal was not sent to kidnappers about the financial capacity of the family to prevent future kidnapping. Negotiators faced a variety of pressures. They had to deal with the family of the victims, their own families and the kidnappers who would beat the victims in the middle of negotiations. </p>
<h2>What needs to be done</h2>
<p>The family and their religious and social groups are vital players in the processes leading to the freedom of the captive through ransom mobilisation and delivery. This shows that the African kinship tie is still very strong especially when a member is going through difficulty. </p>
<p>Victims of kidnapping need supportive, coordinated, and organised families not to only negotiate and mobilise ransom but to also manage and cooperate with the kidnappers to ensure a safe release and return. </p>
<p>There is also the need for a post-traumatic counselling for the freed kidnapped victim, their spouses and children. </p>
<p>We concluded that it’s important to provide policies that support families and victims of kidnapping. And that the government must revisit the ban on payment of ransoms. The real issue is to prevent kidnapping. The Nigerian Government must discharge its responsibility to protect to Nigerians.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204054/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Oludayo Tade does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A lot is said about kidnapping for ransom in Nigeria but little is known about how families mobilise resources and deliver ransom to kidnappers.Oludayo Tade, Sociologist/Criminologist/Victimologist and Media Communication Expert, University of IbadanLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2025772023-04-12T16:18:54Z2023-04-12T16:18:54ZFinding Ukraine’s stolen children and bringing perpetrators to justice: lessons from Argentina<p>The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued <a href="https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/situation-ukraine-icc-judges-issue-arrest-warrants-against-vladimir-vladimirovich-putin-and">an arrest warrant</a> for President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s children commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova on March 17. </p>
<p>They were accused of the war crime of unlawful deportation and transfer of children from Ukraine to Russia. As of April 5, according to the Ukrainian government website, <a href="https://childrenofwar.gov.ua/en/">19,384</a> children have been deported to Russia since the start of the war in 2022. </p>
<p>Experts have been quick <a href="https://theconversation.com/prosecuting-putin-for-abducting-ukrainian-children-will-require-a-high-bar-of-evidence-and-wont-guarantee-the-children-can-come-back-home-201833">to point out</a> the difficulties that the ICC and the Ukrainian government will run into in proving war crimes and trying to hold those responsible accountable, as well as returning deported children to Ukraine. </p>
<p>While these are undoubtedly daunting challenges, there are lessons for Ukraine that can be drawn from Argentina, which has successfully investigated the plight of the estimated <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/jan/16/tracing-stolen-children-of-argentina-dirty-war">500 children stolen</a> from their parents during its 1976-1983 dictatorship. Many of the children were placed with military families, and grew up unaware of their true identities. </p>
<p>Although the ICC arrest warrant is an important step, it is just the beginning of the often winding road to justice. As past experience of international criminal tribunals shows, these institutions <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13642980500170782?src=recsys">can, at best, prosecute the top leadership</a> for human rights atrocities. </p>
<p>But out of the <a href="https://www.icc-cpi.int/cases">31 individual cases</a> that the ICC has investigated since 2002, only <a href="https://www.icc-cpi.int/cases?f%5B0%5D=accused_states_cases%3A358">six defendants</a> in four cases have been convicted.</p>
<p>Scholars also pointed to other shortcomings, including the ICC’s often limited understanding of <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/distant-justice/distant-justice/A567BB4C355C84F6AE6A4DD1B81978B8">local politics on the ground</a>. The 1998 Rome statute established that justice should ideally occur in <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/hilj49&div=6&g_sent=1&casa_token=XMztx1PNRRYAAAAA:papvHpXvAkcxN8N9QRoRiiEVakx3TElsYDT5Vab7DIfqOWVa1BClVY2BXNzO-czk7S-N6V3dFA&collection=journals">the countries where atrocities were committed</a>, with the ICC stepping in as a last resort. Justice requires local people to have the power <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/376386C8A6AA53E42110BBBE180F85C5/9781107160934c2_31-56.pdf/from_transitional_to_transformative_justice.pdf">to make decisions</a>. </p>
<h2>Child abduction</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/14/ukraine-kidnaped-children-russia/">abduction of children</a> during dictatorship and war is not a new phenomenon. Its origins can be traced back to 1930s’ Spain under <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-70202-5_4">Franco’s dictatorship</a>. </p>
<p>But the experience of Argentina illustrates the importance of local courts and grassroots efforts to bring people to justice. To date, <a href="https://www.fiscales.gob.ar/lesa-humanidad/desde-2006-se-dictaron-296-sentencias-por-crimenes-de-lesa-humanidad-son-1115-las-personas-condenadas-y-171-las-absueltas/">296 criminal trials</a> have probed dictatorship-era crimes there, including child stealing and identity theft.</p>
<p>Investigating cases where children were stolen from their parents played a key role in Argentina’s <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9781137269393">search for justice </a> since democratisation in 1983. Even when the Argentinian congress sanctioned the “impunity laws” in 1986 and 1987, resulting in the shelving of the majority of criminal proceedings into <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-latin-american-studies/article/operation-condor-on-trial-justice-for-transnational-human-rights-crimes-in-south-america/C2A765BAB0E45A1260053E1E8DC0AE82/share/c8dce981d867335a1d1eed32d53629da20647ee4">past atrocities</a> for many years, prosecutions continued – albeit slowly - against those who had illegally taken children and “adopted” them. </p>
<p>Child abduction had been explicitly excluded from the remit of <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/762164">these impunity laws</a>, allowing 23 people to be sentenced for <a href="https://www.fiscales.gob.ar/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/20150612-Informe-Procuradur%C3%ADa-de-Cr%C3%ADmenes-contra-la-Humanidad.pdf">stealing children</a> between 1988 and 2005. </p>
<p>In 2006 after <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/amnesty-in-the-age-of-human-rights-accountability/from-amnesty-to-accountability/90E374AE7E6FF4403B31C30986814AB8">the overturning of the impunity laws</a>, 26 verdicts were handed down in trials probing the illegal taking of children and another eight for connected crimes (according to data provided for this article by Argentina’s Office of the Prosecutor for Crimes against Humanity). One trial is under way in Buenos Aires for the 1977 abduction of <a href="https://www.fiscales.gob.ar/lesa-humanidad/juicio-por-la-apropiacion-de-victoria-donda-ciudad-autonoma-de-buenos-aires/">Victoria Donda</a> as a newborn. She later went on to be a MP.</p>
<p>The criminal investigation of these atrocities has been crucial for Argentina to come to terms with its troubled history. In July 2012, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-18731349">a Buenos Aires federal court</a> condemned former dictator <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Rafael_Videla">Jorge Videla</a> to 50 years in prison, while eight of his cronies received lesser sentences, for overseeing the <a href="https://plancondor.org/en/node/1083">systematic theft of babies and minors</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/grandmothers-reunion-highlights-argentinas-long-road-to-recovery-from-its-dirty-war-30328">Grandmother's reunion highlights Argentina's long road to recovery from its 'Dirty War'</a>
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<p>Nuria Piñol, a prosecutor in this historic trial, whom we consulted for this article, noted how that prosecution crucially established that child stealing had been a planned and methodical practice throughout the country. It had also relied on the collaboration of civilian accomplices, including doctors and midwives, and the forgery of identity documents and birth certificates. </p>
<p>Piñol told us how the children and newborns were considered “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/43854562.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3Af4018948f56870af000574d97f14c5e0&ab_segments=&origin=&initiator=&acceptTC=1">a war booty</a>,” and that “the military high command clearly intended to remove them from their biological parents, because of their political activism, so that they could be raised differently”, according to the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/43854562.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3Af4018948f56870af000574d97f14c5e0&ab_segments=&origin=&initiator=&acceptTC=1">western and Catholic values</a> the regime espoused.</p>
<p>The identification of deported children is a fundamental part of the process of locating them in Russia and returning them to Ukraine. Here, Ukraine can also learn from Argentina’s experience. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520215702/searching-for-life">Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo</a>, an <a href="https://abuelas.org.ar/idiomas/english/history.htm">Argentinian NGO established in 1977</a>, have successfully identified <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/jan/16/tracing-stolen-children-of-argentina-dirty-war">132 of the estimated 500 stolen children</a>. Science played a key role. Upon the Grandmothers’ requests, US-based geneticists developed in 1984 the “<a href="https://buenosairesherald.com/society/human-rights/how-the-grandmothers-of-disappeared-children-drove-a-revolution-in-genetics">grandparentage index</a>,” which guaranteed 99.99% efficacy in determining kinship given the absence of the children’s parents, whom the dictatorship had forcibly disappeared.</p>
<h2>The role of DNA</h2>
<p>This pioneering DNA test, which Argentina’s supreme court admitted as valid evidence, was used that same year for the first time to identify <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300254099/the-condor-trials/">Paula Logares, who had disappeared with her parents</a> in Uruguay in 1978. Since then, this test galvanised efforts to find more <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/33504/chapter/287812326#287812482">missing grandchildren</a>. </p>
<p>The creation of dedicated institutions supported the search for stolen children. These included, in 1987, the National Genetic Data Bank, which provides a permanent repository for genetic profiles of <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/33504/chapter/287812326?login=true#287812482#287812482">grandparents and other family members</a> to permit identifications, and in 1992 the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/33504/chapter/287812326?login=true#287812482#287812482">National Commission for the Right to Identity </a>(CONADI) that proactively works to identify potential new cases.</p>
<p>Recently, the Grandmothers have focused their search efforts beyond Argentina’s borders through <a href="https://www.cancilleria.gob.ar/es/encontrarte">outreach campaigns</a>. Since 2021, with the hashtag #ArgentinaTeBusca (Argentina is looking for you), the Argentinian ministry of foreign affairs, alongside the CONADI and the Grandmothers, are leading an international campaign based on <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25739908">the right to identity</a>. The aim is to encourage people between 40 and 45, who have doubts about their identity, to reach out to the nearest Argentinian embassies and consulates.</p>
<p>Trials for child abduction, similar to Argentina’s, may not be feasible at the moment in Ukraine given how <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/27/ukrainian-nobel-peace-laureate-oleksandra-matviichuk-calls-for-special-tribunal-to-try-vladimir-putin">overwhelmed</a> its local judiciary is. However, if the <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20230113IPR66653/ukraine-war-meps-push-for-special-tribunal-to-punish-russian-crimes">special tribunal</a> currently considered at the international level was to take over trials for crimes of aggression, it could free up space in local courts to investigate child deportation. </p>
<p>As of April 2, only <a href="https://childrenofwar.gov.ua/en/">361 abducted children have been returned</a>. Ukraine is understandably secretive about how this is being achieved. In some cases, parents or grandparents, helped by volunteers,<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/19/we-hugged-for-a-long-time-how-ukrainian-father-went-to-moscow-to-reclaim-his-children">crossed multiple borders</a> to find and bring their children back home. </p>
<p>On March 27, 17 children <a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/ukrainian-children-russia-crimea-reunited-families-/32336387.html#:%7E:text=The%20Save%20Ukraine%20Foundation%20has,Crimea%20to%20escape%20the%20war.">were brought back</a> with the help of the <a href="https://saveukraineua.org/returning_deported_children">Save Ukraine Foundation</a>. However, given the large number of the deported children, a more organised and long-term effort is required. Organisations similar to the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo and the creation of a gene bank could help support these endeavours.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202577/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Francesca Lessa’s project on Operation Condor received funding from the University of Oxford John Fell Fund, The British Academy/Leverhulme Trust, the University of Oxford ESRC Impact Acceleration Account, the European Commission under Horizon 2020, and the Open Society Foundations. She has advised lawyers, activists, and prosecutors involved in the Condor Trial in Italy. She is the Honorary President of the Observatorio Luz Ibarburu, a network of human rights NGOs in Uruguay.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Svitlana Chernykh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Hundreds of children were stolen from their parents during the dictatorship in Argentina, but over the years some have been reunited with their families.Francesca Lessa, Lecturer in Latin American Studies and Development, University of OxfordSvitlana Chernykh, Senior Lecturer, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1956192022-12-06T13:14:41Z2022-12-06T13:14:41ZJihadists and bandits are cooperating. Why this is bad news for Nigeria<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498444/original/file-20221201-26-pce5tv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Residents fleeing a village in Plateau State, north central Nigeria, after an attack by armed bandits. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Nigerian state has come under severe security stress in recent times. It has faced multiple national security threats: <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/west-africa/nigeria/b180-after-shekau-confronting-jihadists-nigerias-north-east">jihadist groups</a> in the north-east; <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/3/29/who-are-the-armed-bandits-of-northwest-nigeria">armed bandits</a> in the north-west; <a href="https://dailypost.ng/2022/05/01/how-ipob-esn-is-promoting-insecurity-in-nigeria-nigerian-army/">militia secessionists</a> in the south-east; and <a href="https://theconversation.com/niger-delta-young-men-face-exclusion-and-violence-in-one-of-the-most-polluted-places-on-earth-142109">militancy</a> in the south-south. </p>
<p>Thousands of people have died or been displaced.</p>
<p>Hardly a day goes by without reports of kidnappings for ransom, thefts, cattle rustling or sexual violence by armed bandits in the troubled north-west region. </p>
<p>Armed bandits have become so emboldened as to stage <a href="https://dailytrust.com/bandits-attack-kaduna-abuja-highway-abduct-scores">highway attacks</a> and set <a href="https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/471996-exclusive-bandits-ambush-nigerian-troops-kill-seven-soldiers-injure-five-others.html">ambushes</a> against the country’s security forces. Concern is increasing about the threat they pose to peace and security in Nigeria. </p>
<p>Much has been written about this banditry, including its linkages to the country’s <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/west-africa/nigeria/262-stopping-nigerias-spiralling-farmer-herder-violence">farmer-herder crisis</a> – the tensions over grazing for livestock. But there appears to be a new trend in the bandits’ way of operating which warrants attention. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://theconversation.com/mapping-the-contours-of-jihadist-groups-in-the-sahel-168539">a previous article</a> I explored the factors that contribute to the spread of violence in Nigeria and across the Sahel region. These include poverty, inequality, high unemployment and illiteracy rates, weak institutions and poor governance, to mention a few. Taking these factors into account, I argue in this article that the interests of bandits and jihadists are converging. This poses a formidable threat to Nigeria’s national security.</p>
<p>The large number of bandits offers a significant pool of potential fighters for jihadists.</p>
<h2>Why the bandit threat is real</h2>
<p>Bandits are mostly known for their pursuit of economic opportunism. They are mostly interested in enriching themselves rather than taking other kinds of power.</p>
<p>Jihadist groups such as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Boko-Haram">Boko Haram</a> and the <a href="https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/content/islamic-state-west-africa-province-iswap-0">Islamic State in West Africa Province</a> are rather driven by political ideology.</p>
<p>But there are pointers that armed bandits <a href="https://dailytrust.com/bandits-boko-haram-terrorists-working-together-says-fg">may be willing</a> to <a href="https://tribuneonlineng.com/boko-haram-terrorists-now-training-bandits-in-kaduna-other-north-west-states-military-sources/">work alongside jihadists</a> in the north-west. The government has said this may have been the case in the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/21/over-160-passengers-still-missing-from-train-attacked-in-nigeria">attack</a> on an Abuja-Kaduna bound train. More than 160 commuters were abducted in a jihadi-style attack.</p>
<p>There have also been records that point to <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/west-africa/nigeria/288-violence-nigerias-north-west-rolling-back-mayhem">arms trading</a> between bandits and terrorists in Nigeria.</p>
<p>The jihadist group <a href="https://issafrica.org/iss-today/ansarus-comeback-in-nigeria-deepens-the-terror-threat">Ansaru</a>, which broke away from Boko Haram in 2012, has recently re-emerged. This proscribed group is known for its <a href="https://press.un.org/en/2014/sc11455.doc.htm">deadly attacks </a> on the United Nations headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, in 2013. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/al-Qaeda">Al-Qaeda</a> affiliated group now mostly operates within Birnin Gwari, a local government area in north-west Nigeria’s Kaduna state. The group has also <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/4/19/are-nigerias-bandits-a-new-boko-haram-cell-or-rival">sought</a> the cooperation of armed bandits in the pursuit of its goals and objectives, which it claims are to protect Muslims across Africa by fighting against the Nigerian government and international interests.</p>
<p>Though there have been occasional <a href="https://dailytrust.com/breaking-bandits-ansaru-terrorists-clash-in-kaduna">clashes</a> between bandits and jihadists, the quest for strategic relevance among jihadist groups implies a willingness to form new alliances and bolster existing ones. Bandits could confer strategic relevance on jihadists by providing them with the manpower and economic resources required in the pursuit of their goals.</p>
<p>The Nigerian military’s <a href="https://army.mil.ng/?tag=operation-hadarin-daji">Operations Hadarin Daji</a> and <a href="https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/09/air-force-launches-operation-thunder-strike-2-against-boko-haram/">Thunderstrike</a> inflicted operational defeats on the jihadists. They have since embarked on an intensified effort to recruit fighters into their fold, including <a href="https://punchng.com/boko-haram-iswap-recruiting-child-soldiers-army/">child soldiers</a>.</p>
<p>Numbering over <a href="https://dailytrust.com/matawalle-there-are-30000-armed-bandits-across-the-north">30,000</a> across the northern region, armed bandits could fill the void.</p>
<h2>An attractive option</h2>
<p>Armed bandits and jihadists in Nigeria have a common enemy – the Nigerian security forces. </p>
<p>Armed bandits are interested in exploiting governance gaps.</p>
<p>The jihadists’ objective is to establish sharia rule and an Islamic caliphate.
The groups differ among themselves on how exactly to achieve this. This explains the internal rift within Boko Haram which led to the emergence of ISWAP in 2015. In May 2021, ISWAP staged an <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/islamic-state-west-african-province-says-nigerias-boko-haram-leader-is-dead-2021-06-06/">assault</a> on Boko Haram’s leader <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57378493">Abubakar Shekau</a>, resulting in his death. </p>
<p>What they have in common however is a hierarchical leadership structure from which they derive their instructions. ISWAP has ties with the Islamic State, and Ansaru and Boko Haram have ties with Al-Qaeda. </p>
<p>The absence of such external leadership structures for armed bandits means it might be difficult to achieve an ironclad partnership between them and jihadists in the long run. </p>
<p>As armed bandits become more assertive, however, they might adopt a political ideology. This is evident from their recent attack on an <a href="https://tribuneonlineng.com/bandits-attack-immigration-patrol-base-one-officer-killed-two-injured/">immigration base</a> and their attempted attack for the <a href="https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/511043-military-foils-another-attack-in-nda-kills-20-bandits.html">second time</a> on the Nigerian Defence Academy - both of which represent institutions of the state. A potential trigger for this is the <a href="https://guardian.ng/news/fg-declares-bandits-as-terrorists/">proscription</a> of armed bandits as terrorists by the federal government. </p>
<p>Armed bandits could potentially formalise whatever existing strategic partnerships they have with jihadist groups such as Ansaru, given its proximity to them, if they resolve their <a href="https://punchng.com/two-die-as-bandits-terrorists-clash-in-kaduna/">recurring differences</a>. </p>
<p>Doing so would guarantee steady sources of funds and arms for both armed non-state actors.</p>
<p>A second trigger could be the effect of ransom payments to kidnappers being made <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-27/nigerian-senate-passes-law-banning-ransom-payments-to-kidnappers">illegal</a>. The Nigerian government recently enacted this law. </p>
<p>As the law takes effect, families of kidnapped victims will be less willing to pay ransom – the major financial resource for armed bandits. Bandits could potentially become desperate and set aside their differences with jihadists, choosing to partner with them. </p>
<p>A synergy between armed bandits and jihadists would lead to more civilian deaths, displacement, and destruction of property. </p>
<p>It could attract more foreign terrorist fighters, too, given Nigeria’s porous borders, who would be keen on recruiting combat-ready terrorists for armed conflict across the Lake Chad Basin and Sahel regions. </p>
<p>This also has serious implications for external state actors such as the United States, France and the European Union in the long run. That’s because the activities of terrorists in the region could jeopardise their economic interests.</p>
<h2>What needs to be done</h2>
<p>To avert this, the federal government of Nigeria must act fast. It must intensify covert action to disrupt the potential consolidation of partnerships between armed bandits and jihadist groups. </p>
<p>In doing so, it must however be careful not to rely solely on the use of force, which tends to result in the over-militarisation of an already complex issue. It ignores the triggers and drivers of terrorism and has the unintended effect of terrorists becoming adaptive over time. </p>
<p>Efforts must be directed at addressing underlying socio-economic, environmental and political <a href="https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/521768-unpunished-crimes-poverty-others-fuel-banditry-in-nigerias-northwest-report.html">root causes</a> of the country’s farmer-herder crisis, which contributes to the proliferation of small arms and light weapons across the region.</p>
<p>Lastly, poor governance must be replaced with <a href="https://republic.com.ng/june-july-2022/citizens-over-terrorists/">people-centric governance</a>, given that the former has <a href="https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/521768-unpunished-crimes-poverty-others-fuel-banditry-in-nigerias-northwest-report.html">contributed</a> to the emergence of both jihadism and “banditism” across Nigeria.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195619/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Folahanmi Aina does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The interests of bandits and jihadists are converging in Nigeria and this poses a formidable threat to the country’s security.Folahanmi Aina, Associate Fellow, Royal United Services InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1931852022-11-22T13:26:28Z2022-11-22T13:26:28Z4 plays that dramatize the kidnapping of children during wars<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496548/original/file-20221121-19-gqqq2u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C25%2C5665%2C3757&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">During the Russian occupation of Luhansk Oblast, 15 kids were allegedly taken from this rehabilitation center and moved to Russia.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/room-inside-the-center-for-social-and-psychological-news-photo/1244950133?phrase=ukraine russia orphanage&adppopup=true">Wojciech Grzedzinski/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since February 2022, Western and Ukrainian media have reported on the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/22/world/europe/ukraine-children-russia-adoptions.html">kidnapping and forced adoption</a> of Ukrainian children by Russians. </p>
<p>The exact number of Ukrainian children transferred to Russia has been difficult to pin down, but Ukrainian sources estimate that as many as <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ukrainian-children-russia-7493cb22c9086c6293c1ac7986d85ef6">8,000 children</a> have been forcibly moved there. Accounts have emerged of Russian authorities transferring them to <a href="https://meduza.io/en/feature/2022/11/04/dad-you-have-five-days-before-they-adopt-us">Russian families or Russian state orphanages</a>, where they receive a “patriotic education.” Some of the kidnapped children have been falsely told that their families died or do not want them.</p>
<p>On Nov. 16, 2022, the <a href="https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-november-16">Institute for the Study of War</a>, a Washington private think tank, reported that Russia has been bragging about deporting as many as 150,000 children from the Donbas region alone.</p>
<p>The United Nations Security Council considers the abduction of children one of the six grave violations of the mandate of the <a href="https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/about-the-mandate/">Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict</a>. As a number of scholars and journalists have pointed out, the kidnapping, adoption and Russification of Ukrainian children is part of Russia’s <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-twilight-of-the-last-russian-empire-putin-kremlin-russian-federation-republics-war-ukraine-russification-mobilization-collapse-11666270992">premeditated strategy</a> to <a href="https://www.iwp.edu/articles/2022/11/04/another-genocide-russia-kidnaps-ukraines-children/">expand its falling Russian population</a>.</p>
<p>The wartime kidnapping of children is not new, <a href="https://theconversation.com/russias-reported-abduction-of-ukrainian-children-echoes-other-genocidal-policies-including-us-history-of-kidnapping-native-american-children-181451">nor is it specific to Russia</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://ces.fas.harvard.edu/people/001380-magda-romanska">As a theater scholar</a>, I’ve encountered a number of works on stage that explore the complex moral conflicts and traumas that these abductions have generated throughout history, from China to Argentina and many places in between.</p>
<h2>1. ‘The Orphan of Zhao’</h2>
<p>One of the earliest plays that center on the subject is “<a href="https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/a-child-for-all-ages-the-orphan-of-zhao/">The Orphan of Zhao</a>,” a 13th century Chinese classic written by dramatist Ji Junxiang during the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Mongol-empire/The-Yuan-dynasty-in-China-1279-1368">Yuan dynasty</a>. </p>
<p>Based on historical events that took place 3,000 years ago, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1768912">other narratives preceded Ji’s</a>, which he penned during the <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674072534">Mongolian invasion of China</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.7312/west16854-005/pdf">The plot</a> revolves around an orphan named Cheng Bo, who, at the age of 20, discovers that his father, General Tu’an Gu, is not his real father. In fact, his real father, Zhao Dun, along with his entire family, was murdered by Tu’an Gu during a bloody conflict. Cheng ultimately kills the general, thus avenging his blood father and his family. </p>
<p>The story of orphan Zhao has had an enduring appeal in Chinese society and has undergone a number of <a href="https://www.asianstudies.org/wp-content/uploads/a-child-for-all-ages-the-orphan-of-zhaoring.pdf">dramatic</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1726738/">film adaptations</a>. The play includes many features of classical Chinese drama, including a <a href="https://silo.tips/download/the-tragic-and-the-chinese-subject">tragic hero</a> torn between contradictory familiar loyalties, and in accordance with Confucian morality, has <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Chinese-performing-arts/The-Yuan-period">an ending that reflects poetic justice</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Actresses encircle a mother holding a baby." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496546/original/file-20221121-14-2n20ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496546/original/file-20221121-14-2n20ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496546/original/file-20221121-14-2n20ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496546/original/file-20221121-14-2n20ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496546/original/file-20221121-14-2n20ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496546/original/file-20221121-14-2n20ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496546/original/file-20221121-14-2n20ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A staging of ‘The Orphan of Zhao,’ performed by the China Opera and Dance Theatre, in October 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-dance-drama-the-orphan-of-zhao-performed-by-china-opera-news-photo/1235711371?phrase=orphan%20of%20zhao&adppopup=true">Guo Junfeng/Costfoto/Future Publishing via Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Due to its <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/25723618.2019.1592865">revenge plot</a>, the play is often compared to Shakespeare’s “<a href="https://www.academia.edu/34546098/On_Tragic_Heroes_A_Comparative_Study_of_Hamlet_and_The_Orphan_of_Chao">Hamlet</a>,” and is sometimes even referred to as the “Chinese Hamlet.”</p>
<h2>2. ‘The Circumference of the Head’</h2>
<p>During World War II, under the Nazis’ “<a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/lebensborn-program">Lebensborn program</a>,” Germany abducted and adopted as many as <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/the-children-the-nazis-stole-in-poland-forgotten-victims/a-52739589">400,000</a> Slavic children – mostly <a href="https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/hitlers-lebensborn-children-kidnappings-in-german-occupied-poland/">Polish</a> and Czech, particularly kids whose blond hair and blue eyes aligned with the Nazis’ objective to cultivate an Aryan-Nordic phenotype.</p>
<p>The abduction and forced Germanization of Slavic children went <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/the-children-the-nazis-stole-in-poland-forgotten-victims/a-52739589">largely forgotten</a> through the end of the 20th century. But recently, Polish journalists from news platform <a href="https://www.interia.pl/">Interia</a> and the German broadcaster <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/forgotten-victims-polish-children-abducted-during-world-war-ii-still-seeking-truth/a-41981284">Deutsche Welle</a> teamed up to release a book and documentary on the subject, “<a href="https://www.dw.com/en/the-children-the-nazis-stole-in-poland-forgotten-victims/a-52739589">Children Stolen by the Nazis: Forgotten Victims</a>.”</p>
<p>In theater, the Lebensborn program has not been widely explored. However, one Polish play worth mentioning is 2014’s “<a href="https://teatrnowy.pl/spektakle/obwod-glowy/">The Circumference of the Head</a>,” written and directed by Polish playwright and director Zbigniew Brzoza and dramaturg Wojtek Zrałek-Kossakowski. Incorporating archival materials, the play tells <a href="https://teatralny.pl/recenzje/gustaw-ziegenhagen,819.html">the real story</a> of two mothers, one Polish and one German, at odds over the fate of a girl who was kidnapped from the Polish mother and adopted by the German mother’s family. </p>
<p>After the war, the girl returned to Poland thanks to the efforts of the <a href="https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2021/03/17/german-genocidal-kidnapping-of-polish-children-definitive-work-lebensborn-letter-p-karpinska-morek/">Polish government</a> – one of an estimated <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/forgotten-victims-polish-children-abducted-during-world-war-ii-still-seeking-truth/a-41981284#:%7E:text=After%20the%20war%2C%20the%20Polish,was%20placed%20in%20an%20orphanage">30,000 Polish children</a> who were repatriated to Poland following the war. </p>
<p>For the children, the homecoming could be as traumatizing as the initial kidnapping, since many of them <a href="https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/hitlers-lebensborn-children-kidnappings-in-german-occupied-poland/">no longer remembered their Polish families</a>.</p>
<p>The title of the play refers to the Nazis’ use of pseudoscientific “<a href="https://www.ushmm.org/collections/bibliography/nazi-racial-science">racial science</a>” to determine which children they would send off to the death camps and which were deemed worthy enough to integrate into the German race. The circumference of the head was one such a measure.</p>
<p>Some Polish critics denounced the play for <a href="https://teatralny.pl/recenzje/gustaw-ziegenhagen,819.html">its Solomon-like depiction of the dispute</a> between the Polish mother and the German woman who adopted the kidnapped child. Although both women want the girl, both are willing to give up their parental rights for the welfare of the child. The play thus drew a moral equivalency between the two women, Polish and German. </p>
<p>However the critics largely agreed that the play exposed the intrinsically tragic aspect of wartime abductions.</p>
<h2>3. ‘Stepmother Home or My Mother the Stolen Child’</h2>
<p>Another play worth mentioning is a 2020 Polish-Greek-German production by Wicki Kalaitzi and Joanna Lewicka titled “<a href="https://lewicka.org/stepmotherhome/">Stepmother Home or My Mother the Stolen Child</a>.” </p>
<p>It is based on the story of Kataitzi’s mother, who was deported from Greece during the <a href="https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/greek-civil-war-1944-1949">Greek Civil War</a> by the <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo12274715.html">Greek Communist Party</a>. A German family eventually adopted her. </p>
<p>The play traces the mother’s journey through Europe, her life and the impact of generational trauma on her daughter, who’s caught up in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2GixU8xeaU">her own search for identity</a>. The play uncovers the profound and long-lasting implications of the wartime child abductions for the victims and their future families.</p>
<h2>4. ‘A Propos of Doubt’</h2>
<p>Argentina’s <a href="https://www.history.com/news/mothers-plaza-de-mayo-disappeared-children-dirty-war-argentina">Dirty War</a> has received repeated treatments on stage. </p>
<p>An estimated 30,000 people went missing during the civil conflict, which took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Roughly <a href="https://www.npr.org/2007/11/11/16171480/reunions-a-milestone-for-argentinas-stolen-victims">500 were children</a>, and many of them ended up adopted by childless military families – some of which were responsible for the “disappearance” of their parents. </p>
<p>In 1977, the grandmothers of the abducted children <a href="https://abuelas.org.ar/idiomas/english/history.htm">formed an organization</a> called the Association of the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/leader-madres-de-plaza-de-mayo-argentina-dies-93-rcna58170">Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo</a> to try to find as <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/33504/chapter-abstract/287812326?redirectedFrom=fulltext">many of them as possible</a>. Using <a href="https://abuelas.org.ar/idiomas/english/genetic.htm">DNA tests</a>, the organization has identified <a href="https://abuelas.org.ar/idiomas/english/cases/listado_resueltos.htm">128 kidnapped children</a> so far.</p>
<p>In 2000, Patricia Zangaro’s play about the events, “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03064220108536885">A Propos of Doubt</a>,” premiered in <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/701764">Buenos Aires</a>. The play has since inspired a yearly theatrical event, <a href="https://teatroxlaidentidad.net/">Teatro x Identitad</a> – “Theater for Identity,” or TXI for short – dedicated to plays focused on the fate of disappeared children. </p>
<p>All of the performances in the series, which started in 2000, open with the same line: “<a href="https://globalvoices.org/2017/07/21/three-decades-after-dictatorship-theater-aids-the-search-for-identity-and-truth-in-argentina/">My name is … and I can say it because I know who I am</a>.” Although the plays cover a range of themes connected to the disappearance of the children, all of them focus on the search and problems of identity.</p>
<p>The theatrical adaptations of wartime child abductions underscore the fundamentally tragic nature of such adoption. Advances in genetic testing have led to the administration of some justice: Hiding such crimes <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/27/magazine/spain-stolen-babies.html">has</a> <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-48929112">become</a> <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/taliban-criticize-alleged-abduction-of-afghan-baby-by-us-marine-/6801851.html">increasingly difficult</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193185/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Magda Romanska does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>These wartime abductions aren’t specific to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Throughout history, they’ve inflicted trauma on society’s most vulnerable – making them a rich subject matter for the stage.Magda Romanska, Associate Professor of Theatre and Dramaturgy, Emerson CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1894272022-09-14T16:38:41Z2022-09-14T16:38:41ZWhy Nigerian kidnap law banning families from paying ransoms may do more harm than good<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484582/original/file-20220914-20-1dz5mw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=47%2C31%2C872%2C603&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nigerian terrorists Boko Haram attracted worldwide condemnation when it kidnapped hundreds of school girls.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jewjewbeed/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Kidnapping for ransom has become one of the most significant challenges facing Nigeria today, and the government is attempting to address this by <a href="https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/04/senate-amends-terrorism-act-prohibits-payments-of-ransom-to-kidnappers/">punishing families</a> who pay ransoms. But many believe this has little chance of tackling the problem. </p>
<p>Since 2009, Islamic terrorist group <a href="https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/wps/usip/0025390/f_0025390_20750.pdf">Boko Haram</a> has conducted several bombings and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03071847.2012.714183">attacks</a> on innocent citizens and public infrastructure in the country. The group is particularly opposed to western education which they say lures people away from Islamic teaching as a way of life and has vowed to <a href="https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/SR308.pdf">make Nigeria an Islamic state</a>. </p>
<p>These attacks were followed up by numerous incidents of kidnapping for ransom, with Boko Haram targeting boarding schools, villages, churches and <a href="https://www.sbmintel.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/202005_Nigeria-Kidnap.pdf">government facilities</a>. Notable among these was the kidnapping in 2014 of 276 <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/chibok-girls-bargaining-chip-of-boko-haram-insurgency-1444912">Chibok schoolgirls</a>, aged between 16-18, from their boarding school in Borno state in the north-east of the country. This incident caused international outrage against Boko Haram and criticism of the Nigerian government’s handling of the security situation, resulting in the #BringBackOurGirls movement and protests in major cities across <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/07/twitter-hashtag-bringbackourgirls-nigeria-mass-kidnapping">the world</a>. To date, over 100 of the girls remain missing, while some are believed to <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/4/14/nigerias-chibok-schoolgirls-five-years-on-112-still-missing">have died</a>.</p>
<p>A new amendment to Nigeria’s Terrorism (Prevention) <a href="https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/04/senate-amends-terrorism-act-prohibits-payments-of-ransom-to-kidnappers/">Act 2013</a> now means families and friends of kidnap victims face up to 15 years imprisonment for paying to free loved ones. The lawmakers believe this will discourage kidnapping and abductions for ransom. It has also made the crime of abduction punishable by death in cases where the victims die. Some of the other measures already put in place by the government include restriction of residents’ movement in some states, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/9/1/nigerian-states-impose-curbs-bid-stop-kidnappings-violence">deployment of the military</a>, as well as closing down some <a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2021/1015/Two-edged-sword-Nigeria-blocks-phone-networks-to-stop-crime">mobile telecoms networks</a> to prevent communication between terrorists.</p>
<p>But kidnapping for <a href="https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/487509-special-report-inside-nigerias-worsening-kidnap-for-ransom-scourge-1.html">ransom has</a> now spread from Boko Haram and bandits in northern Nigeria to militants across the entire country. Kidnappers collected more than US$18 million (£15.5 million) <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/desperate-nigerians-sell-homes-land-free-kidnapped-children-2021-08-24/">in ransom</a> from June 2011 to March 2020 in Nigeria, according to Reuters.</p>
<h2>Why the new law won’t work</h2>
<p>The kidnapping law has been widely condemned as <a href="https://thenationonlineng.net/ransom-payment-jail-or-death/">insensitive and impractical</a>. Many Nigerians believe enforcing it is tantamount to a death sentence for <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-61554325">kidnap victims</a>. </p>
<p>Analysis of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09718923.2010.11892834?_ga=2.230453852.1756469148.1663149100-1821979984.1663149100&_gl=1*1xouk4h*_ga*MTgyMTk3OTk4NC4xNjYzMTQ5MTAw*_ga_0HYE8YG0M6*MTY2MzE0OTA5OS4xLjEuMTY2MzE0OTExMS4wLjAuMA">security trends in Nigeria</a> suggests that there are two main reasons why this addition to the law is not the correct move. The reality on the ground is that most Nigerians lack trust and confidence <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ignatius-Nyam/publication/350940986_A_Critical_Analysis_of_the_Public_Perception_of_the_Nigeria_Police_Force/links/607a7ce98ea909241e054247/A-Critical-Analysis-of-the-Public-Perception-of-the-Nigeria-Police-Force.pdf">in the police</a>. In most instances, the police and state security operatives fail to respond to kidnapping incidents <a href="https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/487509-special-report-inside-nigerias-worsening-kidnap-for-ransom-scourge-1.html">rapidly</a> enough. Families of kidnapped victims pay ransoms out of desperation and helplessness, believing that the security agencies will not come to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/desperate-nigerians-sell-homes-land-free-kidnapped-children-2021-08-24/">their aid</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/whos-at-risk-of-being-kidnapped-in-nigeria-184217">Who's at risk of being kidnapped in Nigeria?</a>
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<p>There have been several instances where kidnapped victims have been killed simply because their families and friends could not raise <a href="https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/04/terrorists-kill-3-kidnapped-victims-threaten-to-kill-more-unless-ransom-is-paid-2/">the huge amount</a> being demanded as ransom by kidnappers. In 2021, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/26/nigeria-kidnappers-execute-two-more-captive-students">six students</a> from Greenfield University in the state of Kaduna were kidnapped and shot dead after authorities refused to pay ransoms of 800 million naira (£1.6 million) to secure <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/23/nigerian-kidnappers-kill-3-abducted-students-in-rising-violence">their release</a>. From <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/26/nigeria-kidnappers-execute-two-more-captive-students">December 2020 to April 2021</a>, around 730 Nigerian students were abducted.</p>
<p>Poverty, <a href="https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.1037.3901&rep=rep1&type=pdf">unemployment</a>, corruption, political violence and religious intolerance have created a fertile ground for insecurity and kidnapping in Nigeria. The high rate of youth unemployment in the country, currently around <a href="https://www.thecable.ng/nbs-nigerias-unemployment-rate-hits-33-3-highest-ever">30-35%</a>, is believed to be a <a href="https://noi-polls.com/unemployment-and-poverty-cited-as-top-reasons-for-rise-in-kidnapping/">major factor</a> responsible for the growth of kidnap cases. The <a href="https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/259531-nigerian-govt-paid-ransom-release-chibok-girls-senators.html">huge ransom paid</a> to Boko Haram by the Nigerian government for the release of some of the Chibok school girls in 2014 has created a pattern that is now peculiar to this country. Boko Haram and other criminal gangs now see kidnapping for ransom as an easy way to make money. But the rising levels of kidnappings across Nigeria cannot be divorced from the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/d8d9bf8f-0aa2-405f-b3f7-2a3e7e7b297c">declining economic fortunes of the country</a>. </p>
<p>Before the new law can be effective, the socioeconomic situation and provision of basic amenities, especially job creation, first need to be urgently addressed to reduce kidnappings.</p>
<p>Second, urgent steps need to be taken by the government to improve the working conditions and intelligence gathering capabilities of the police and other security agencies and to produce more public trust in the state. Providing the police with modern technology and training would not only ensure greater operational efficiency but will improve the confidence of Nigerians in the force. This would also enhance government efforts at tackling the escalating incidents of kidnapping.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189427/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ayoade Onireti does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Families are worried that a new Nigerian law will stop them getting their kidnapped friends or relatives back.Ayoade Onireti, Lecturer in Law, University of SalfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1892912022-08-25T12:26:58Z2022-08-25T12:26:58ZConviction of two Michigan kidnap plotters highlights danger of violent conspiracies to US democracy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480921/original/file-20220824-4026-dyadxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C3%2C2492%2C1543&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Barry Croft Jr., left, and Adam Fox were found guilty by a federal jury on charges related to a 2020 plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Witmer.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/MichiganGovernorKidnappingPlot/10d99e1d3dd947439c5ff1ad52c40af6/photo">Kent County Sheriff's Office via AP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Two of the six men facing federal charges in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020 were <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/23/us/verdict-trial-gretchen-whitmer-kidnap.html">found guilty</a> by a federal jury on Aug. 23, 2022. </p>
<p>The verdict in the trial of co-defendants Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. comes after a previous trial ended in <a href="https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2022/04/08/2-men-found-not-guilty-mistrial-declared-for-2-others-in-whitmer-kidnap-plot-trial/">acquittals</a> for two other co-defendants, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta, and mistrials for Fox and Croft. Their two other alleged accomplices, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gretchen-whitmer-kidnapping-ty-garbin-pleads-guilty/">Ty Garbin</a> and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/07/politics/whitmer-kidnap-plot-kaleb-franks-guilty-plea/index.html">Kaleb Franks</a>, pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with the prosecutions against the others.</p>
<p>All six were members of the Wolverine Watchmen, a militia group in Michigan who felt compelled to act against Whitmer’s COVID-19 restrictions. Several other members of the Watchmen <a href="https://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/2022/04/trial-scheduled-for-jackson-county-men-accused-in-whitmer-kidnapping-plot.html">still face state charges</a> for their alleged roles in the kidnapping plot.</p>
<p>Observers like <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=5nxIh9YAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">me</a> knew relatively little about the Wolverine Watchmen when the men were <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-michigan-whitmer-idUKKBN26T37C">first arrested</a> in October 2020. I have studied the U.S. domestic militia movement <a href="https://www.amycooter.com/research.html">for 12 years</a>. I have learned about general militia structures, and I have conducted in-depth interviews and done <a href="https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/98077">extensive fieldwork</a> with militia groups. I have long-standing contacts who have informed my understanding of groups. And still, I do not believe it’s possible to know the full extent of the defendants’ intentions or abilities.</p>
<p>But I do know that violent threats and plots need to be treated seriously – especially those that focus on specific people and their supposed tyranny. </p>
<p>It will also be important to observe how militias and related groups respond to these convictions: Claims that the judicial process was corrupt have already surfaced, which could fuel <a href="https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2022/70-percent-republicans-falsely-believe-stolen-election-trump/">additional mistrust in American political systems</a> as the nation heads into midterm congressional elections. </p>
<h2>What is this group, and where did it come from?</h2>
<p>In 2020, <a href="https://theconversation.com/lessons-from-embedding-with-the-michigan-militia-5-questions-answered-about-the-group-allegedly-plotting-to-kidnap-a-governor-147876">reports from my militia contacts and other sources</a> indicated the Wolverine Watchmen had split off from the larger <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/08/24/the-militias-against-masks">Michigan Liberty Militia</a>, which had featured prominently in an April 2020 Michigan <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-michigan-whitmer-idUKKBN26T37C">state lockdown protest</a> that garnered national attention. </p>
<p>The Wolverine Watchmen appear to be a type of militia called “millenarian,” which tends to be dangerous, secretive, <a href="https://www.aspi.org.au/opinion/far-right-groups-and-conspiracy-theories-are-being-brought-together-through-internet">conspiracy-oriented</a> and anti-government. This is in contrast with the other type of militia unit – “constitutionalist” – whose members still train with firearms but take a much more defensive, rather than offensive, stance toward the government.</p>
<p>The exact cause of the split is not clear, but I have witnessed in my work that fractures are exceedingly common in militia groups because of personality conflicts or disputes over a group’s goals and plans, as well as whether their actions are private or in public.</p>
<p>In a similar vein, it also appears that Adam Fox, the plot’s alleged mastermind, had been <a href="https://www.michiganradio.org/news/2020-10-12/michigan-militia-groups-try-to-distance-themselves-from-alleged-terrorist-plot">kicked out</a> of yet another militia group called the Michigan Home Guard before joining the Watchmen. Public reports of this incident match what militia informants have reported to me about Fox’s volatility both in person and on social media.</p>
<p>Other members may have been recruited to the Watchmen at <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/03/29/whitmer-kidnap-jury-wolverine-watchmen/7207466001/">multimilitia events</a> the unit was known to attend or even host. Insiders tell me that some members may have followed Fox when the Home Guard largely dissolved following one leader’s participation in a <a href="https://m.facebook.com/60minutes/videos/when-he-says-stand-by-what-does-he-want-what-is-he-planning-on-having-us-stand-b/366649564660607/">“60 Minutes” interview</a> that was perceived as harmful to the militia movement.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362708/original/file-20201009-13-h5xfw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Armed men stand on the steps of the Michigan capitol building." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362708/original/file-20201009-13-h5xfw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362708/original/file-20201009-13-h5xfw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362708/original/file-20201009-13-h5xfw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362708/original/file-20201009-13-h5xfw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362708/original/file-20201009-13-h5xfw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362708/original/file-20201009-13-h5xfw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362708/original/file-20201009-13-h5xfw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">On April 30, 2020, armed men wearing ‘Michigan Liberty Militia’ insignias stood on the steps of the state Capitol building as part of a protest against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s lockdown orders.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/armed-protesters-provide-security-as-demonstrators-take-news-photo/1211395465">Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>What are their aims or goals?</h2>
<p>Several of those initially charged are affiliated with the <a href="https://ctc.westpoint.edu/the-evolution-of-the-boogaloo-movement/">Boogaloo</a> movement, a loose ideology whose adherents seek to foster <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-white-supremacists-protesting-the-deaths-of-black-people-140046">varying degrees of social upheaval</a>, often through attacks on law enforcement or other government representatives.</p>
<p>Watchmen commander and co-founder Joseph Morrison, for example, included “Boogaloo” as part of his <a href="https://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/26380/meet_boogaloo_bunyan_founder_of_michigan_militia_that_plotted_to_overthrow_government">online handle</a>. </p>
<p>Boogaloo ideology is not synonymous with millenarianism but is much more similar than it is to the more reserved constitutionalist outlook. Boogaloo shares with millenarianism a desire for violence and disruption, and both perspectives can be further incited by a <a href="https://www.aspi.org.au/opinion/far-right-groups-and-conspiracy-theories-are-being-brought-together-through-internet">variety of conspiracy fantasies</a>, such as those that enhance believers’ perceptions of political opponents as not just wrong-thinking, but evil. </p>
<p>Co-conspirator Ty Garbin <a href="https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/star-witness-whitmer-kidnap-plotters-wanted-boogaloo-war-stop-biden">testified</a> that the ultimate goal of the kidnapping plot was “to cause as much disruption as possible to prevent Joe Biden from getting into office.” </p>
<p>Garbin’s stated focus specifically on Biden – and, by default, ensuring a continued Trump presidency – would imply that the Watchmen did not want to completely overthrow the government but instead retain a leader who met their approval. </p>
<p>Prosecutors, however, used even stronger language than Garbin in the second federal trial, <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/08/11/moar-a11.html">asserting</a> that Croft and Fox wanted to start a “second American Revolution.” This is a variation of a goal at the extreme end of the Boogaloo spectrum: to initiate a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-election-extremists/u-s-capitol-siege-emboldens-motley-crew-of-extremists-idUSL1N2JJ0A0">second civil war</a>. </p>
<p>Despite the common disdain for Whitmer and government COVID-19 policies that brought these men together, they had ideological differences, too. </p>
<p>Brandon Caserta, for example, posted an <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-tyrant-not-your-friend-says-suspect-governor-whitmer-kidnapping-plot-1537821">anti-Trump video</a>, while Daniel Harris had previously <a href="https://oaklandcounty115.com/2020/06/08/lake-orion-protest-affirms-black-lives-matter-movement/">protested</a> against police brutality and in support of Black Lives Matter. </p>
<p>I have observed some online commentators dismiss those actions as tactical maneuvers to make militias seem less exclusionary than they really are. However, in my experience, militia members hold a complex array of personal beliefs, including support for racial equality that is sincere even if <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/citizen-militias-in-the-u-s-are-moving-toward-more-violent-extremism/">not entirely informed</a> about the full scope of modern racism.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362704/original/file-20201009-17-1delzu5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362704/original/file-20201009-17-1delzu5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362704/original/file-20201009-17-1delzu5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362704/original/file-20201009-17-1delzu5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362704/original/file-20201009-17-1delzu5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362704/original/file-20201009-17-1delzu5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362704/original/file-20201009-17-1delzu5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362704/original/file-20201009-17-1delzu5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">After the arrests were announced in 2020, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer spoke to the public.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/MichiganGovernorKidnappingPlot/37be31aef6d244d488394d44506fc23f/photo">Michigan Office of the Governor via AP</a></span>
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<h2>Were they a serious threat?</h2>
<p>Questions remain among some militia members and their supporters about the seriousness of the Watchmen’s plot. At the time of their arrests, militia members who knew some of the defendants <a href="https://theconversation.com/lessons-from-embedding-with-the-michigan-militia-5-questions-answered-about-the-group-allegedly-plotting-to-kidnap-a-governor-147876">told me they doubted</a> their ability to actually execute the complicated plan. </p>
<p>While I continue to hear disparaging remarks about Croft and Fox in particular, most of the skeptical focus has since shifted to the integrity of the investigation. </p>
<p>The defense team in the original trial argued the plot was actually the creation of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/mar/19/michigan-governor-kidnap-case-terrorists-fbi-dupes-gretchen-whitmer">undercover agents or informants</a> involved in the investigation. The first jury <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/04/08/michigan-whitmer-verdict-governor/">may have found this argument persuasive</a> for Harris’ and Caserta’s acquittals, but it seems to have fallen short as an explanation for Fox and Croft in both trials.</p>
<p>Militia supporters have nonetheless noted that some texts and other communications from informants were <a href="https://wwmt.com/news/local/governor-gretchen-whitmer-michigan-kidnapping-kidnap-kill-plot-barry-croft-adam-fox-grand-rapids-mistrial-fbi-evidence-mistrial-second-trial-conspiracy">not shared</a> with jurors in either federal case, a fact they believe supports defense attorneys’ arguments that FBI agents engaged in entrapment. </p>
<p>And some supporters of the defendants have raised concerns about the <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kenbensinger/fbi-michigan-kidnap-whitmer">background and behavior of FBI agents</a> who were involved in the case, apparently seeking to impeach their credibility. One agent was arrested for <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2021/07/21/records-fbi-agent-assaulted-wife-swingers-party-gretchen-whitmer-terror-plot/8041014002/">violently assaulting his wife</a>, while yet another was removed from the list of witnesses after facing <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jessicagarrison/a-third-fbi-agent-will-not-be-testifying-in-the-michigan">allegations of perjury</a> in a different case. </p>
<p>Jurors in the ongoing state trial of the eight other members of the Watchmen will <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/ag/news/press-releases/2022/08/10/ag-nessel-prevails-in-continued-prosecution-of-wolverine-watchmen">be barred</a> from hearing this information about the FBI agents’ actions, which further contributes to the perceptions some militia-world actors have about the unfairness of the process.</p>
<p><em>This article is based on a <a href="https://theconversation.com/lessons-from-embedding-with-the-michigan-militia-5-questions-answered-about-the-group-allegedly-plotting-to-kidnap-a-governor-147876">previous article</a> published Oct. 9, 2020.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189291/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy Cooter is a Senior Research Fellow at Middlebury College's Center for Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism. After the previous The Conversation article, defense attorneys for Adam Fox asked for her expert insights on the usual structures and activities of militia groups, but she received no detailed information about the case or any defendants beyond what was presented at trial. Dr. Cooter is a prior recipient of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.</span></em></p>Two men accused of planning to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020 have been found guilty. Their backgrounds and the trial itself raise concerns about the role of extremism in America.Amy Cooter, Senior Research Fellow in Terrorism, Extremism and Counterterrorism, MiddleburyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1866962022-07-17T09:49:11Z2022-07-17T09:49:11ZNigeria’s spiralling insecurity: five essential reads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474082/original/file-20220714-9357-bxgmv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Florian Plaucheur/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In recent times, security – or, more accurately, the lack of it – has been one of the most prominent items on the news agenda in Nigeria. </p>
<p>Hardly a week goes by without a report of a terrorist attack or cases of kidnap for ransom being reported in the media. <a href="https://www.globalr2p.org/countries/nigeria/">Hundreds</a> of civilians and members of the security forces have been killed. </p>
<p>The incidents have been labelled in various different ways. From terrorist attacks – such as the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/articles/c10n9lqe8dyo">attack</a> on Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s convoy in July and the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-60980904">hijacking</a> of an entire train in March – to targeted ambushes. There have also been multiple attacks on <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/08/nigeria-at-least-115-people-killed-by-security-forces-in-four-months-in-countrys-southeast/">government facilities</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/61719973">churches</a> over the past year. </p>
<p>But, whatever name they go by, the terrorists appear to be running free across the Nigerian landscape. </p>
<p>At The Conversation Africa, we have been working with academic experts to try to make sense of what is happening in Nigeria. Here are five essential reads that we’ve published on the country’s state of insecurity: </p>
<h2>Where it all started</h2>
<p>Banditry started as an isolated rural phenomenon in the late 2000s, notes political scientist Al Chukwuma Okoli, a senior lecturer and consultant-researcher at Federal University Lafia in Nigeria. With time, banditry grew into sophisticated violent criminality, characterised by syndicates with immense reach across regions and countries in the Sahel.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/toxic-mix-of-bandits-arms-drugs-and-terrorism-is-alarming-nigerians-what-now-181205">Toxic mix of bandits, arms, drugs and terrorism is alarming Nigerians: what now?</a>
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<h2>They are not unknown</h2>
<p>At some point in the evolution of the violent gangs ravaging Nigeria, bandits and terrorists started being called “unknown gunmen”. The label was wrong and misleading, writes Sallek Yaks Musa, a lecturer in criminology and security studies at the University of Jos in Nigeria. The atrocities and motivation of bandits had assumed insurgent-type criminality and the Nigerian government’s reluctance to call them terrorists or insurgents was unhealthy. Eventually, a court order forced the government’s hand and the terrorist label got stickier. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nigerias-bandits-are-not-unknown-gunmen-why-the-label-matters-166997">Nigeria's 'bandits' are not 'unknown gunmen': why the label matters</a>
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</em>
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<h2>Who is at risk?</h2>
<p>Nigeria now ranks among the kidnapping hotspots of the world. This practice has evolved among the bandits and terrorists of northern Nigeria, militants and cultists in the Niger Delta, as well as the ritual killers of the western and eastern parts of the country. Al Chukwuma Okoli explores the nature of the kidnapping threat, factors accounting for its upswing and who is at risk of being kidnapped in Nigeria. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/whos-at-risk-of-being-kidnapped-in-nigeria-184217">Who's at risk of being kidnapped in Nigeria?</a>
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</p>
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<h2>Why government strategies have failed</h2>
<p>Explaining why government efforts had failed to rein in the terrorists, Sallek Yaks Musa says the country first needs to tackle hunger, poverty and unemployment. He takes a critical look at five strategies to end banditry that the Nigerian government has tried – without success. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nigerias-banditry-why-5-government-strategies-have-failed-181208">Nigeria's banditry: why 5 government strategies have failed</a>
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<h2>Reintegration as a failed strategy</h2>
<p>One of the strategies used by the Nigerian government to stem the tide of terrorism, especially from Boko Haram elements, is the idea of reintegrating repentant former combatants into society. This idea borrowed from the general amnesty deal the government has with Niger Delta militants. The idea appeared to have worked in the Niger Delta region but was not so successful with Boko Haram and bandits. Tarela Juliet Ike, a lecturer in criminology and policing at Teesside University in the UK, looks at the weaknesses of the Boko Haram reintegration process and suggests how they could be fixed. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nigerias-boko-haram-reintegration-process-weaknesses-and-how-they-can-be-fixed-174728">Nigeria's Boko Haram reintegration process: weaknesses and how they can be fixed</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186696/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Scholars explain how and why terrorists appear to be running rampant across Nigeria.Adejuwon Soyinka, Regional Editor West AfricaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1842172022-06-17T13:02:40Z2022-06-17T13:02:40ZWho’s at risk of being kidnapped in Nigeria?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468808/original/file-20220614-11-ftbhmr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Parents and relatives of abducted students demanding the release of their families who had spent 55 days in captivity as at March 12, 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Kola Sulaimon/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nigeria ranks among the <a href="https://www.controlrisks.com/our-thinking/insights/kidnap-for-ransom-in-2022">kidnapping hotspots</a> of the world. </p>
<p>Over <a href="https://www.sbmintel.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/202005_Nigeria-Kidnap.pdf">3,000 people</a> were kidnapped in Nigeria in the first half of 2021 alone. The figure for January 2022 has been reported as <a href="https://eonsintelligence.com/details/special-report-90785645/january-2022-incidents-by-regions-1079701345">571</a>.</p>
<p>In just one example, the head of the Methodist Church in Nigeria was <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-61632802">kidnapped</a> by gunmen in Abia State in May. </p>
<p>This practice has <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358398187_Of_Banditry_and_'Human_Rustling'_The_Scourge_of_Kidnapping_in_Northern_Nigeria">evolved</a> among the bandits and terrorists of northern Nigeria, militants and cultists in the Niger Delta as well as the ritual-killers of the western and eastern parts of the country. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358398187_Of_Banditry_and_'Human_Rustling'_The_Scourge_of_Kidnapping_in_Northern_Nigeria">My research</a> explored the nature of this threat and the factors accounting for its current upswing.</p>
<p>Nigeria’s banditry crisis is a complicated situation with a number of interests, motives and actors. Some criminals are opportunistic, others organised. Militants, terrorists and insurgents use banditry to raise funds for their operations and as a bargaining strategy. </p>
<p>Kidnapping for ransom thrives in Nigeria because the material incentive and opportunity are there, and victims find it expedient to pay ransom. </p>
<p>In my view, the solutions lie in removing incentives, creating stricter deterrents, more effective policing and greater vigilance.</p>
<h2>Types of kidnapping</h2>
<p>Kidnapping is the act of holding a person captive in order to make them offer something in return for their release. The motivation may be economic, political, or ideological. </p>
<p>There are different patterns of kidnapping, among them kidnap for ransom, kidnap for ritual, kidnap for strategic bargain, and child abduction. </p>
<p>In Nigeria, the main form has been <a href="https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/487509-special-report-inside-nigerias-worsening-kidnap-for-ransom-scourge-1.html#:%7E:text=Of%20the%204%2C962%20people%20reported,assailants%20like%20ants%20to%20sugar.">kidnap for ransom</a>. It was estimated that <a href="https://humanglemedia.com/18million-paid-as-ransom-to-kidnappers-in-nigeria-over-a-decade-intelligence-firm/">over US$18 million</a> was paid as ransom in Nigeria between January 2011 and March 2020. </p>
<p>This form of kidnapping is often carefully planned, organised, and carried out. Most of its victims have been prominent personalities and rich men who are believed by the perpetrators to posses the material substance and capital to pay ransom.</p>
<p>It usually starts with profiling a target to determine their ransom value. That value includes how much money the kidnapper can get, and the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358398187_Of_Banditry_and_'Human_Rustling'_The_Scourge_of_Kidnapping_in_Northern_Nigeria">social strategic worth</a> of the target or their family.</p>
<p>For instance, the child of a wealthy family has a high kidnap ransom value. The only child of an affluent household has even greater value.</p>
<p>Wealthy individuals and their relations have high kidnap ransom value. This is also true of strategic members of corporate organisations and networks that are believed to be well to do. The expectation is that members of a wealthy family, network or organisation are in a position to raise funds to release the kidnapped person.</p>
<p>There are, however, instances of kidnap for ransom where opportunistic criminals abduct vulnerable individuals, without profiling targets. This often yields lower ransom returns.</p>
<p>Kidnapping for ritual purposes also happens in Nigeria. There have been incidents of kidnappers dealing in body parts and capturing victims for sacrifices. Perpetrators may waylay their victims or entrap them through frauds, scams and phantom business trips. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=ritual+killings+in+hotels+in+Nigeria&rlz=1C1CHBD_enNG889NG889&sxsrf=ALiCzsZJiZE73-eVzRyGK4Z6Ysoj9b451Q%3A1653986089304&ei=KdOVYuKUEoGy8gK8sZK4DQ&ved=0ahUKEwiizcOqqon4AhUBmVwKHbyYBNcQ4dUDCA4&uact=5&oq=ritual+killings+in+hotels+in+Nigeria&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EANKBAhBGABKBAhGGABQAFjtRGDyRmgAcAB4AIABAIgBAJIBAJgBAKABAcABAQ&sclient=gws-wiz">sporadic discoveries</a> of dismembered human bodies in hotels, shrines, construction sites, river-lines, and forests in various parts of Nigeria attest to this <a href="https://www.academia.edu/30173085/Kidnapping_for_Rituals_Article_of_Faith_and_Insecurity_in_Nigeria">form of kidnapping</a>. </p>
<p>In the Niger Delta region, <a href="https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation.aspx?paperid=98926">militants and pirates</a> have taken hostages to extract ransom and for coercive bargaining. The tactic is used to force the government or oil multinational firms to come to terms with certain strategic demands or concerns of the militants and their allied clandestine groups.</p>
<p>The insurgents and terrorists operating in parts of northern Nigeria have also used this tactic <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/chibok-girls-bargaining-chip-of-boko-haram-insurgency-1444912">to force</a> the government to grant them strategic concessions. </p>
<p>Sometimes they have abducted commuters or school children en masse. A recent report by UNICEF indicates that <a href="https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2022/04/17/unicef-in-15-months-1436-school-children-abducted-in-nigeria/#:%7E:text=UNICEF%3A%20In%2015%20Months%2C%201%2C436%20School%20Children%20Abducted%20in%20Nigeria,-April%2017%2C%202022&text=No%20fewer%20than%201%2C436%20school,Fund%20">1,436 children</a> were abducted in Nigeria between 2020 and 2022. </p>
<p>There have been cases of children being taken in cities and rural areas. Criminals sometimes contact their parents for a ransom. In some instances, the children are abducted for <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/351482893_'Baby_factories'_versus_the_objectification_of_surrogacy_cum_child_adoption_in_Nigeria">ritual purposes or illicit adoption</a>. Young pregnant women have also been held captive to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/351482893_'Baby_factories'_versus_the_objectification_of_surrogacy_cum_child_adoption_in_Nigeria">“harvest” their babies</a>.</p>
<h2>Why kidnapping is on the upswing</h2>
<p>The drivers of kidnapping risk in Nigeria today include <a href="https://aoav.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/The-Violent-Road.pdf">the upsurge</a> in organised armed violence by non-state actors, the <a href="https://www.academia.edu/30173085/Kidnapping_for_Rituals_Article_of_Faith_and_Insecurity_in_Nigeria">increasing trend</a> of ritual criminality, the economics of ransom, and criminal opportunism. </p>
<p>The opportunity and incentive for committing a crime is far greater than its risks or hazards. In Nigeria, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2010/08/17/everyones-game/corruption-and-human-rights-abuses-nigeria-police-force">only a few</a> criminals are ever arrested and prosecuted.</p>
<p>The capacity of the state agencies to detect and deter crime is abysmal. In most instances, state security operatives fail to respond to occasions of kidnapping promptly and rapidly. </p>
<p>They also lack the technical ability to track kidnappers and their movements. Consequently, criminals carry on with impunity. </p>
<p>Kidnapping in Nigeria has become a matter of national emergency, and ought to be treated as such. </p>
<p>The public should be vigilant and reduce their vulnerability. But government must rise to its first and prime calling - protecting the security of lives and property. The government should be proactive and decisive in fighting kidnapping. </p>
<p>Based on my research, I have three recommendations:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The remote areas of Nigeria where some of these crimes occur should be “governed” through a pragmatic <a href="https://theconversation.com/vigilantism-in-nigeria-a-way-to-combat-crime-if-its-non-violent-and-regulated-175676">community policing</a> strategy. </p></li>
<li><p>Deterrence should be stronger, stiffer and more decisive – such as the death penalty. The existing punishment of ten years (maximum) is not a deterrent. </p></li>
<li><p>Payment of kidnap ransom should be discouraged, and possibly criminalised, to remove the incentive to kidnap people. The example of the United States, where all forms of ransom-related transactions are outlawed, is instructive.</p></li>
</ul><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184217/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Al Chukwuma Okoli consults for Center for Democracy and Development, Abuja; volunteers for Amnesty International; belongs to Conflict Research Network West Africa (CORN West Africa); received research and conference grants from Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund). He is affiliated with Federal University of Lafia, Nigeria. </span></em></p>Nigerians are at risk of kidnapping as the cost of committing this crime is far less than its benefits.Al Chukwuma Okoli, Senior Lecturer and Consultant-researcher, Department of Political Science, Federal University LafiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1814512022-05-16T12:15:13Z2022-05-16T12:15:13ZRussia’s reported abduction of Ukrainian children echoes other genocidal policies, including US history of kidnapping Native American children<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462581/original/file-20220511-19-kwbofg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C10%2C3606%2C2384&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ione Quigley of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe during a ceremony in Carlisle, Pa., on July 14, 2021, marking the return to tribal lands in South Dakota of disinterred remains of nine Native American children who died more than a century ago while attending a government-run school in Pennsylvania. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/APTOPIXIndigenousBoardingSchool-Remains/d70a77210d3c4c0dbdb6634fd64c8a8d/photo?Query=Carlisle%20School&mediaType=photo&sortBy=creationdatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=54&currentItemNo=1">AP Photo/Matt Rourke</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Allegations have emerged recently that Ukrainian children are being forcibly removed from their country by Russia. Once there, <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/international/3267579-ukraine-deported-children-facing-threat-of-illegal-adoption-in-russia/">they are put up for adoption</a>. </p>
<p>These tactics are horrific, but far from rare. There is a long history of military aggressors forcibly transferring enemy children from their home countries as a means of sowing chaos and terror and weakening resistance. </p>
<p>In the U.S., the government conducted child abductions to quell the military resistance of America’s Indigenous peoples and prevent future opposition. </p>
<p>The Nazi practice of kidnapping “racially desirable children” from conquered countries and raising them as Germans has been <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/the-children-the-nazis-stole-in-poland-forgotten-victims/a-52739589">well documented</a>. And the communists’ <a href="https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.7208/9780226136004/html">abduction during the 1940s of nearly 28,000 Greek children to communist countries</a> was also well known. The Greek delegation to the United Nations <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/international/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/forcible-transfer">successfully</a> pushed for the <a href="https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.1_Convention%20on%20the%20Prevention%20and%20Punishment%20of%20the%20Crime%20of%20Genocide.pdf">inclusion of child transfers within the legal definition of genocide specifically because of these abductions</a>. </p>
<p>Child abductions are considered so heinous that the very first genocide convictions were of 14 Nazi officials charged with forcibly transferring Polish children to Germany. At trial, prosecutor Harold Neely <a href="http://www.worldcourts.com/imt/eng/decisions/1948.03.10_United_States_v_Greifelt.htm">suggested child abduction might even be the most outrageous</a> of all the Nazis’ crimes. Neely said the world knew about mass killings and atrocities by Nazis, but he added, “<a href="https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/ccd5d44a-1b65-31a3-8c4f-ded5e557b1ef#:%7E:text=The%20Subsequent%20Nuremberg%20Trials%20(more,Nuremberg%20after%20World%20War%20Two%2C)">the crime of kidnapping children, in many respects, transcends them all</a>.”</p>
<p>In signing on to <a href="http://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%2078/volume-78-I-1021-English.pdf">the genocide convention</a> – an international treaty that criminalizes genocide – in <a href="https://treaties.un.org/doc/publication/unts/volume%2078/volume-78-i-1021-english.pdf">1948</a>, the U.S. agreed that forcible child transfers constitute genocide. Yet it continued its own practice of Native child abductions for another 30 years.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462583/original/file-20220511-24-6bgu6v.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="31 young men in jackets and ties, some with vests, in a group photo in which none are smiling." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462583/original/file-20220511-24-6bgu6v.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462583/original/file-20220511-24-6bgu6v.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462583/original/file-20220511-24-6bgu6v.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462583/original/file-20220511-24-6bgu6v.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462583/original/file-20220511-24-6bgu6v.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462583/original/file-20220511-24-6bgu6v.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462583/original/file-20220511-24-6bgu6v.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ciricahua Apache students at the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania in the 1880s, after four months at the school.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://lccn.loc.gov/2006679978">Library of Congress</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Children as ‘hostages’</h2>
<p>Beginning in the Colonial era, the <a href="https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3043&context=nlr">American military kidnapped</a> Native American children as part of a deliberate strategy to undermine tribal resistance and force native nations to agree to colonists’ demands. </p>
<p>Eleazer Wheelock, Dartmouth College’s founder, recruited students from local tribes because he recognized <a href="https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/southcarolina/reader.action?docID=1084906">the tribes’ military importance</a>. Wheelock referred to these children as “<a href="https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3043&context=nlr">hostages</a>.” </p>
<p>During the Revolutionary War, Congress appropriated US$500 to Dartmouth, ostensibly to educate Native American boys, but also because it believed their presence at Dartmouth would prevent the boys’ <a href="https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3043&context=nlr">tribes from joining forces with the enemy British</a>. </p>
<p>By the 19th century, the kidnapping of Native children from their families to send them to government-funded boarding schools was a widely practiced means of quelling <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/news/rosebud-sioux-claim-remains-their-children-who-died-former-carlisle-indian-school-20210626.html">Native resistance</a>. </p>
<p>As Richard Henry Pratt, founder of the <a href="https://carlisleindianschoolproject.com/">Carlisle Indian Industrial School</a>, the first American Indian boarding school, explained in an 1878 federal report, one of the benefits of these institutions was the children could be used as “<a href="https://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/History/History-idx?type=article&did=History.AnnRep78.i0005&id=History.AnnRep78&isize=M">hostages for good behavior</a> of [their] parents.” </p>
<h2>‘Kill the Indian and save the man’</h2>
<p>In <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-native-students-fought-back-against-abuse-and-assimilation-at-us-boarding-schools-165222">these boarding schools</a>, Native children were beaten, starved and sexually assaulted. <a href="https://www.bia.gov/sites/default/files/dup/inline-files/bsi_investigative_report_may_2022_508.pdf">A just-released report</a> from the U.S. Department of the Interior acknowledges that children in these schools were forced to perform hard labor and were forbidden from speaking their Native languages or practicing their traditional religions or culture. According to the report, these schools “deployed systematic militarized and identity-alteration methodologies to attempt to assimilate American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children through education.” </p>
<p>Disease and death were also rampant. The federal report notes approximately 19 American Indian boarding schools “accounted for over 500 American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian child deaths. As the investigation continues, the Department expects the number of recorded deaths to increase.” Other sources estimate that as many as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/native-americans-decry-unmarked-graves-untold-history-boarding-schools-2021-06-22/">40,000 children died at these schools</a>.</p>
<p>Many American Indian parents fought desperately to keep their children. They were rarely successful. Some parents who refused to send their children to these schools had their <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2010-title25/html/USCODE-2010-title25.htm">government food rations withheld and faced starvation</a>. <a href="https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/cjrl/article/view/8752/4492">Others were arrested</a>. </p>
<p>If parents didn’t relinquish their children, government workers entered the reservations and captured the children, <a href="https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_race_poverty_law_journal/vol4/iss1/2/">roping them like cattle</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462582/original/file-20220511-22-gj9w72.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A map with shaded locations of Native American reservations as well as dots showing where American Indian boarding schools were located." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462582/original/file-20220511-22-gj9w72.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462582/original/file-20220511-22-gj9w72.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462582/original/file-20220511-22-gj9w72.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462582/original/file-20220511-22-gj9w72.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462582/original/file-20220511-22-gj9w72.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462582/original/file-20220511-22-gj9w72.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462582/original/file-20220511-22-gj9w72.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Native American reservations and government-run boarding schools for Native children in 1892. Red or shaded regions are Native American reservations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/the-carlisle-indian-industrial-school-assimilation-with-education-after-the-indian-wars-teaching-with-historic-places.htm">Library of Congress, United States Office of Indian Affairs</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In a 1932 hearing before the Congressional Committee on Indian Affairs, one Native American father testified, “I had a boy going to school that took sick and brought him home, after five days at home <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/survey-of-conditions-of-the-indians-in-the-united-states-hearings-before-a-subcommittee-of-the-committee-on-indian-affairs-united-states-senate-seventieth-congress-second-session-congress-session-pursuant-to-s-res-79-a-resolution-directing-the-committee-on-indian-affairs-of-the-united-states-senate-to-make-a-general-survey-of-the-condition-of-the-indians-of-the-united-states/oclc/6258712">he died</a>.”</p>
<p>Eventually, a 1928 study known as the <a href="https://narf.org/nill/resources/meriam.html">Merriam Report</a>, done at the behest of the U.S. Interior secretary, and a 1969 <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED034625">Senate report titled “Indian Education: A National Tragedy – A National Challenge”</a> exposed the horrors of the Indian boarding schools, and the government ordered them closed. </p>
<p>But the removal of Native American children by state and federal agencies continued through adoption policies that forced these children into non-Native adoptive homes. Like boarding schools which, as Pratt stated, sought to “kill the Indian and save the man,” the goal of 20th-century American Indian child adoptions was <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-southcarolina-adoption-nativeamer/baby-veronica-adoption-case-re-opens-wounds-for-native-americans-idUKBRE98N16P20130924">to save Native children through assimilation and the destruction of tribal culture</a>. </p>
<p>“The aim,” said Sandra White Hawk, founder of the First Nations Repatriation Institute, “was assimilation and extinction of the tribes as entities, as their younger generations were removed, year after year – just as it had been with the <a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/native-americans-expose-the-adoption-era-and-repair-its-devastation">boarding schools</a>. </p>
<h2>Emotional and psychological scars</h2>
<p>The harm caused by the United States’ Native American child removal policies was <a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/native-americans-expose-the-adoption-era-and-repair-its-devastation">staggering</a>. Removed children bore severe psychological and emotional scars that many passed on to their <a href="https://www.sjsu.edu/people/marcos.pizarro/maestros/BraveHeart.pdf">children and their children’s children</a>.</p>
<p>Generations of American Indian children lost the ability to speak their Native language, practice their traditions and pass on their culture. These losses threatened the very <a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/native-americans-expose-the-adoption-era-and-repair-its-devastation">existence of tribes</a>. </p>
<p>As Calvin Isaac, tribal chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=QH3QAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA152&lpg=PA152&dq=%22the+chances+of+Indian+survival+are+significantly+reduced+if+our+children,+the+only+real+means+for+the+transmission+of+tribal+heritage,+are+to+be+raised+in+non-Indian+homes+and+denied+exposure+to+the+ways+of+their%22&source=bl&ots=juAAxryjCg&sig=ACfU3U0h2jNnyRKvkJPNwH-k8SNmiZgUKg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjb1oCU19r3AhWBl-AKHSRpBIwQ6AF6BAgDEAM#v=onepage&q=%22the%20chances%20of%20Indian%20survival%20are%20significantly%20reduced%20if%20our%20children%2C%20the%20only%20real%20means%20for%20the%20transmission%20of%20tribal%20heritage%2C%20are%20to%20be%20raised%20in%20non-Indian%20homes%20and%20denied%20exposure%20to%20the%20ways%20of%20their%22&f=false">explained to Congress in 1978</a>, "Culturally, the chances of Indian survival are significantly reduced if our children, the only real means for the transmission of tribal heritage, are to be raised in non-Indian homes and denied exposure to the ways of their people.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462585/original/file-20220511-18-dk8vul.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man with a dark jacket and hat atop a horse in an obviously old photo." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462585/original/file-20220511-18-dk8vul.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462585/original/file-20220511-18-dk8vul.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462585/original/file-20220511-18-dk8vul.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462585/original/file-20220511-18-dk8vul.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462585/original/file-20220511-18-dk8vul.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462585/original/file-20220511-18-dk8vul.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462585/original/file-20220511-18-dk8vul.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Richard Henry Pratt, founder of the Carlisle Indian School, said of assimilating Native American children, ‘Kill the Indian in him, and save the man.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.loc.gov/resource/cph.3a27595/">Library of Congress</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In response to the testimony of Chief Isaac and other American Indian advocates, Congress passed the 1978 <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-92/pdf/STATUTE-92-Pg3069.pdf">Indian Child Welfare Act</a>.</p>
<p>The Indian Child Welfare Act acknowledged the harm of these removals and sought to address their devastating and continuing repercussions. This policy is controversial. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/magazine/wp/2019/04/03/feature/who-should-get-to-adopt-native-american-children/">The act is opposed by</a> those wishing to adopt American Indian children and those who believe the act’s preference for tribal placements is racist. </p>
<p>Currently, the Indian Child Welfare Act is being challenged in the Supreme Court. The case, <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca5/18-11479/18-11479-2021-04-06.html">Brackeen v. Haaland</a>, to be argued in fall 2022, concerns the potential adoption of a Navajo child by a non-Native couple. <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-92/pdf/STATUTE-92-Pg3069.pdf">Under the Indian Child Welfare Act</a>, such adoptions may only occur if there is no extended family member, tribal member or <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-92/pdf/STATUTE-92-Pg3069.pdf">“other Indian family”</a> available to adopt the child. </p>
<p>This provision was enacted to keep Native children connected to their families and <a href="https://1.next.westlaw.com/Link/Document/FullText?findType=l&pubNum=1077005&cite=UUID(I9819B45CC5-864920B0079-24EB3F5CDE9)&originatingDoc=Id36ebdee359511e99687ad62ac048e9b&refType=SL&originationContext=document&transitionType=DocumentItem&ppcid=582a900a90c344f68d7ca6c146a756e7&contextData=(sc.Search)">culture</a> and to reverse the devastation caused by the centurieslong <a href="https://doi.org/10.5820/aian.1802.2011.17">child removal policies</a>. At trial, the Brackeen plaintiffs argued that this preference for tribal and other Indian placements over non-Native placements is unconstitutional race discrimination. They won. Now, the case is before the Supreme Court and, although the court has previously <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/490/30/">upheld the constitutionality</a> of the act, the outcome of Brackeen is unclear.</p>
<p>In enacting the Indian Child Welfare Act, Congress recognized that only a comprehensive and detailed federal statute could possibly reverse the horrific legacy of Indian child abductions. </p>
<p>The Brackeen case challenges Congress’ ability to protect tribes and their citizens through the passage of laws <a href="https://ncuih.org/2022/03/11/icwas-constitutionality-challenged-and-review-by-the-supreme-court-underway/">like the Indian Child Welfare Act</a>. The decadeslong fight over the act highlights the long-term devastation of forced child transfers, as well as the extreme difficulty of remedying these effects. </p>
<p>If Russia is forcibly adopting Ukrainian children, then, as U.S. history painfully demonstrates, the trauma of these abductions may span generations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181451/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marcia Zug does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ukraine says thousands of Ukrainian children have been kidnapped by Russian soldiers, which is a war crime. The US government kidnapped and forced the assimilation of Indigenous children for decades.Marcia Zug, Professor of Family Law, University of South CarolinaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1798912022-04-02T08:25:49Z2022-04-02T08:25:49ZRising vigilantism: South Africa is reaping the fruits of misrule<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454388/original/file-20220325-23-10rx82p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Members of South Africa’s anti-migrant “Operation Dudula” group march in Jeppestown, Johannesburg. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michele Spatari / AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Once relegated to the margins of South African politics, anti-immigrant activism has gone mainstream. Several anti-immigrant groups, including <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-60698374">Operation Dudula</a>, the <a href="https://satrucker.co.za/tag/atdf/">All Trucker Foundation</a> and the <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/sundayindependent/news/were-not-xenophobic-says-south-african-first-president-mario-khumalo-e9f129df-61ee-47a9-8794-fd100e994f1d">South Africa First Party</a>, have become reference points for national debate.</p>
<p>Reflecting forms of radical protectionism, they channel the frustrations of South Africans with <a href="https://theconversation.com/state-capture-in-south-africa-how-the-rot-set-in-and-how-the-project-was-rumbled-176481">corruption</a>, <a href="https://www.gov.za/speeches/speaking-notes-delivered-police-minister-general%C2%A0bheki-cele-mp-occasion-release-%C2%A0quarter">crime</a>, and <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=14957">unemployment</a>. The results are campaigns to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9k_XR1aRSI">‘clean’ the country of immigrants</a>, home invasions and <a href="https://twitter.com/ReggieReporter/status/1505828159874383873?s=20&t=8PDjo7hP7OWz92uCR9fPEA">widespread threats and violence</a>.</p>
<p>This is not a response to an immigration crisis. Immigrant numbers are <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/south-africa-immigration-destination-history#:%7E:text=The%20government's%20statistical%20agency%2C%20Statistics,in%20the%202001%2D06%20period">not higher than they have been for a decade</a>. This is a crisis of constitutional credibility. </p>
<p>Anti-immigrant activism is politics by other means, with violence likely to become common amid fundamental ruptures in governance. After years of unfulfilled promises, a youthful citizenry <a href="https://theconversation.com/here-are-five-factors-that-drove-low-voter-turnout-in-south-africas-2021-elections-173338">has lost considerable faith in formal electoral politics</a>. </p>
<p>Popular embrace of nationalism, street justice, and anti-immigrant activism reflects the ascendency of an extra-legal order. That regime is a mix of formal institutions and local fiefdoms held together by patronage and coercion. That system is now unravelling. </p>
<h2>Perils of indirect rule and patronage</h2>
<p>During the apartheid era, local gangsters often made alliances with the apartheid state. Some justified their violence and venality as a strategy to make the country ungovernable. This latter group – the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00020189908707905">‘comrade tsotsis’</a> (young thugs so-called for claiming to being anti-apartheid activists) – later connected with the post-apartheid governing party, the African National Congress (ANC). This allowed them to maintain local influence with the <a href="https://mg.co.za/editorial/2022-03-31-editorial-theres-a-crisis-coming/">tacit permission of the ANC</a>. The opposition Inkatha Freedom Party has similarly relied on its sometimes violent <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13504630.2020.1814235?casa_token=VkRbWmqNdfYAAAAA%3A1k0OuQHkjXcGSx1EFT9tRnSUyVei75c3eemaIErOdkcd_cL5WYsI3E77Swx94CX1MZvzGwzs4MVQ">network of hostel leaders</a>.</p>
<p>This created a system of ‘indirect rule’, reflecting a similar logic to the colonial administration where local ‘chieftains’ worked in complex patronage networks to keep public order. But, where the gangsters once worked under the national government, the police and officials now appear to answer to vigilantes, participating in Dudula raids under ‘<a href="https://twitter.com/newzroom405/status/1505500039774638080?s=21">sole authority of the local community</a>’. </p>
<p>The post-apartheid system of indirect rule has been expedient for the governing party. Rather than extend its presence into cities whose populations <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315867878-13/south-africa-tortured-urbanisation-complications-reconstruction-ivan-turok">swelled in the post-apartheid era</a>, it <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02589346.2019.1692520">closed party offices</a>. </p>
<p>Under the country’s party list system, locally elected municipal councillors <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2020-11-27-direct-elections-bill-will-give-real-power-to-the-people/">are often absent or powerless</a>. Viewed from the perspective of the historically neglected <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03736245.1982.10559651?journalCode=rsag20#:%7E:text=Positioned%20just%20to%20the%20west,3">black residential areas</a> and informal settlements, elected officials are often more committed to <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/pad.1642">pleasing the party than the people they ostensibly represent</a>.</p>
<p>The dominant parties maintained this system of indirect rule, relying on civic associations, local chiefs and other ‘community leaders’ to deliver votes and maintain order, over two decades.</p>
<p>Unwilling or unable to displace them from local positions of authority, national, provincial, and municipal governments negotiate with them, further entrenching their power. The challenge now is that the political and economic resources the three spheres of government used to maintain this system are dwindling.</p>
<p>South Africa’s economic crisis means there are fewer government tenders available, and less money for social programmes. More importantly, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-59166081">the dip in ANC support below 50% in the 2021 elections</a> means party and bureaucratic bosses now face uncertain futures. Amid this, upstarts seeking opportunities and jockeying for position engage in new alliances, mobilisation and violence. </p>
<h2>Cause for anxiety</h2>
<p>To be sure, more is going on than a crumbling patronage system. South Africans would generally prefer less immigration. There has been no time in the last two decades <a href="https://www.africaportal.org/publications/deadly-denial-xenophobia-governance-and-global-compact-migration-south-africa/">where they have broadly welcomed newcomers</a>. <a href="https://repository.hsrc.ac.za/handle/20.500.11910/18951">COVID has exacerbated concerns about immigration</a>, as <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2021-12-05-south-africas-youth-unemployment-crisis-the-clock-is-ticking-and-its-five-minutes-to-midnight/#:%7E:text=The%20latest%20official%20data%20reflect,four%20of%20the%20under%2D25s">youth unemployment hovers near 70%</a>.</p>
<p>There is clearly cause for anxiety. Politicians with <a href="https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/434851/south-africa-does-not-have-a-viable-economic-recovery-plan-analyst/">few plans for addressing this gap</a> have capitalised on these attitudes.</p>
<p>Yet, these widespread trends do little to explain the violence in specific places, at particular times, or why it is so difficult to counter. Anti-outsider violence is <a href="http://www.xenowatch.ac.za">not universal</a> nor always aimed at immigrants alone. </p>
<p>It is also not easily explained by poverty. Many of the poorest areas have remained peaceful while more prosperous ones have not. Instead, violence tends to occur repeatedly in specific neighbourhoods, because of localised political power games.</p>
<h2>Outsourcing state authority</h2>
<p>One example from <a href="https://www.ijcv.org/index.php/ijcv/article/view/3118/pdf">our research</a> in Mamelodi, outside Pretoria, the country’s seat of national government, illustrates this point.</p>
<p>Its population growth has outpaced any kind of state intervention, police control, <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-73073-4_5">or service provision</a>.</p>
<p>Working together, two groups have filled the political and regulatory vacuum. One is the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SouthAfricanNationalCivicOrganisation2015/">South African National Civic Organisation</a>. The other, the Phomelong Residents Association, is a local informal group headed by self-appointed leaders. Those wanting to build, do business, or even transport goods through the area pay them or get out.</p>
<p>To finance their protest and political activities, the two groups plunder foreign-owned shops and businesses. Like the self-financing armies of old, protesters are given licence to loot. One leader <a href="https://www.ijcv.org/index.php/ijcv/article/view/3118/pdf#page7">reported that</a>, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>when protesters feel hungry, they go and get food from shops to eat or take home to cook; and if shops here are closed they go to shops in other locations.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Through the distribution of resources and the eviction of foreigners, the associations legitimate their form of rule, positioned as gangster intermediaries. With popular support, they then demand attention by the municipal authorities. Cleverly, their leaders borrow the language of continued black deprivation and the need for <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-03-14-carl-niehaus-tables-radical-economic-transformation-plan-ahead-of-ace-magashules-campaign-for-anc-president/">‘radical economic transformation’</a> to legitimise themselves.</p>
<p>Another example of this indirect rule is Philani, a poor area largely neglected by city government, outside eThekwini in KwaZulu-Natal. In early 2019, the Delangokubona Business Forum <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/afr/news/stories/2019/5/5cda7da04/refugees-affected-by-xenophobic-attacks-in-south-africa-in-need-of-urgent.html">displaced and kidnapped about 50 foreigners</a> living in the area.</p>
<p>Claiming to champion <a href="http://www.thedtic.gov.za/financial-and-non-financial-support/b-bbee/broad-based-black-economic-empowerment/">‘black economic empowerment’</a>, they accused foreigners of blocking the economic advancement of poor black citizens.</p>
<p>They extracted ransoms from their families and friends, while negotiating with the government for their safe return. Successful on both counts, they positioned themselves as intermediaries and peacemakers – the <em>de facto</em> local authorities.</p>
<p>As in other cases in the country, these groups <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-02-09-mafia-style-business-forum-halts-multi-million-road-project/">effectively create multi-faceted protection rackets</a>. Increasingly (and <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/bogus-mk-veterans-who-were-just-5-years-old-during-apartheid-smoked-out-as-verification-kicks-into-gear-20220317">implausably</a>) claiming to be military veterans of the anti-apartheid struggle, they use violence to create instability and instil fear to extract resources and establish legitimacy. </p>
<p>These actions create powerful local forces that demand payment from any state development projects in the areas they control. This way, the state is able to preserve the appearance of authority and constitutionalism while allowing someone else to do the dirty work of keeping people in line. But trouble ensues when the developers can no longer pay or other parties are eyeing the booty – money, houses, businesses, and votes. </p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>Given the legacy of indirect rule, it is unclear who the government can call to rein in the violent leaders who effectively govern some <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/applied-and-social-sciences-magazines/townships">townships</a>. Or, indeed, if it has the desire or popular legitimacy to do so. Impunity for past misdeeds has emboldened these groups, strengthening them so much that police respond to them rather than the other way around.</p>
<p>Authority to decide who lives where, who does what, and what are appropriate standards of behaviour rests with them – rather than the constitution or town councils.</p>
<p>South Africa’s <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/nap/index.html">national action plan on xenophobia</a> calls for <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-has-a-plan-to-fight-prejudice-but-its-full-of-holes-114444">conversations and dialogue with these groups</a>. This is precisely the system they have manipulated to entrench their power. </p>
<p>Ending violence against foreigners and true economic recovery can only happen by first recognising – and addressing – the hazards of South Africa’s crumbling system of indirect rule.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179891/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Loren B Landau has received funding from the national research foundation, the Mellon Foundation, Porticus Foundation, and USAID </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jean Pierre Misago does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ending violence against foreigners can only happen by first recognising – and addressing – the hazards of South Africa’s crumbling system of indirect rule.Loren B Landau, Co-Director of the Wits-Oxford Mobility Governance Lab, University of the WitwatersrandJean Pierre Misago, Researcher, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1692752021-10-21T13:37:41Z2021-10-21T13:37:41ZMilitary postings put strains on Nigerian families: here’s what some told us<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425754/original/file-20211011-28-ircxoj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Soldiers gesture while standing on guard during Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari's visit to the Maimalari Barracks in Maiduguri on June 17, 2021. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Audu Marte/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In Nigeria, military personnel are deployed for internal operations to combat terrorism, armed banditry, kidnapping and other forms of insecurity. This means frequent relocations, and sometimes even international assignments, brings consequences to the families of personnel.</p>
<p>However, there is scant information in Nigeria on how families manage their family, work and time with a breadwinner who is frequently absent.</p>
<p><a href="https://ibadanjournalofsociology.org/IJS/article/view/135">Our study</a> probes the strains and benefits associated with military postings on their families.</p>
<p>Using in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and key informant interviews, we obtained data from officers, non-commissioned officers, wives and children of deployed officers in the Nigerian army.</p>
<p>The participants for the focus group discussions consisted of a total of four officers, six other ranks, five wives and five children who willingly took part in the group discussion. A total of four focus group discussions were conducted with six people in each session. </p>
<p>Oral interviews were conducted to complement the focus group discussions data. These participants were interviewed to obtain in-depth information about their experiences, interactions and opinions on the research focus.</p>
<p>The Nigerian military strength was about <a href="https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/NGA/nigeria/military-army-size">223,000</a> as at 2018. Although the sample for the research was small, we believe the study provides insights into the contextual strains that families encounter. </p>
<h2>Posting benefits and downsides</h2>
<p><a href="https://army.mil.ng/?p=3729">Military postings</a> are regular exercises carried out within the Nigerian army to reinvigorate the system for greater performance. They are also done as part of peace operations nationally and internationally. The length of postings range between six months and two years depending on the mission. </p>
<p>Our findings indicate that military officers preferred international peacekeeping missions to national postings, because they expected to be treated better and earn foreign currency. Participants also reported language and culture gains. </p>
<p>On the negative side, they reported the risks of loneliness, neglecting their homes, infidelity, unmet emotional needs, and worries about their children’s education and behaviour.</p>
<p>Posting in the army – being sent away from home – gives officers valuable military experience and may lead to promotion. A female army colonel we interviewed said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>You have the advantage of learning the traditions of that particular place and you are able to associate with “new environment”.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But deployments take a toll on families as soldiers seldom return to their original base after prolonged posting. And postings are often unplanned.</p>
<p>The family as a system must manage both the absence and the presence of a member. That can be an emotional strain. A major said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Then the issue of not being there for the family will also come up. And in that case, you will be at the mercy of God except the wife has been trained and such a woman is very responsible and industrious, or she has good neighbours … at least, if she lacks, she could get things from the neighbours.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A spouse may also have established a business in their former place of posting before the new posting came, and runs the risk of losing the business and customers. Even if the new posting affords new business opportunities, it may take time to build a community of clients. </p>
<p>Some spouses who decide to stay at home and manage their businesses risk communication problems with the absent spouse. </p>
<h2>Care of children</h2>
<p>The study revealed some concern about military barracks as an environment for children. Drug use and unsafe sexual practices were mentioned. One participant said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Leaving your family behind with your wife poses a big challenge because your wife alone will not be able to take care of the children you left behind especially the male child. In this barrack, boys in their tender ages smoke India hemp … Again, educationally, posting could bring setbacks to the education of the children. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another participant mentioned the case of a man whose wife had died while he was posted to another location, leaving their children in the care of neighbours. </p>
<p>Most respondents cited the absence of the father and non-fulfilment of his role as a disciplinarian as the reason for a rise in problem behaviour among children in the barracks. This has created a stigma – “barracks boys” are seen by those outside the military as uncultured because their absent parents haven’t socialised them correctly.</p>
<h2>Solutions</h2>
<p>The disruptions and strains which can result when army personnel are deployed away from home need a systemic solution.</p>
<p>The first part would be strict adherence to the army manual’s rule governing posting of officers. This would help to create stability in the home and reduce negative effects on families.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169275/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Oludayo Tade does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Nigerian military needs a systemic approach to solving family disruptions and strains often caused by personnel deployment away from home.Oludayo Tade, Communication/Security Consultant, Sociologist/Criminologist/Victimologist and Facilitator, University of IbadanLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1654962021-09-12T08:18:12Z2021-09-12T08:18:12ZRethinking ukuthwala, the South African ‘bride abduction’ custom<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420038/original/file-20210908-23-ashuvv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Rural Eastern Cape </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Susan Winters Cook/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Just over a decade ago in South Africa, a flurry of media reports surfaced about a customary practice known as <em>ukuthwala</em>. The <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2011-04-04-forcing-the-issue/">reports</a> described a rise in <em>ukuthwala</em> characterised by the kidnapping, assault and rape of young girls by older men, forcing them into customary marriages. Girls as young as 13 and 14 in the rural areas of provinces such as Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal were affected by this violence. In some cases, the girls’ families accepted and arranged the marriages.</p>
<p><em>Ukuthwala</em> is a term in Nguni languages which has various meanings. It can refer to ways (including abduction) of making a customary marriage happen quickly. South Africa has a varied cultural make-up, and the term ‘customary’ is generally used to describe beliefs and traditions of groups that are ‘indigenous’ to the country. Customary marriages therefore are based on localised norms. As a route to customary marriage, multiple types of <em>ukuthwala</em> exist across the country, each with distinct names and elements.</p>
<p>The reports about violent <em>ukuthwala</em> cases provoked responses from different sectors of society. Government leaders organised meetings with affected communities. The <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/salrc/dpapers/dp132-UkuthwalaRevised.pdf">South African Law Reform Commission</a> did an extensive study. <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.10520/EJC51942">Legal scholars</a> outlined the human rights implications of the practice. The ruling political party’s Women’s League <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/western-cape/ancwl-slams-ukuthwala-1796707">called</a> for <em>ukuthwala</em> to be abolished.</p>
<p>From the media and government reports, legal scholarship and case law, two general conclusions emerged during this period. The first was that non-consensual <em>ukuthwala</em> was a modern phenomenon. The second was that it was an abuse of tradition, not an authentic customary practice.</p>
<p>Through <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/african-studies-review/article/abs/deconstructing-characterizations-of-rape-marriage-and-custom-in-south-africa-revisiting-the-multisectoral-campaign-against-ukuthwala/030D12337FA12BA87D2553E0ED2AF76D">my research</a>, based on interviews with women in the Eastern Cape and examinations of historical and recent sources, I have found that both of these conclusions about <em>ukuthwala</em> are oversimplifications. The reality is far more complex. Coercive <em>ukuthwala</em> has been practised for generations, and many have held the cruel acts accompanying <em>ukuthwala</em> as part of tradition. </p>
<p>The mainstream conclusions obscure the actual nature and extent of this form of gendered violence.</p>
<h2>Misconceptions</h2>
<p>The first misconception is that violent <em>ukuthwala</em> is a new phenomenon. Part of the misunderstanding stems from the fact that before 2009 only a <a href="https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/5564/Koyana_Indomitable%282007%29.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">small body of academic research</a> existed, and much of it concentrated on the romantic <em>ukuthwala</em> forms, akin to elopement. There are however sources that provide rich insights into past practices of violent <em>ukuthwala</em>. The historian <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/colonizing-consent/F26822B9351AC12F6E0F0BBFAECE34D2">Elisabeth Thornberry</a>, for example, explored sexual crimes and customs in colonial-era Eastern Cape. An early legal ethnography was Jacobus van Tromp’s 1947 <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/xhosa-law-of-persons-a-treatise-on-the-legal-principles-of-family-relations-among-the-amaxhosa/oclc/1017118500?referer=di&ht=edition">work</a> on Xhosa customs. Colonial and apartheid-era court cases also provide evidence of women seeking to escape abusive marriages.</p>
<p>Most importantly, older women are repositories of historical knowledge. I conducted my research in partnership with <a href="https://www.masimanyane.org.za/">Masimanyane</a>, an Eastern Cape-based women’s rights organisation. In my interviews women related their experiences of <em>ukuthwala</em>, rape and brutality during the 1970s. Staff of Masimanyane described how older women in affected communities had asked for counselling for the traumas they suffered decades ago. </p>
<p>Collectively these sources demonstrate that coercive <em>ukuthwala</em> is not of recent origin.</p>
<p>The second simplified conclusion about violent <em>ukuthwala</em> is that it is an inauthentic expression of custom. This assertion is most evident in the legal arena. In the 2015 decision <a href="http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAWCHC/2015/31.html">Jezile vs S</a> the Western Cape High Court determined that features of traditional <em>ukuthwala</em> under customary law included:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the consent of both the bride and groom</p></li>
<li><p>a “pretend” abduction of the bride</p></li>
<li><p>the strict prohibition of any sexual intercourse during the abduction.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The court labelled the forced form of <em>ukuthwala</em> as “aberrant”. In parallel, the South African Law Reform Commission <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/salrc/dpapers/dp132-ukutwala.pdf">concluded</a> that instances of forced <em>ukuthwala</em> were “illegal distortions” of the custom.</p>
<p>In my research I found that for many communities in rural parts of the Eastern Cape, coercive <em>ukuthwala</em> has been the standard according to customary practice. In my interviews with older survivors, they explained that what they endured in the <em>ukuthwala</em> process, such as abductions and rapes, was part of the custom where they lived. Their families took part in arranging the marriages and then refused to rescue them even after they were raped.</p>
<p>There is fortunately a growing body of scholarship that depicts the cultural acceptance of violent <em>ukuthwala</em>. This includes <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.1080/02587203.2017.1303902">research</a> by legal scholars Lea Mwambene and Helen Kruuse done in Jezile’s community in the Eastern Cape following the court case, as well as in-depth <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03057070.2014.896720?src=recsys">explorations</a> by <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/23323256.2016.1248987">anthropologists</a>. </p>
<p>In sum, my findings affirm that custom cannot be understood as formulaic or benign. How people live and the traditions they invest in are infinitely diverse. There cannot be an essential form of <em>ukuthwala</em>.</p>
<h2>Culture and violence</h2>
<p>The simplified understandings of <em>ukuthwala</em> that I have outlined have particular consequences. For one, the perception of violent <em>ukuthwala</em> as ‘new’ has concealed brutality against black women through the apartheid and colonial eras. This very significant form of familial violence against women in the past remains mostly unacknowledged, and the brutality of <em>ukuthwala</em> today stands without context.</p>
<p>Connected to this is the denial of the link between culture and violence. The strict outlook on <em>ukuthwala</em> hides the very close relationship between marriage processes and rape. This is a relationship that has existed across many cultures. For example, marital rape was only <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/acts/1993-133.pdf">criminalised</a> in South Africa in the 1990s, undoing the marital rape exemption based on <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-and-comparative-law-quarterly/article/abs/rape-in-marriage-developments-in-south-african-law/525DC5CD095C77A800C118AF5EF0B613">Roman-Dutch and English laws</a>. In other words, the customary acceptance of sexual violence of ukuthwala is not unique. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, rape in marriage remains under-researched and misunderstood. My research highlights how the institution of marriage continues to diminish women’s sexual autonomy. Coercive <em>ukuthwala</em> happens because families prize marriage and the power of husbands over the individual rights of women and girls. The marriage in effect nullifies a husband’s wrongdoing.</p>
<p>Research must incorporate the voices of women of all ages, question written resources, and create more balanced accounts to inform law and policy. Without this we only have a partial understanding of <em>ukuthwala</em> and the injustices that women and girls have long been subjected to.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165496/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nyasha Karimakwenda receives funding from South African The National Research Foundation SARChI Chair in Security and Justice</span></em></p>Perceptions of marriage abduction as a recent phenomenon hide the violence that has been done to women as part of culture.Nyasha Karimakwenda, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1590992021-04-22T10:54:52Z2021-04-22T10:54:52ZNigeria: why do children keep getting kidnapped? – podcast<p>In this episode of <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/the-conversation-weekly-98901">The Conversation Weekly</a>, insurgent groups in northern Nigeria continue to kidnap schoolchildren as the government struggles to protect communities against militants such as Boko Haram. And we speak to a researcher who has interviewed Kenyan women about why they joined the militant Islamist group Al-Shabaab.</p>
<iframe src="https://embed.acast.com/60087127b9687759d637bade/608147528763861f89ee7de3?cover=true&ga=false" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay" width="100%" height="110"></iframe>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-561" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/561/4fbbd099d631750693d02bac632430b71b37cd5f/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Nigeria is gradually becoming one of the most dangerous places to live. The 2020 Global Terrorism Index <a href="https://www.visionofhumanity.org/global-terrorism-index-2020-the-ten-countries-most-impacted-by-terrorism/">identified</a> the country as the third most affected by terrorism. There was a sharp increase in Boko Haram’s targeting of civilians by 25%, and killings by herdsmen increased by 26%, compared with the previous year. </p>
<p>According to the Nigeria Security Tracker, 2,769 violent deaths were <a href="https://www.cfr.org/nigeria/nigeria-security-tracker/p29483">recorded</a> between February 2020 and February 2021 in Borno State alone. Similarly, ransom-kidnapping by armed groups has <a href="https://www.sbmintel.com/2020/05/the-economics-of-nigerias-kidnap-industry/">increased</a> substantially in the past five years. Over <a href="https://www.sbmintel.com/2020/05/the-economics-of-nigerias-kidnap-industry/">US$18 million</a> (£13 million) was paid as ransom for kidnapped victims between 2011 and 2020.</p>
<p>While insecurity is common in Nigeria, the <a href="https://www.cfr.org/nigeria/nigeria-security-tracker/p29483">northern region</a> has been most affected. This is due to Boko Haram attacks, banditry, farmers-herdsmen conflicts, kidnappings and ethno-religious conflicts. Sadly, children have not been spared.</p>
<p>In the north-east, <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/05/nigeria-help-children-ravaged-by-war-or-risk-a-lost-generation-in-the-northeast/">children</a> have been murdered, abducted and used as sex slaves, forcefully recruited as child soldiers, and suffer from diseases and malnutrition at the internally displaced persons camps. </p>
<p>We speak to two experts about the situation, and why <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-children-are-prime-targets-of-armed-groups-in-northern-nigeria-156314">children are the prime targets of armed groups</a>. Hakeem Onapajo, senior lecturer in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Nile University in Nigeria, explains that Boko Haram targets children for use as slaves in its camps, including girls as sex slaves. “They can also use that to negotiate for some ransom in order to fund their operations,” he tells us, and for the release of militants from prison. </p>
<p>Despite setting up a joint task force to fight Boko Haram in the north-east, the Nigerian government has made little headway on improving the security situation. Samuel Okunade, a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Pretoria, laments that this has left communities to fend for themselves. “When the lives of your citizens are not being protected, then people will lose trust in your government,” he tells us. </p>
<p>And in our second story, we cross the continent to Kenya to hear about women who joined the Islamist militant group, Al-Shabaab. From its base in Somalia, where the group controls much of the countryside and remains in a <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-somali-clan-elders-could-hold-the-key-to-opening-dialogue-with-al-shabaab-152759">violent stalemate</a> with the government, it continues to carry out terrorist attacks in the region and to recruit across the border in Kenya. </p>
<p>Women and girls are used to recruit others, as logistics planners and as spies for terrorist activities within Kenya. Fathima Azmiya Badurdeen, lecturer in the Department of Social Sciences at the Technical University of Mombasa in Kenya, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-we-did-it-the-kenyan-women-and-girls-who-joined-al-shabaab-151592">has been interviewing women</a> who have since left Al-Shabaab about their experiences and why they joined the group. Some joined willingly, and others were forcibly recruited, but the line between voluntary and involuntary is often blurred. Badurdeen explains what she’s found about the circumstances behind women’s decisions to join Al-Shabaab, and what this means for their rehabilitation. </p>
<p>And Bryan Keogh, business editor at The Conversation in New York, gives us his recommended reads. </p>
<p>The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. You can find us on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/TC_Audio">@TC_Audio</a>, on Instagram at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/?hl=en">theconversationdotcom</a>. or via email on podcast@theconversation.com. You can also sign up to <a href="https://theconversation.com/newsletter?utm_campaign=PodcastTCWeekly&utm_content=newsletter&utm_source=podcast">The Conversation’s free daily email here</a>.</p>
<p><em>A transcript of this episode <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-insurgent-groups-in-northern-nigeria-continue-to-kidnap-school-children-159965">is available here</a>.</em></p>
<p>News clips in this episode are from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlpZr8IRUcY">Aljazeera</a> <a href="https://archive.org/details/ALJAZAM_20140415_220000_News/start/1800/end/1860">News</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOYyo1XcYHg">VOA News</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z4lniQHnmI">CGTN</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hK4rYzsLST8">News</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8vws8UGFgU">CGTN Africa</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HhbzQoei7g">euronews</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nqh-PmTVSCE">DW News</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzZJecidaoI">Reuters</a>, <a href="https://archive.org/details/CNN_20100122_160000_CNN_Newsroom/start/5340/end/5400">CNN</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHN1DJsgZC0">News</a>, <a href="https://rtd.rt.com/films/hunting-boko-haram/">RT News</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD7Zf7en9UQ">africanews</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rmq911bArck">Arise News</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYT6x00kYLY">TVC News Nigeria</a>, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NifxCuYxVnk">KBC Channel 1</a>.</p>
<p><em>You can listen to The Conversation Weekly via any of the apps listed above, our <a href="https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/60087127b9687759d637bade">RSS feed</a>, or find out how else to <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-listen-to-the-conversations-podcasts-154131">listen here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159099/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Plus, why women join Al-Shabaab in Kenya. Listen to episode 12 of The Conversation Weekly podcast.Gemma Ware, Head of AudioWale Fatade, Commissioning Editor: NigeriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1589672021-04-18T07:36:03Z2021-04-18T07:36:03ZNigeria has a new police chief. Here’s an agenda for him<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395217/original/file-20210415-18-17f10ql.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Community policing must be high on the agenda of Nigeria's new police chief </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/nigerian-police-officers-take-position-outside-a-courtroom-news-photo/840869076?adppopup=true">Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.thecable.ng/buhari-appoints-usman-alkali-baba-acting-igp">appointment</a> of Usman Alkali Baba as Nigeria’s acting Inspector General of Police on April 6, 2021 brought a kind of <a href="https://guardian.ng/news/buhari-names-usman-alkali-baba-as-acting-igp/">closure</a> to calls for reform of the Nigerian security architecture. It was applauded in some quarters.</p>
<p>The main demand was to replace the heads of security services to infuse new blood into the fight against various forms of <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2021/02/18/rising-insecurity-in-northwest-nigeria-terrorism-thinly-disguised-as-banditry/">insecurity</a>, including <a href="https://www.acaps.org/country/nigeria/crisis/northwest-banditry">banditry</a> and <a href="https://qz.com/africa/1624376/kidnapping-for-ransom-is-nigerias-latest-security-problem/">kidnappings</a>. </p>
<p>The demand to rejig the security architecture was not the only one. There were also cries against the way the police carry out their duties especially in the area of human rights and different forms of abuse they mete out to citizens. This culminated in demanding for the abolition of the Special Anti-Robbery Squads (SARS) set up by different police formations across the country. It became the #ENDSARS movement which resonated across the globe. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54624611">#ENDSARS</a> movement also demanded an end to police brutality, as well as justice and compensation for its victims. It asked for inquiries to investigate and prosecute reported cases of police misconduct, and for better welfare packages for police officers.</p>
<p>President Muhammadu Buhari <a href="https://apnews.com/article/africa-muhammadu-buhari-nigeria-0de79ac9ffb8a51be16d4dbf8c279d48">replaced</a> all the service chiefs – the army, navy, airforce, and the chief of defence staff – on January 26, 2021 but <a href="https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/440636-breaking-buhari-extends-tenure-of-igp-adamu.html">extended</a> the tenure of the former police chief, Mohammed Adamu, for three months. Now Baba has replaced Adamu.</p>
<p>The Inspector General is the administrative and operational head of the police and is responsible for the deployment of the personnel and resources of the force to ensure public safety.</p>
<p>Part of the new incumbent’s job will be to build a more accountable and public-friendly police force. He will need the support and cooperation of the public, among others. He must pay attention to the immediate and remote causes of the protests that have taken place, and follow up on recommendations of the judicial <a href="https://cleen.org/details-of-endsars-state-judicial-panels-of-inquiry-in-nigeria/">panels of inquiry</a> into human rights abuses by the police.</p>
<p>My research on community policing has identified some challenges and suggested some ways in which citizens can take an active part in policing. </p>
<h2>Community policing</h2>
<p>Community policing is the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Short-History-British-Police/dp/B0010XPHJ0">recognition</a> that for the police to do their work, they need the approval of the public. It’s based on the concept that police officers and private citizens working together in creative ways can help solve community problems related to crime, fear of crime, social and physical disorder and neighbourhood decay.</p>
<p>A start was made on community policing under Adamu. For example, the police engaged volunteers from the public as <a href="https://punchng.com/insufficient-manpower-police-settle-for-part-time-special-constables/">special constables</a> to perform administrative work. </p>
<p>But my research has highlighted several barriers to this approach in Nigeria: corruption, impunity, poor funding, indiscipline and inadequate facilities, among others. </p>
<p>In one <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1350/ijps.2009.11.3.130">study </a> I noted that some members of society interfere in the course of justice. Some corrupt police officials want the status quo to be maintained. The police also have financial constraints and a poor public image. The new inspector general must tackle all these problems. He must ensure that available funds are used effectively and enforce discipline among officers. </p>
<p>My <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19361610.2014.883296">work</a> on the Nigerian police’s image crisis concluded that the police could not afford to lose the trust and confidence of the public if the fight against terrorism, extremism, and high profile criminality was to be won. </p>
<p>In the context of increasing banditry and kidnapping, policing will have to be led by intelligence. That requires a cooperating public to volunteer information to the police. The new chief will have to ensure the relationship with the public and with other security agencies is conducive to sharing information.</p>
<p>The relationship of the police with some ethnic militias has been <a href="http://saharareporters.com/2021/03/24/breaking-nigerian-army-police-kill-16-ipobs-eastern-security-network-operatives-abia">tense</a> and this will have to be managed. Militia groups are a sign that the public has lost faith in formal law enforcement and security services, as one of my <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Community-Partnership-in-Policing%3A-The-Nigerian-Ikuteyijo-Rotimi/53cbe648e6a72205308398480d0a3989e8b6c756">studies</a> has shown.</p>
<p>Although the new inspector general was part of the previous management team, he could still bring some innovations to policing in the country. For instance, there are robust provisions in the new <a href="https://placng.org/i/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/The-Clean-copy-of-Nigeria-Police-Act-Repeal-and-Re-enactment-Bill-2020-Passed-by-the-House.pdf">Police Act 2020</a> and the <a href="https://www.policinglaw.info/assets/downloads/2015_Administration_of_Criminal_Justice_Act.pdf">Administration of Criminal Justice Act</a> which could ensure that the police are accountable in protecting lives and properties. The provisions relate to what constitutes an offence by a police officer, establishment of police complaints response unit for citizens to report infractions of officers and discipline within the force. </p>
<p>Errant police officers should be exposed and disciplined. Morale among dedicated officers could be boosted through various incentives. All should be accountable and transparent in their operations.</p>
<p>Training and retraining to boost the capacity of police should equally be tackled. This would also enable them to identify and deal with their inherent biases and give them confidence in carrying out their responsibilities. They also need to develop their interpersonal skills to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19361610.2014.883296">improve</a> police image. </p>
<h2>Modern policing techniques</h2>
<p>The police need to be re-positioned with contemporary policing techniques. They are not well equipped at present to tackle terrorism and other violent crimes. Since the <a href="https://publicofficialsfinancialdisclosure.worldbank.org/sites/fdl/files/assets/law-library-files/Nigeria_Constitution_1999_en.pdf">constitution</a> places the maintenance of internal security under the police, they should respond more decisively to the many challenges within the country.</p>
<p>They need up to date weapons and technology. Body cameras, for example, can improve accountability, reduce abuses, enhance evidence collection and document events. Automated licence plate readers, drones for aerial surveillance and apps to allow citizens to report crimes would also contribute to building the public’s confidence in the police.</p>
<h2>Improved welfare</h2>
<p>Better housing, robust insurance policies, and regular payment of pensions are some of the ways that the welfare of police can be improved. These will give them less incentive to turn to corruption for survival.</p>
<p>The change of guard in the leadership of the Nigerian police is an opportunity to advance policing in the country. The new inspector general is in a position to do things differently and get better results.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158967/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lanre Ikuteyijo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Apart from tackling terrorism, banditry and kidnappings, Nigeria’s new Inspector General of Police must embrace community policing.Lanre Ikuteyijo, Senior lecturer, Obafemi Awolowo UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1563142021-03-15T14:41:00Z2021-03-15T14:41:00ZWhy children are prime targets of armed groups in northern Nigeria<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389557/original/file-20210315-13-zwkxqa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/supporters-of-the-coalition-of-northern-groups-rally-to-news-photo/1230175540?adppopup=true">Kola Sulaimon/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Due to growing insecurity, Nigeria is gradually becoming one of the most dangerous places to live. The 2020 Global Terrorism Index <a href="https://www.visionofhumanity.org/global-terrorism-index-2020-the-ten-countries-most-impacted-by-terrorism/">identified</a> the country as the third most affected by terrorism. There was a sharp increase in Boko Haram’s targeting of civilians by 25%, and killings by herdsmen increased by 26%, compared with the previous year. The two countries higher on the index are Iraq and Afghanistan.</p>
<p>According to the Nigeria Security Tracker, 2,769 violent deaths were <a href="https://www.cfr.org/nigeria/nigeria-security-tracker/p29483">recorded</a> between February 2020 and February 2021 in Borno State alone. Similarly, ransom-kidnapping by armed groups has <a href="https://www.sbmintel.com/2020/05/the-economics-of-nigerias-kidnap-industry/">increased</a> substantially in the past five years. Over <a href="https://www.sbmintel.com/2020/05/the-economics-of-nigerias-kidnap-industry/">$18 million</a> was paid as ransom for kidnapped victims between 2011 and 2020. </p>
<p>While insecurity is common in Nigeria, the <a href="https://www.cfr.org/nigeria/nigeria-security-tracker/p29483">northern region</a> has been most affected. This is due to Boko Haram attacks, banditry, farmers-herdsmen conflicts, kidnappings and ethno-religious conflicts. Sadly, children have not been spared. </p>
<p>In the northeast, <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/05/nigeria-help-children-ravaged-by-war-or-risk-a-lost-generation-in-the-northeast/">children</a> have been murdered, abducted and used as sex slaves, forcefully recruited as child soldiers, and suffer from diseases and malnutrition at the Internally Displaced Persons camps. The United Nations <a href="https://www.undocs.org/S/2017/304">says</a> almost 4,000 children were killed in just a year, 2015 to 2016. UNICEF <a href="https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/stories/displaced-children-navigate-covid-19-camps-north-east-nigeria#:%7E:text=In%20north%2Deast%20Nigeria%2C%20an,under%20the%20age%20of%20five&text=The%20outbreak%20of%20COVID%2D19,general%20disruption%20of%20normal%20life.">reported</a> that an estimated 1.9 million people are displaced – and about 60% of them are children; many under the age of five.</p>
<p>The rising phenomenon has further manifested in the recent wave of <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nigeria-security-kidnapping-idUSKBN2AH14Y">attacks</a> on schools and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56188727">kidnapping of students</a>. </p>
<p>My <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19392206.2020.1770919?journalCode=uafs20">research</a> published last year highlights why children have become targets for the armed groups in northern Nigeria. This paper focuses on children in the Boko Haram conflict, which has for over 10 years ravaged the northeastern part of Nigeria and around Lake Chad. </p>
<p>Despite the reality that children have increasingly become the face of insecurity in northern Nigeria, the literature has been silent on issues related to child security. My study therefore aimed to address the perspective of children in the conflict. </p>
<p>I found that children were of strategic interest to both the terrorists and the state security forces. I concluded that child security had not been given sufficient attention in Nigeria, and that child security should be included in peace-building efforts in northeastern Nigeria.</p>
<h2>Children and conflict in northern Nigeria</h2>
<p>The dimension of children in violent conflicts in northern Nigeria gained momentum in <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/report-secretary-general-children-and-armed-conflict-nigeria-s2017304">2013</a> when Boko Haram adopted the strategy of direct attacks on schools, hospitals and centres for internally displaced people. </p>
<p>It <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2013/9/30/students-massacred-in-nigeria-attack">started</a> with the midnight raid of a dormitory in Gujba, Yobe State, leading to the murder of 44 schoolboys by the terrorist group in September 2013. Five months later, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nigeria-violence-idUSBREA1P10M20140226">another boarding school</a> was attacked, and 59 boys were murdered in the same state. In <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-32299943">April 2014,</a> 276 schoolgirls were abducted in Chibok in Borno State.</p>
<p>UNICEF in its <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/04/13/africa/boko-haram-children-abduction-intl/index.html">2018 report</a> said that the group had kidnapped over 1,000 children since 2013. Between 2015 and 2016, the UN estimated that <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/report-secretary-general-children-and-armed-conflict-nigeria-s2017304">3,909 children</a> were killed. </p>
<p>In the past five years, the rise of banditry added a new and dangerous dimension to attacks on children. On December 11 2020, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/13/nigerian-police-hundreds-pupils-missing-gunmen-attack-secondary-school">333 students</a> were kidnapped in Kankara, Katsina State. On December 20 2020, <a href="https://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/nwest/432212-in-fresh-katsina-attack-bandits-kidnap-80-students-all-rescued-later.html">80 students</a> at an Islamic school were kidnapped in Mahuta, Katsina State. Twenty seven students were abducted in Kagara, Niger State, on <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/17/unspecified-number-of-nigeria-school-students-reportedly-abducted">February 17 2021</a>. </p>
<p>The latest occurred on February 25 with the abduction of <a href="https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/445446-317-schoolgirls-abducted-in-jangebe-attack-official.html">317 schoolgirls</a> in Jangebe, Talata-Mafara local government, Zamfara State. </p>
<h2>Why children are prime targets</h2>
<p>Our study used a qualitative approach, relying on data from institutional reports of intergovernmental agencies like the United Nations, United Nations Children’s Fund, and International Organisation for Migration; non-governmental agencies like Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack, Mercy Corps, Open Doors and media reports. </p>
<p>The research showed that children were of strategic interest to the armed groups for many reasons. First, targeting children proved effective as a tool to negotiate for the release of members of the group in prison and receive huge ransoms to purchase weapons and fund their operations. </p>
<p>Second, the armed groups were interested in children to gain local and international attention to show their strength, seek international collaborations with similar groups, and amplify their demands on the state authorities. </p>
<p>Third, children were useful for their military operations, especially for terrorist groups. They could plant explosives, act as human shields or suicide bombers, and spy on the other parties because they didn’t arouse suspicion.</p>
<p>Fourth, the attack on schools corresponded with the central ideology driving terrorism in the region, which was based on opposition to Western education. The increased attacks showed the plan was to make the region insecure for teaching and learning.</p>
<p>Fifth, girls were of interest to the armed groups for sexual exploitation. Abducted girls were sometimes raped or forced into marriages in the camps. </p>
<h2>Nigeria must safeguard its children more</h2>
<p>Child security has not been given sufficient attention in Nigeria. This explains the successful attacks on children in recent times. Child security underscores the essence of the United Nations Convention on the <a href="https://www.unicef.org/child-rights-convention">Rights of Child</a>, which Nigeria is a party to. </p>
<p>The government must show serious commitment to children’s security by tackling the rising problem of insecurity ravaging the country. The paper underscores the need for specialised programmes that can address the peculiar challenges of children involved in the conflict zones and not merely incorporate them into adult-focused or general programmes. </p>
<p>The international community, including important nongovernmental organisations promoting children’s rights and welfare, must also compel the authorities to secure the children and internationalise the problem of child insecurity in Nigeria.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156314/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hakeem Onapajo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In the past five years, the rise of banditry and terror attacks have had devastating effects on children in northern Nigeria.Hakeem Onapajo, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political Science and International Relations, Nile University of NigeriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1535912021-01-26T14:17:44Z2021-01-26T14:17:44ZAttacks at sea aren’t all linked to piracy. Why it’s important to unpick what’s what<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379951/original/file-20210121-13-187c0s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nigerian Navy Special forces pretend to arrest pirates during a joint military exercise with the French navy.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/four-attacks-in-one-week-show-the-rising-risk-of-west-african-piracy">Pirate attacks</a> against merchant ships off the African coast have been reported regularly over the past decade. And despite measures to suppress it, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259425417_Piracy_in_Somalia_A_Challenge_to_The_International_Community">Somalia-based piracy</a> remains a concern. On the other side of the continent, the <a href="https://iccwbo.org/media-wall/news-speeches/imb-piracy-report-2020/">Gulf of Guinea</a> is now viewed as presenting a much more serious piracy problem. </p>
<p>Last year a record 130 crew members were kidnapped in 22 separate incidents, according to the <a href="https://www.icc-ccs.org/index.php/1301-gulf-of-guinea-records-highest-ever-number-of-crew-kidnapped-in-2020-according-to-imb-s-annual-piracy-report">International Maritime Bureau</a>. The cluster of attacks in November and December has once again led to alarming headlines about the <a href="http://portfolio.cpl.co.uk/BIMCO/202012/cover/">Gulf of Guinea</a> being the world’s <a href="https://www.defenceweb.co.za/featured/gulf-of-guinea-confirmed-as-world-piracy-hotspot/">piracy hotspot</a>.</p>
<p>But an increase in officially reported attacks does not necessarily mean that the actual number of attacks has increased. And individual cases must be <a href="https://www.dirksiebels.eu/publications/2021/01/04/gulf-of-guinea-piracy-in-2020/">analysed</a> carefully. Attacks against small cargo ships trading solely in the Gulf of Guinea, for example, are often linked to criminal disputes or other illicit activities at sea. These incidents are very different from random attacks targeting merchant ships in international trade which are solely aimed at kidnapping seafarers to collect a large ransom and are, therefore, a profit-driven crime.</p>
<p>Similarly, <a href="https://safety4sea.com/two-suspicious-approaches-in-gulf-of-aden-in-24-hours/">reports</a> about suspicious approaches against merchant ships off Somalia are still frequent. Most are related to smuggling operations between the Horn of Africa and the Arabian peninsula or simply to everyday fishing activities.</p>
<p>Pirate attacks may grab most headlines, but maritime security is important for wider reasons. Illicit activities at sea limit the potential benefits of economic activities linked to the sea – what’s referred to as the “blue economy”. This includes maritime trade, fishing activities, offshore oil and gas production or coastal tourism. Also, criminality at sea and on land are closely linked. Government agencies need to recognise this if security is to be improved.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/gulf-of-guinea-fighting-criminal-groups-in-the-niger-delta-is-key-to-defeating-piracy-130480">Gulf of Guinea: fighting criminal groups in the Niger Delta is key to defeating piracy</a>
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<h2>Many problems, few resources</h2>
<p>Piracy remains arguably the most visible symptom of <a href="https://enactafrica.org/enact-observer/the-challenge-of-governance-in-the-gulf-of-guinea">insecurity at sea</a>. But coastal states also have other reasons to be concerned about it.</p>
<p>Illegal fishing, for example, has a direct impact on coastal communities where artisanal fishing is one of the few opportunities to earn a living. Smuggling on maritime routes even affects government income directly. Virtually all African countries rely heavily on customs revenues. When fuel, cigarettes or agricultural goods are smuggled, no import or export duties are paid. Less money can then be spent on schools, roads or hospitals, as <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030226879">my research</a> has shown.</p>
<p>Governments are also concerned about drug trafficking or weapons smuggling at sea, underlined by <a href="https://www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/africa-new-regional-anti-piracy-agreement/">international agreements</a> which have been adopted by the majority of African coastal states. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030226879">Limited monitoring</a> of maritime trade allows for a steady flow of pharmaceutical products – including fake drugs – into Africa as well as lucrative exports of unlicensed timber or illegal wildlife products.</p>
<p>Despite the widespread impacts, maritime security has only come into the political focus over the past decade. African countries have <a href="https://issafrica.org/iss-today/promising-signs-of-africas-global-leadership-on-maritime-security">initiated</a> international meetings about it. The African Union adopted a maritime <a href="https://au.int/en/maritime">strategy</a> in 2014 and held a follow-up summit in Togo’s capital Lomé in 2016. But progress has been <a href="https://www.africaportal.org/features/maritime-security-implementing-aus-aim-strategy/">limited</a>. National governments have largely failed to take concrete actions. Strategies aren’t supported by financial and human resources.</p>
<p>Even Ghana, where a comprehensive <a href="https://996227d1-de16-4875-a76e-7ece4d3917bc.filesusr.com/ugd/a5e83a_ffc206114be34849b92d89655812abd7.pdf">maritime strategy</a> has been under development for years, is still unable to provide reliable <a href="https://safety4sea.com/ghana-wants-more-investment-to-improve-maritime-security/">funding</a> for patrol boat operations. </p>
<h2>The way forward</h2>
<p>Some examples highlight that it is possible to provide more security at sea. In West Africa, Nigeria is leading the way with its $195 million <a href="http://www.apanews.net/en/news/nigerian-press-focuses-on-plans-to-commence-195m-deep-blue-project-in-2021-others">Deep Blue project</a>, scheduled to be fully operational in the coming months. This project is primarily aimed at better surveillance and enforcement across the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone, an area that stretches out up to 200 nautical miles (around 360 kilometres) from the coastline.</p>
<p>Benin, Gabon and Tanzania have partnered with environmental organisations like <a href="https://www.seashepherdglobal.org/our-campaigns/iuu-fishing/">Sea Shepherd</a> to combat illegal fishing in their waters. Such non-traditional partnerships may help overcome short-term challenges and focus on urgent problems.</p>
<p>But it’s necessary to build capacity for the long term.</p>
<p>In many African countries, the blue economy could help to increase economic growth and development, although it should not be limited to <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.00586/full">economic gains</a>. Acknowledging the needs of local communities and environmental sustainability are equally important. Investments can yield direct benefits which are five times higher than the initial outlay, according to a <a href="https://oceanpanel.org/sites/default/files/2020-07/Ocean%20Panel_Economic%20Analysis_FINAL.pdf">recent study</a>. And the inclusion of <a href="https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/covid-19-four-sustainable-development-goals-help-future-proof-global">Sustainable Development Goal 14</a> on ocean resources could strengthen efforts to recover from the economic impacts of COVID-19.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lift-for-maritime-sector-in-kenya-and-djibouti-after-fall-in-piracy-128073">Lift for maritime sector in Kenya and Djibouti after fall in piracy</a>
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<p>Despite some alarming <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/global-sea-piracy-coronavirus-covid19/">headlines</a>, there is no evidence to suggest that the coronavirus pandemic has had an immediate <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f3f8460cb3933732c1b3650/t/5f984316e606836d108ed586/1603814171548/Whitepaper+Maritime+Security+Post+Covid+Sep+2020_sml.pdf">impact</a> on security threats at sea. But growth forecasts have been <a href="https://www.africanews.com/2020/12/30/covid-19-takes-its-toll-on-african-economy/">slashed</a> and governments are unlikely to prioritise spending on navies and other maritime agencies. </p>
<p>Security concerns <a href="https://issafrica.org/iss-today/elections-and-instability-as-africa-enters-2021">on land</a> are much more immediate threats, and even relatively limited <a href="https://set.odi.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/The-evolving-fiscal-and-liquidity-stimulus-packages-in-response-to-COVID-19-in-Sub-Saharan-Africa.pdf">stimulus packages</a> are another burden for government budgets.</p>
<p>A closer analysis of sea piracy is important for law enforcement and longer-term prevention whether these are solely aimed at pirates or at organised criminal groups. It is also important for shipping companies because it affects the threat assessment when attacks are linked to criminal activities and aimed at specific ships rather than random targets.</p>
<p>Short-term solutions for long-standing problems are impossible. Even small steps, however, are important to improve maritime security in the medium to long term. That would be in line with the <a href="https://au.int/en/maritime">AU’s maritime strategy</a> which highlights the blue economy’s potential contribution to economic growth and development across the continent.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153591/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dirk Siebels does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Sea piracy often grabs the headlines, but it is just one of many symptoms of insecurity at sea.Dirk Siebels, PhD (Maritime Security), University of GreenwichLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1478762020-10-09T17:58:23Z2020-10-09T17:58:23ZLessons from embedding with the Michigan militia – 5 questions answered about the group allegedly plotting to kidnap a governor<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362710/original/file-20201009-23-1nohjgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=323%2C365%2C3473%2C2059&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A search warrant and a list of seized property from an FBI raid related to the alleged kidnapping plot.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/copy-of-a-search-warrant-and-property-list-is-left-on-a-car-news-photo/1228961096">Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Details are still emerging about the men <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/10/08/gretchen-whitmer-kidnap-plot/5924691002/">arrested on federal and state charges</a> related to an <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/10/08/feds-thwart-militia-plot-kidnap-michigan-gov-gretchen-whitmer/5922301002/">alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer</a>. Federal prosecutions can take months and even years, so it will be quite some time before a full analysis of this situation becomes possible.</p>
<p>But as a <a href="https://www.amycooter.com/research.html">scholar who has spent the last 12 years studying the U.S. domestic militia movement</a>, including <a href="https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/98077">three years of fieldwork embedded with militias in Michigan</a>, I believe several themes will remain important, wherever the details lead.</p>
<h2>1. What is this group, and where did it come from?</h2>
<p>Reports I’m hearing indicate that the group the arrested men were part of, called the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/10/08/wolverine-watchmen-michigan-militia/">Wolverine Watchmen</a>, likely started early this year as an offshoot of the <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/08/24/the-militias-against-masks">Michigan Liberty Militia</a>. That group has received wide publicity for its <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2020/05/14/protesters-begin-gathering-thursday-demonstration/5186937002/">involvement in lockdown protests</a> at the state Capitol in Lansing.</p>
<p>It’s not clear why the split may have happened, but it is very common for internal splits to occur in militia groups. I’ve observed that directly in my fieldwork, and have heard the same from long-term militia members who say it dates back to the <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2020-09-22/the-problem-with-militias-and-the-constitution">beginnings of the movement in the early 1990s</a>.</p>
<p>Sometimes these splits are for practical reasons, like groups that grow too large dividing into smaller groups to allow for more frequent meetings and closer connections. Or people tire of traveling long distances to be part of a large group, and instead start their own unit closer to home.</p>
<p>Other times, splits happen because of personality conflicts or disagreements over the direction of the group. Some members of Michigan’s <a href="https://theweek.com/articles/495680/who-are-hutaree">Hutaree militia</a>, for instance, started as members of a different group, but were pushed out. </p>
<p>The reasons I heard from militia members on both sides of that split were that those who became the Hutaree hinted at having more extreme views than the rest of the group. Leaders of the original group had also expressed concerns about <a href="https://www.amycooter.com/uploads/1/2/3/7/12374434/2_chapter_2_demographics_pictures.pdf">unsafe firearms handling</a> practices among those future Hutaree members, an offense that, if persistent, is grounds for membership revocation in many militias.</p>
<p>The reasons the Wolverines split are not yet clear – but it is possible that they had ideological disagreements.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362708/original/file-20201009-13-h5xfw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Armed men stand on the steps of the Michigan capitol building." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362708/original/file-20201009-13-h5xfw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362708/original/file-20201009-13-h5xfw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362708/original/file-20201009-13-h5xfw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362708/original/file-20201009-13-h5xfw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362708/original/file-20201009-13-h5xfw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362708/original/file-20201009-13-h5xfw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362708/original/file-20201009-13-h5xfw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">On April 30, armed men wearing ‘Michigan Liberty Militia’ insignia stood on the steps of the state Capitol building as part of a protest against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s lockdown orders.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/armed-protesters-provide-security-as-demonstrators-take-news-photo/1211395465">Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>2. What are their aims or goals?</h2>
<p>Traditionally, researchers have categorized militias as one of two general types: “constitutionalists,” who are largely law-abiding and make up the majority of the movement, and “millenarians,” who are more prone to conspiracy theories and violent action. </p>
<p>More recently, <a href="https://theconversation.com/militias-evaluate-beliefs-action-as-president-threatens-soldiers-in-the-streets-140123">internal divisions have occurred in both these groups</a> around whether they support police, or whether they call for a widespread <a href="https://theconversation.com/militias-warning-of-excessive-federal-power-comes-true-but-where-are-they-143333">uprising against government tyranny</a>.</p>
<p>From the evidence available so far, it strikes me that the arrested men are probably more millenarian in outlook. In general, millenarian groups are <a href="https://www.amycooter.com/uploads/1/2/3/7/12374434/hutaree_threat.pdf">more likely</a> than their constitutionalist comrades to be invested in conspiracy theories, to be motivated by religious and racist views and to have members who are closely related to each other.</p>
<p>These characteristics fit with what is known so far about the men arrested in Michigan, which include <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/10/08/governor-gretchen-whitmer-kidnap-plot-militia/5921409002/">two people who share a residence</a> and two others who share a last name. For instance, at least one of them appears to have <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/what-we-know-about-wolverine-watchmen-accused-of-terror-kidnap-plot-against-michigan-gov-gretchen-whitmer">followed and promoted</a> QAnon, a movement that has been called a “<a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/drumoorhouse/qanon-mass-collective-delusion-buzzfeed-news-copy-desk">collective delusion</a>” rather than a conspiracy theory. That <a href="https://www.isdglobal.org/isd-publications/qanon-and-conspiracy-beliefs/">belief system includes claims</a> that “vaccinations with tracking chips will later be activated by 5G cellular networks,” “the coronavirus is a hoax,” “celebrities harvest [a chemical] from children’s bodies” and that a “global network tortures and sexually abuses children in Satanic rituals,” among other ideas.</p>
<p>A different member of the alleged conspiracy has shared online images of Norse symbols and a religion worshiping the Norse god Odin. These are not inherently racist, but many racists and white supremacists <a href="https://www.adl.org/hate-symbols?keys=norse">identify with and promote</a> the myths and iconographies of that religion, often called “Odinism.”</p>
<p>Some might suspect that the men were motivated by a <a href="https://theconversation.com/militias-warning-of-excessive-federal-power-comes-true-but-where-are-they-143333">desire to overthrow the government</a> – since they allegedly sought to kidnap a governor. But based on the information available so far, including the <a href="https://static.politico.com/e5/1d/aa6277a242e0af889ec06f7e4a12/michiganaffidavit.pdf">federal charges against them</a>, I think it is more likely that these men saw themselves as resisting government overreach and infringement on individual liberties, seeking to restore what they understood to be a constitutional leadership structure.</p>
<p>For instance, the federal charging document quotes one of the men as saying “I can see several states taking their … tyrants. Everybody takes their tyrants.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362704/original/file-20201009-17-1delzu5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362704/original/file-20201009-17-1delzu5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362704/original/file-20201009-17-1delzu5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362704/original/file-20201009-17-1delzu5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362704/original/file-20201009-17-1delzu5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362704/original/file-20201009-17-1delzu5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362704/original/file-20201009-17-1delzu5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362704/original/file-20201009-17-1delzu5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">After the arrests were announced, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer spoke to the public.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/MichiganGovernorKidnappingPlot/37be31aef6d244d488394d44506fc23f/photo">Michigan Office of the Governor via AP</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>3. How much of their belief is about gender?</h2>
<p>Overt sexism is not usually part of militia groups’ principles, but militias are dominated by men, with most groups having no more than <a href="https://www.amycooter.com/uploads/1/2/3/7/12374434/2_chapter_2_demographics_pictures.pdf">10% women</a> among their membership. Many of those men believe in largely traditional roles, where men are the protectors and breadwinners of the family, and women take more supporting and child-rearing roles. </p>
<p>Those beliefs can be amplified among people who follow certain versions of Odinism that are connected to white supremacy. From their perspective, It’s a way to increase the numbers of strong <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/190195?seq=1">white families and white babies</a>.</p>
<p>The document detailing the federal charges says the men <a href="https://static.politico.com/e5/1d/aa6277a242e0af889ec06f7e4a12/michiganaffidavit.pdf">used sexist language</a> when discussing the governor, including the word “bitch.” That seems to confirm that their anger may have been sparked not just by Whitmer’s lockdown orders, but also the fact that she’s a woman.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1251169217531056130"}"></div></p>
<h2>4. Was this influenced by President Donald Trump?</h2>
<p>It is <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-liberate-michigan-tweet-plot-kidnap-gretchen-whitmer-governor-1537719">impossible to say definitively</a> whether these men were inspired by anything Pres. Donald Trump has said or done.</p>
<p>However, the president has used inflammatory language <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2020/03/17/trump-targets-whitmer-after-she-criticizes-federal-covid-19-response/5066695002/">criticizing Whitmer</a> – including a tweet just two days after a <a href="https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/2020/04/15/michigan-gridlock-protest-coronavirus-lansing-mi-pictures-videos/5137461002/">large anti-lockdown protest</a> <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/apr/15/operation-gridlock-thousands-protest-whitmers-stay/">including armed protesters</a> surrounded the state Capitol building. That <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2020/04/17/trump-tweets-liberate-michigan-other-states-democratic-governors/5152037002/">tweet, on April 17, 2020, simply declared</a> “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!”</p>
<p>Around the same time, <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/facebook-approached-fbi-about-michigan-militia-six-months-ago/ar-BB19QjP0">Facebook reportedly alerted the FBI</a> to online discussions that related to this group’s alleged plot.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/10/08/whitmer-denounces-right-wing-hate-groups-trump-complicit/5925981002/">Whitmer herself</a> has said the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-08/michigan-governor-blames-trump-for-fostering-hate-groups">president’s rhetoric is partially responsible</a> for the plot, including his <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/proud-boys-stand-back-and-stand-by-trump-refuses-to-condemn-white-supremacists/">refusal to denounce white supremacists</a> during the Sept. 29 presidential debate.</p>
<p>In the wake of the arrests, Trump continued to attack Whitmer, saying she had done “<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1314377607379640320">a terrible job</a>” battling the coronavirus pandemic and accusing her of not being grateful enough to “My Justice Department” for its work on the case.</p>
<h2>5. Were they a serious threat?</h2>
<p>As a specialist on Michigan militias, I’ve been asked several times since the news broke whether this group posed a real threat, in terms of being likely to act on its plan and kidnap or harm Gov. Whitmer. </p>
<p>Members of other militia groups in the state reported to me after the arrests that they do not believe these men were “smart enough” to pull off anything like this. </p>
<p>I heard similar comments about the suspected weaknesses of Hutaree members a decade ago. In 2010, nine members of that group, another Michigan militia, were arrested on federal charges that they <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/10/08/mysterious-wolverine-watchmen-militia-group-flew-under-radar/5927896002/">planned a series of events to kill large numbers of police officers</a>. Those charges were ultimately dismissed by a federal judge who said <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-crime-militia-idUSBRE82S1EX20120329">all they were doing was talking</a>, though a few of the group were convicted of more minor charges involving weapons possession. </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>The involvement of informants and undercover agents may also raise concerns about <a href="https://theintercept.com/2015/02/26/fbi-manufacture-plots-terrorism-isis-grave-threats/">FBI practices</a>, which have been <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/fbi-entrapment">criticized</a> as <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/07/fbi-terrorist-informants/">fabricating entire plots</a> to entrap innocent people in cases that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/nov/16/fbi-entrapment-fake-terror-plots">alleged Islamic terrorism</a>.</p>
<p>These are the issues to keep an eye on, as the details emerge and the case unfolds.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147876/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy Cooter is a previous recipient of a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.</span></em></p>Much remains unknown so far about an alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, but five themes will remain relevant no matter how events unfold.Amy Cooter, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Vanderbilt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1270322019-11-18T14:28:00Z2019-11-18T14:28:00ZFighting piracy in the Gulf of Guinea needs a radical rethink<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301921/original/file-20191115-66945-1tojfeo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ivorian sailors participate in an anti-piracy hostage rescue scenario with the Ghanaian Navy during Exercise Obangame Express. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Bonita had been anchored off Benin for several days, waiting for a berth in the port of Cotonou. On November 2, 2019 the crew had a traumatic awakening. Armed men boarded the vessel and <a href="https://beninwebtv.com/en/2019/11/benin-09-persons-kidnapped-in-a-ship-attack-at-cotonou-port/">kidnapped nine crew members</a>. Only two days later, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/pirates-attack-greek-oil-tanker-off-togo/a-51108398">four seafarers were kidnapped</a> from the Elka Aristotle, which was anchored off Lomé in neighbouring Togo.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, these were not the only attacks off the coast of West Africa in which seafarers were kidnapped. Nevertheless, the patterns are changing, with <a href="https://riskintelligence.eu/articles/long-term-perspective-west-africa-and-gulf-guinea-piracy">gradual signs of improvement</a>. In addition, attacker success rates in the region have declined from <a href="https://riskintelligence.eu/articles/long-term-perspective-west-africa-and-gulf-guinea-piracy">80% over ten years ago to just under 50% in 2018</a>.</p>
<p>Another change has been the fact that attacks have become more visible. This is at least partly due to increased cooperation among countries in West and Central Africa. They adopted the <a href="http://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Security/WestAfrica/Documents/code_of_conduct%20signed%20from%20ECOWAS%20site.pdf">Yaoundé Code of Conduct</a> in 2013, aimed at fighting illicit activities at sea. Implementation has been slow, yet navies and maritime agencies in the region have become much more active in collecting relevant information.</p>
<p>Based on my research into maritime security in the region, I have become increasingly convinced that sustainable improvements are impossible when the focus is solely on piracy. In many cases, kidnappings of seafarers are an extension of land-based problems – such as fuel smuggling and illegal migration – and have to be tackled as such.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/african-states-dont-prioritise-maritime-security-heres-why-they-should-77685">African states don't prioritise maritime security – here's why they should</a>
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<p>In my view, <a href="https://www.bimco.org/news/priority-news/20190108-call-for-gog-counter-piracy">demands by the shipping industry</a> for international navies to become more involved in counter-piracy operations won’t lead to lasting solutions. These can only be successful if they are designed based on regional requirements and take on board regional initiatives aimed at tackling a multiplicity of social problems, rather than just one.</p>
<h2>Links to crime on land</h2>
<p>High-profile attacks – such as the recent kidnappings – are generally carried out by criminal groups based in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-nigeria-must-do-to-deal-with-its-ransom-driven-kidnapping-crisis-116547">Kidnappings on land have been a long-standing problem</a> for security forces there. Collecting ransoms has become a lucrative business model which requires foot soldiers, access to camps for holding hostages, and negotiators with the necessary skills. All these things can be found in the Niger Delta, where the lines between armed insurgents and organised criminals are often fluid. </p>
<p>For countries like Benin, Togo and Cameroon where Nigeria-based criminals have taken hostages from merchant ships this year, the situation is a concern. Ports in these countries are crucial for economic growth and development in terms of customs revenues. For example, <a href="https://www.mcc.gov/resources/story/story-story-kin-apr-2015-unlocking-a-regional-trade-bottleneck-in-benin">more than 40%</a> of Benin’s government revenues are collected in Cotonou’s port. Ensuring adequate security for maritime trade is therefore a strategic concern in Benin. Hence the government’s <a href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-11/07/c_138536961.htm">quick announcement</a> of improved security measures for ships anchoring off Cotonou.</p>
<p>Most kidnappings still take place off the Nigerian coastline. The established pattern is one of hostages being taken and then released several weeks later for a ransom payment. This is according <a href="https://riskintelligence.eu/articles/long-term-perspective-west-africa-and-gulf-guinea-piracy">to analysis done</a> by the Danish security intelligence company Risk Intelligence.</p>
<p>The fact that there are more cases off the Nigerian coastline points to my contention that this criminal behaviour is closely linked to land-based criminal activities – such as fuel smuggling – which is <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/tracing-the-flow-of-nigerias-stolen-oil-to-cameroon/a-45918707">widespread in the area</a>.</p>
<p>When such incidents are analysed through a narrow piracy lens, efforts of navies and law enforcement agencies -– which are already suffering from a lack of resources –- are likely to be misguided. The narrow view might mistakenly focus, for example, on the capacity to respond at sea.</p>
<p>The problem of wrong analyses is made worse by international actors, for example the US and European governments, the European Union or international organisations. They often put a strong emphasis on combating piracy and provide financial or technical assistance to partners in West and Central Africa. But they rarely focus on illegal fishing, fuel smuggling or illegal migration. All these activities have been linked to attacks against merchant ships or fishing vessels. </p>
<h2>Broader understanding needed</h2>
<p>Fighting piracy in the Gulf of Guinea requires a broad understanding of maritime security. Acknowledging links between, for example, piracy and illegal fishing is vital for regional governments and external partners. On the most basic level, illegal fishing destroys fishers’ livelihoods, forcing some into piracy simply to earn an income. </p>
<p>A good example is the EU’s contradictory stance. On the one hand, it provides <a href="https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/52490/eu-maritime-security-factsheet-gulf-guinea_en">€29 million</a> to support West Africa’s Integrated Maritime Security project. On the other hand, EU countries <a href="https://theconversation.com/eu-targets-fragile-west-african-fish-stocks-despite-protection-laws-125679">contribute to the depletion of fish stocks across West Africa</a>. </p>
<p>Countries around the Gulf of Guinea also have to <a href="https://theconversation.com/african-states-dont-prioritise-maritime-security-heres-why-they-should-77685">increase their efforts</a>. Laws regulating maritime operations are often deliberately opaque, disguising a lack of enforcement capacity and enabling corruption. Increasing transparency would highlight shortcomings and problems caused by insecurity at sea –- somewhat embarrassing for any government, but necessary to address these issues.</p>
<p>Recent efforts in Nigeria, including a large conference in October that led <a href="https://globalmaritimesecurityconf.com/2019/10/11/communique-for-the-global-maritime-security-conference-2019/">to the Abuja Declaration</a>, are a step in the right direction. The declaration highlighted shortcomings of countries around the Gulf of Guinea related to ocean governance and law enforcement at sea. Concrete actions have to follow.</p>
<p>More transparency could also help to improve relationships between the maritime industry and security agencies in the region. Lack of trust and limited cooperation have often hindered thorough investigations, feeding a simple narrative of piracy without a broader look at other maritime security challenges.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127032/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dirk Siebels works as a Senior Analyst for Risk Intelligence, specialising in maritime security issues in sub-Saharan Africa, primarily in West and Central Africa.</span></em></p>Feeding a simple narrative of piracy without a broader look at other maritime security challenges hinders progress in dealing with it.Dirk Siebels, PhD (Maritime Security), University of GreenwichLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1156232019-08-28T12:57:43Z2019-08-28T12:57:43ZHumanitarian forensic scientists trace the missing, identify the dead and comfort the living<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288560/original/file-20190819-123741-o58bes.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Red Cross forensic specialist Stephen Fonseca, right, searches for bodies in a field of ruined maize in Magaru, Mozambique, after Cyclone Idai, April 4, 2019. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Mozambique-Cyclone-Searching-for-the-Dead/df28c0f7584f4ef09f8d8a02c38975f4/4/0">AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The word “forensic” is typically associated with crimes and legal disputes. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/forensic-medicine">Forensic medicine</a>, for example, applies medical knowledge to establish the causes of injury or death. </p>
<p>But forensic science can have a <a href="https://www.icrc.org/en/document/forensic-science-and-humanitarian-action#.VL_PRCinGm8">humanitarian role</a>, too. Working under international humanitarian law rather than local or federal criminal systems, these forensic experts help ensure the proper identification and respectful handling of people who die during war, natural disaster and <a href="https://migrationdataportal.org/themes/migrant-deaths-and-disappearances">migration</a>, preventing them from becoming missing persons. </p>
<p>We are forensic scientists who have <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-dental-records-will-help-identify-bodies-from-mh17-29535">studied</a> and <a href="https://forensic.meetinghand.com/en/">organized</a> international conferences about the forensic work required at conflict zones and natural disaster sites. And we’d like to introduce the world to this <a href="https://www.icrc.org/en/document/forensic-science-and-humanitarian-action#.VL_PRCinGm8">emerging profession</a>, which is expanding across the globe.</p>
<h2>Natural disasters</h2>
<p>Interpol, the international police agency, publishes global standards for <a href="https://www.interpol.int/en/How-we-work/Forensics/Disaster-Victim-Identification-DVI">appropriately identifying and handling the dead</a> after major disasters. But achieving those standards may be beyond local authorities’ abilities when the death toll is very high and simply finding and identifying casualties presents a challenge. </p>
<p>Starting in 2004, the International Committee of the Red Cross developed the concept of “<a href="https://www.icrc.org/en/document/worlds-first-international-centre-humanitarian-forensics-launched-india">humanitarian forensic action</a>” to ensure that those who die in war, disaster and other complex emergencies are <a href="https://www.who.int/hac/techguidance/management-of-dead-bodies/en/">treated respectfully and with dignity</a> and don’t become missing persons.</p>
<p>The Red Cross’ forensic humanitarians work closely with local authorities worldwide, as well as train, brief and supervise other aid workers, to ensure the proper and dignified management of the dead while the laborious process of identification is underway. </p>
<p>Its experts were on hand after Mozambique’s deadly 2019 typhoon in which over 1,000 people died. They were there after Haiti’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/world/americas/13haiti.html">2010 earthquake</a>, which killed an estimated 230,000, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/same-problems-that-dogged-tsunami-response-bedevil-humanitarian-aid-today-35781">Super Typhoon Haiyan</a>, which devastated the Philippines in 2013. </p>
<h2>Conflict</h2>
<p>Humanitarian forensic experts also help factions in armed conflicts fulfill their international obligations towards the dead in battle. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.weaponslaw.org/instruments/1949-geneva-conventions">1949 Geneva Convention</a> and subsequent agreements require that the dead are searched for, collected, documented, identified and disposed of in a dignified manner, ideally by returning the remains to bereaved families. </p>
<p>Decades after Argentina and the United Kingdom went to war over the Falkland Islands, which are known as the Islas Malvinas in Argentina, the two countries <a href="https://www.icrc.org/en/document/falklandmalvinas-islands-icrc-presents-argentina-and-united-kingdom-results-humanitarian">agreed</a> in 2016 to invite the Red Cross to exhume 122 unnamed soldiers buried in the Darwin military cemetery on the islands in what became a model of humanitarian forensic action. </p>
<p>Using a variety of forensic disciplines – such as anthropology, archaeology, pathology, dental testing and DNA analysis – the humanitarian forensic experts successfully identified nearly all of the 122 unknown soldiers. </p>
<p>The exhumed Falklands War dead were later reburied in new coffins in marked graves, and the cemetery restored to its original shape. In March 2018, after 35 years of suffering and uncertainty, more than 200 family members <a href="https://www.nodal.am/2018/03/familiares-combatientes-malvinas-visitaron-tumbas-la-isla-luego-del-reconocimiento-cuerpos/">visited</a> the cemetery to pay their final respects. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288559/original/file-20190819-123741-9o5t63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288559/original/file-20190819-123741-9o5t63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288559/original/file-20190819-123741-9o5t63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288559/original/file-20190819-123741-9o5t63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288559/original/file-20190819-123741-9o5t63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288559/original/file-20190819-123741-9o5t63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288559/original/file-20190819-123741-9o5t63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288559/original/file-20190819-123741-9o5t63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The relative of an Argentine soldier killed in the Falklands War with Britain grieves at the Darwin Military Cemetery on Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), March 26, 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Argentina-Britain-Falklands/29c378fa525e480283e622f1cd46568a/3/0">AP Photo/Caiti Beattie</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Humanitarians in danger</h2>
<p>In conflict zones where militants are engaged in battle against their own governments, the official rules of war may not apply. </p>
<p>In such places, the job of the humanitarian forensic expert involves negotiating the humane treatment of dead bodies, the return of human remains to the families and the honorable disposal of bodies according to the rites of their religion or faith. </p>
<p>This can be dangerous. </p>
<p>In 2007, the Red Cross’ humanitarian forensic team was asked to help in the recovery of the bodies of 11 legislators who had been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/apr/12/colombia.martinhodgson">abducted by the FARC</a>, a Colombian guerrilla movement, five years before and had <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-sep-10-fg-colombia10-story.html">recently died</a> under contested circumstances. </p>
<p>The guerrillas said the hostages died in a botched rescue operation by government forces, while the government <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/29/world/americas/29colombia.html">accused the guerrillas of executing them</a>. </p>
<p>After a lengthy negotiation, both sides agreed on a brief ceasefire while the Red Cross team collected the bodies. Locating the burial site of the bodies took days, according to <a href="https://www.icrc.org/en/author/dr-morris-tidball-binz-0">Dr. Morris Tidball-Binz</a>, a leading forensic expert with the International Committee of the Red Cross. </p>
<p>He and his colleagues walked for dozens of miles through the Colombian jungle, some of it defended with <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-colombia-landmines/colombia-aims-to-rid-country-of-landmines-by-2021-govt-idUSKBN15T2FM">landmines</a>. </p>
<p>“At night, there were a couple of occasions when we heard explosions around, which indicated the fragility of the ceasefire,” Dr. Tidball-Binz <a href="https://www.icrc.org/en/download/file/84078/irrc_99_905_12.pdf">recalls</a>. </p>
<p>Humanitarian workers undertaking similar conflict-related identification of the dead have become targets of direct or indirect threats in <a href="https://www.icrc.org/en/international-review/article/using-forensic-science-care-dead-and-search-missing-conversation-dr">Argentina and Libya</a>. </p>
<h2>Missing persons and migration</h2>
<p>International humanitarian law includes another difficult-to-meet <a href="https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v1_rul_rule114">obligation</a>. Families are supposed to be informed about the fate and whereabouts of loved ones who go missing during <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/iraq">war</a> or <a href="http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2407515&CategoryId=12393">armed conflict</a>. </p>
<p>After gathering <a href="https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/ante-mortem">all information possible</a> about the missing person based on the physical evidence available, they closely collaborate with family members to paint a more complete picture of the victims, using DNA, identifying marks and personal belongings to try to identify a missing person. </p>
<p>This is sensitive work. War survivors may be hesitant to speak about missing loved ones because they fear retaliation from the government or an armed faction. Yet family cooperation is essential to locating and identifying those missing in war.</p>
<p>Humanitarian forensic scientists have also played a fundamental role in Europe’s migrant crisis, which has claimed the lives of thousands who <a href="https://www.iom.int/news/mediterranean-migrant-arrivals-reach-4216-2019-deaths-reach-83">die or go missing in the Mediterranean Sea</a> attempting to flee Africa and the Middle East. </p>
<p>After a <a href="http://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2016/10/10/egypt-boat-disaster-shines-light-new-migration-trend">boat packed with migrants</a> sank several miles off the coast of Rasheed, Egypt, in September 2016, for example, just 163 people were rescued. Thirty-three were found dead inside the boat and 168 people drowned. </p>
<p>Scientists from the Egyptian Forensic Medicine Authority were called to the scene to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-egypt/boat-carrying-600-migrants-sinks-off-egypt-killing-at-least-43-idUSKCN11R1L0">identify the dead</a> and establish their cause of death.</p>
<p>Humanitarian forensic scientists don’t always succeed. Sometimes, their investigations reach a dead end. The fate of those missing remains a mystery.</p>
<p>In the best-case scenario, though, the difficult work of these humanitarian scientists brings closure to families so that they can start mourning their loss. </p>
<p>[ <em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115623/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dina Shokry is head of the Forensic Medicine Department at the Armed Forces College of Medicine, Egypt, and President of the Arab Union of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology. She was the President of the 10th International Conference on Forensic Medicine and Sciences, for which the International Committee of the Red Cross was one of the main conference sponsors.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ahmad Samarji does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Meet the unsung aid workers who put their lives on the line during war and natural disaster to make sure the dead are treated with respect – and that their grieving families get closure.Ahmad Samarji, Associate Professor of Forensic Science Education & STEM Education and the Assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Phoenicia UniversityDina Shokry, Professor of Forensic Medicine, Cairo UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1106782019-02-08T13:59:58Z2019-02-08T13:59:58ZInside the ransom business – why kidnapping rarely pays<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/257941/original/file-20190208-174861-1pipolq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A kidnapper’s phone call announcing that a family member or employee has been abducted is the stuff of nightmares – as is the eye-watering ransom demand that often accompanies this news. How should you respond? </p>
<hr>
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<hr>
<p>Most kidnappings take place in countries where governments <a href="https://www.controlrisks.com/riskmap/analysts-picks-map?source=RMLP">are weak and territory is disputed</a>. Without a police force able to help, you will need to negotiate to get your loved one back. So, what is the “right” price for their life?</p>
<p>When I ask my students this question, their answers range from “I would never pay a criminal or terrorist” to “I’d pay whatever they’re asking for” or “everything I could possibly spare”. Some point to their government’s responsibility to help. Depending on the family’s, employer’s or government’s attitude and means, the kidnappers might make several million dollars here – or nothing at all.</p>
<p>In my book “<a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/kidnap-9780198815471?cc=gb&lang=en&">Kidnap: Inside the Ransom Business</a>” I analyse the tricky question of how much to pay using the tools of economics and look at the problem from the perspective of all parties. The kidnappers want to extract the maximum amount of profit, subject to not being caught. If they have time, they will want to probe how much the victim is really worth: starting with a demand beyond their dreams of avarice. </p>
<p>Depending on how the victim’s representatives respond, the kidnappers will either revise the ransom upwards or downwards. If they are offered a large amount, say a million dollars, straight away, the kidnappers will believe there is a lot more they can extract. </p>
<p>So, the best response to a ransom demand is never to agree immediately to a kidnapper’s demands. If the kidnappers have time, they will keep doubling the price and judge the response to this accordingly. If the kidnappers agree to the first ransom offer they are given, they are probably negotiating from the back of a car and are desperate to return the hostage already. If the victim’s representatives prevaricate, the case will most likely end with the victim withdrawing whatever cash they can from an ATM once before and once just after midnight: the so called “express kidnap” or “millionaire’s ride”. </p>
<p>By contrast, a swiftly agreed, overgenerous ransom puts a bulls-eye target on your wider family, your firm’s other employees (if you’re travelling with work), and fellow nationals. News of easy profits spread quickly in criminal communities and can cause local or regional kidnapping booms. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/peps.2015.21.issue-4/peps-2015-0018/peps-2015-0018.xml">case of Somali piracy</a> is an excellent example. Somalis had hijacked a few ships a year for decades, releasing hostages after a few months for low six-figure sums. Yet when nervous negotiators tried to accelerate this process by offering million-dollar ransoms, Somali piracy escalated and became a threat to global trade. It is therefore in the financial interest of those being issued ransom demands, as well as their moral responsibility, to try to limit the payments. </p>
<h2>Haggling a compromise</h2>
<p>Getting the right price requires haggling out a compromise that both satisfies the kidnappers and is affordable (and ethically acceptable) for the victims’ representatives. Economic reasoning tells us where this undignified bartering ends: kidnappers will release when the cost of holding on to the hostage exceeds what they expect to gain from the next ransom increment. </p>
<p>Some describe this process as wringing the towel dry: kidnappers squeeze and squeeze until the victim’s representatives stick to their answer, “there is no more”. If those paying the ransom permit the kidnappers to literally squeeze them dry, they will pay all they can afford. But knowing that they will have to endure all the painful squeezes (replete with horrendous threats) anyway, they can also set a lower limit and hide some resources from the criminals. If they stick to their guns, they often achieve a release for a small fraction of the first ransom demand.</p>
<p>When foreigners are abducted in a kidnap prone area, there is often another actor and that’s the professional ransom negotiator. For kidnap insurers it is of paramount importance that hostage markets develop norms of non-violence and ways of negotiating ransoms that facilitate swift and reliable releases – while at the same time ensuring that kidnapping is not an easy way to riches. </p>
<p>Firms that purchase kidnap insurance for their employees operating in dangerous places are therefore advised and coached in how to handle the ransom negotiation, how to react to threats, and when to stay firm. They learn to barter the kidnappers down to a price that just about covers the costs of staging the kidnap and conducting the negotiation.</p>
<p>The result is an orderly but very limited market for foreign hostages in which the crime barely pays. The kidnapping of expatriates, tourists, and foreign firms’ local staff is discouraged by the unhurried, firm approach to negotiations and hostage incidents resolved by professional crisis responders result in the safe return of more than 97% of kidnap victims. For the few cases that go awry, the main problems are pre-existing medical conditions and escape attempts. </p>
<p>The vast majority of insured hostage negotiations conclude in less than a week and generally with ransoms that don’t break the bank, keeping other travellers and expatriates safe. By contrast, if people follow their gut instinct, fundraise aggressively, mobilise the media, or lobby politicians to get involved they most likely put their loved one in greater peril and more people at risk.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110678/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anja Shortland does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>For the few cases that go awry, the main problems are pre-existing medical conditions and escape attempts.Anja Shortland, Reader in Political Economy, King's College LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1089472019-01-21T13:40:47Z2019-01-21T13:40:47ZThe CAR provides hard lessons on what it means to deliver real justice<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253637/original/file-20190114-43525-1gdlngs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many have been displaced by violence in the Central African Republic. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Stringer</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The conundrum facing justice in the Central African Republic (CAR) was well summed up by Jean Pierre Waboe, Vice-president of the country’s Constitutional Court, whom I interviewed:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In a situation whereby the state does not exist, injustice becomes the norm. Anybody can set about doing anything. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The breakdown of state control since the resurgence of conflict in 2013 has had drastic consequences for the possibility of any forms of governance – political, economic or legal in CAR. </p>
<p>Under these circumstances, the need for “justice” has become more crucial. For Waboe, however, the problem of justice in the country is that it’s seen as too formal, too distant, too complex, and too slow to respond to what’s needed. For justice to work, a country needs a judiciary system that’s functioning, legitimate and credible. And that can deliver justice that’s immediate, operative and helps populations to reconnect torn relationships. A justice that, for him, can “dry tears”. </p>
<p>The question that keeps getting asked is: what justice is possible in a climate of impunity? And indeed in times of war.</p>
<p>The CAR’s Special Criminal Court is the site of protracted struggle over the meaning, and the feasibility of justice. In the absence of a functioning judicial system, the establishment of a <a href="http://www.cps-rca.cf/sites/default/files/inline-files/Loi%20_%20Cour%20p%C3%A9nale%20sp%C3%A9ciale%20_.pdf">tribunal in 2015</a>
was an unprecedented initiative. Yet, the precarious conditions of its existence make it a promise that teeters on the ledge of collapse. </p>
<p>The special court is something of an experiment. Unlike previous ad hoc tribunals such as Yugoslavia and Rwanda, it isn’t meant to constitute an alternative or competitor to the International Criminal Court (<a href="https://www.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/pids/publications/uicceng.pdf">ICC</a>). Rather, it’s role is to complement the ICC’s ongoing investigations into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. If successful, <a href="https://justiceinconflict.org/2015/05/14/why-central-african-republics-hybrid-tribunal-could-be-a-game-changer/">the hope</a> is that it could become a model of shared prosecuting authority across domestic and international judicial regimes for grave crimes. </p>
<h2>Fraught with difficulties</h2>
<p>The mandate of the court is to prosecute crimes committed since 2003 including rape and sexual violence, widespread crimes and material destruction. Human Rights Watch found that some of the most egregious and brutal crimes have been committed since <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/05/17/looking-justice/special-criminal-court-new-opportunity-victims-central-african">the breakout of the civil war in 2013</a>. And yet, no form of justice has been offered and no one prosecuted. </p>
<p>The temporary nature of the special court’s mandate sits at odds with the fact that violence is ongoing. In the provinces outside of Bangui and the South West, a plethora of armed groups offer “protection” one day, the next they repress. They raze villages, extract rare minerals, levy tax, loot humanitarian supplies, kidnap people for ransom, set up racket schemes and impose tolls to trucks and people. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13600820701562843?src=recsys&journalCode=cgsj20">Many scholars view</a> special courts as part of the liberal peace building treatment package and in that sense a part of a broader agenda of social transformation of post-conflict societies.</p>
<p>But the CAR’s current volatile conditions render the very administration of justice a dangerous endeavour. Judges and witnesses have to be protected; the domestic judiciary personnel lacks experience in investigating crimes against humanity and the judiciary system itself is vulnerable to “instrumentalisation”, that is its misuse for political or other ends. Deterring fighters from committing grave crimes or recidivists from committing further crimes is one thing. Restoring confidence, trust and respect for the justice system is another. How are ordinary people to respond when it’s clear that the assessment of crimes happens against a backdrop of entrenched hierarchies based on ethnicity, political and religious affiliation, and economic capacity? </p>
<p>There are a host of additional problems too. For instance, the recruitment of young people into armed groups has gone unabated. According to the United Nations’ Children and Armed Conflict report, <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/world/children-and-armed-conflict-report-secretary-general-a72865-s2018465-enar">the number of young recruits quadrupled</a> in 2017 relatively to 2016.</p>
<p>The reality is that, for victims, the promise of justice is a spectrum that carries both risks and possibilities. </p>
<p>The court, for instance, regulates the forms, spaces, styles and even the emotional structure of victim testimony. And the convention of legal proceedings – the use of codified language and formal rules of presentation and evidence for example – leave victims, most of whom are illiterate, further marginalised. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251933/original/file-20181222-103657-1vcq1gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251933/original/file-20181222-103657-1vcq1gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251933/original/file-20181222-103657-1vcq1gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251933/original/file-20181222-103657-1vcq1gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251933/original/file-20181222-103657-1vcq1gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251933/original/file-20181222-103657-1vcq1gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251933/original/file-20181222-103657-1vcq1gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">CAR’s Special Criminal Court.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Supplied by author.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A further complication is that war criminals seem to have little to fear from United Nations forces given the latter’s limited mandate. Besides, atrocities have been committed by all parties involved. The <a href="https://www.icc-cpi.int/car/bemba?ln=fr">acquittal</a> of Jean Pierre Bemba by the ICC remains a great puzzle for those that have witnessed the atrocities committed by his troops in CAR. </p>
<p>This poses the question of the criteria and line of priority that are to guide future prosecutions. </p>
<h2>The alternatives</h2>
<p>Is there an alternative to lengthy and costly procedures and imprisonment? For Walidou, a legal scholar who has taught at the University of Bangui for many years, there is:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Give to each [former fighter] a modest income, a decent uniform and integrate them in an auxiliary unit to calm them down and they will leave armed groups.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>For Walidou, by taking back youngsters, the state can gather information on logistics, the circulation of weapons, the exploitation of resources, the means of supply to armed groups, and other information that it currently doesn’t have.</p>
<p>The imperative for a justice that restores what has been broken, and the need to make examples of perpetrators who have been captured, can pull in different directions. In fact, they run the risk of cancelling out each other. </p>
<p>What this points to is the need to better understand the sociology of the conflict, to assess the role of justice in relation to the peace process and to reconstruction more generally. This could, for example, mean considering the role of amnesty and moratoria as well as non-legal mechanisms in national reconciliation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108947/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy Niang received a grant to cover a research trip to the Central African Republic as part of the Uncovering Security Story Lab programme supported by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the Stanley Foundation and the Gerda Henkel Stiftung.</span></em></p>The volatile conditions in the Central African Republic make the administration of justice difficult.Amy Niang, Visiting Professor at the University of Sao Paulo and Senior Lecturer in International Relations, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1098932019-01-20T08:41:19Z2019-01-20T08:41:19ZBooks paint contrasting pictures of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253858/original/file-20190115-152995-2n81iy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">South African liberation struggle icon Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA-EFE/Jon Hrusha</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Writings on South African liberation struggle icon Winnie Mandela almost all fall into one of two categories – either hagiography or demonology. These two books - <em>Truth, Lies and Alibis. A Winnie Mandela Story</em>, by Fred Bridgland and Sisonke Msimang’s <em>The Resurrection of Winnie Mandela. A Biography of Survival</em>, try to be more nuanced.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tafelberg.com/Authors/8809">Bridgland</a> was a correspondent for Britain’s leading right-wing newspaper, the Daily Telegraph. For years, he dispatched empathetic reports on an anti-communist hero of the cold war, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/feb/25/guardianobituaries.victoriabrittain">Jonas Savimbi</a> and his <a href="https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/unita.htm">UNITA movement</a>, which were at war with Angola’s ruling MPLA – an ally of the ANC.</p>
<p>Readers might take it for granted that anything he writes would be hostile to the ANC. So Bridgland makes a point of prefacing his <a href="http://www.tafelberg.com/Books/20572">book</a> on Winnie Mandela by first placing on record that Savimbi became paranoiac, and committed massacres of entire families of his leading officials. Bridgland is currently writing up these atrocities; in effect he attempts to so show his even-handedness.</p>
<p>Sisonke Msimang, author of <em>Always Another Country: A Memoir of Exile and Home</em>, has also written articles for the New York Times, the Guardian, and Al Jazeera. She writes near the start of her <a href="https://brittlepaper.com/2018/07/resurrection-winnie-mandela-sisonke-msimangs-book-october/">biography</a>: “I will not pretend otherwise: I am interested in redeeming Ma Winnie”.</p>
<p>But towards the end, she writes: “It is deeply uncomfortable to acknowledge Winnie’s involvement in Stompie’s death, and in the disappearances of Lolo Sono and Sibuniso Tshabalala, while also holding her up as a hero.</p>
<p>She qualifies her views further: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>In a perfect world, her place is not on a pedestal… I am prepared to raise her up in the hopes that, one day, South Africans might ethically and in good conscience take her down.(p.157)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Msimang also writes in her conclusion that she’s even prepared to say give up her admiration for the complicated Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. "I cannot do so, however, without a few conditions … The past must be opened up not just to grief, but to the structural nature of racism.” She means the class exploitation coloured by colonialism and finally apartheid.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253845/original/file-20190115-152989-5vu2kk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253845/original/file-20190115-152989-5vu2kk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=909&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253845/original/file-20190115-152989-5vu2kk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=909&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253845/original/file-20190115-152989-5vu2kk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=909&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253845/original/file-20190115-152989-5vu2kk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1142&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253845/original/file-20190115-152989-5vu2kk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1142&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253845/original/file-20190115-152989-5vu2kk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1142&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This review needs to start with three disclosures. This reviewer is a member of the African National Congress. He is also a friend of the Horst Kleinschmidt mentioned in Bridgland’s book. And he has, in the company of others, briefly met Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Zindi Mandela, and Nelson Mandela.</p>
<h2>Double standards</h2>
<p>The issues these two biographies raise, of liberators’ wartime actions, are not unique to South Africa. For example, post-WW2 readers, with their knowledge of the holocaust of six million Jews and three million Christian Poles, also have to debate Bomber Harris’ <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/2015/05/the-carpet-bombing-of-hamburg-killed-40000-people-it-also-did-good/">saturation bombing</a> of German residential downtown areas and suburbs.</p>
<p>In chapter two Bridgland summarises the South African police’s Special Branch’s persecution of her. The remaining 27 chapters and epilogue summarise Madikizela-Mandela’s persecution of others. The overwhelming majority of facts in his book were published two decades ago - and never refuted.</p>
<p>His book also flags the issue of those who lobbied the then Chief Justice Corbett about Winnie’s pending trial. This included the then Minister of Justice, <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/hendrik-jacobus-kobie-coetsee">Kobie Coetsee</a>, the then head of the National Intelligence Service Neil Barnard, and the then British ambassador Robin Renwick. He evidently didn’t rebuke any of them.</p>
<p>Msimang’s most persuasive arguments are when she points out the sexist double-standards in much of the condemnation of Zanyiwe Madikizela, better known as Winnie Mandela. She emphasises that it’s strange to perceive Winnie’s actions as motivated by psychiatric reasons rather than political. </p>
<p>She highlights that Winnie was not a radical outlier, but that during 1985-86 many ANC leaders and <a href="http://theappendix.net/posts/2013/12/radio-freedom-underground-radio-in-south-africa">Radio Freedom</a>, the then banned ANC’s underground radio station, made similar statements about insurrection, killing informers, and necklaces:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Winnie was not the only ANC leader who traded in recklessness and fiery rhetoric. But she was the only woman who was visibly doing so. (p.13)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Msimang also points out that Harry Gwala and other ANC warlords were committing in substance the same actions as Winnie Mandela, but with far less condemnation. </p>
<p>The same double-standards also apply to men and women political leaders having adulterous affairs: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>If the roles had been reversed and you had been imprisoned, things would have been very different. Nelson would have remarried and you would have languished forgotten on the island, and it would have been no reflection on him. Men have needs. Women sacrifice.</p>
</blockquote>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253846/original/file-20190115-152962-ovw1hb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253846/original/file-20190115-152962-ovw1hb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=916&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253846/original/file-20190115-152962-ovw1hb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=916&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253846/original/file-20190115-152962-ovw1hb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=916&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253846/original/file-20190115-152962-ovw1hb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1151&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253846/original/file-20190115-152962-ovw1hb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1151&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253846/original/file-20190115-152962-ovw1hb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1151&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>Unsurprisingly, two such contrasting biographies also differ over the facts. Bridgland writes that the two hit men who assassinated <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/dr-abu-baker-asvat">Dr. Abu-Baker Asvat</a> - the Black consciousness exponent and doctor who tended to Stompie after his brutally assault to which Madikizela-Mandela was part - gave statements that Winnie Mandela had offered them R20 000 to kill him. Msimang writes that these were merely “rumours” and “No link has ever been established between Dr. Asvat’s death and Winnie Mandela.”</p>
<p>As this review goes to press, the ANC has <a href="https://www.enca.com/news/ramaphosa-apologises-winnie-not-getting-isithwalandwe-honour">posthumously awarded</a> Winnie Mandela its highest honour, the <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/isitwalandweseaparankwe-award"><em>Isithwalandwe</em></a>. </p>
<p>The controversy continues in death as in life.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109893/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keith Gottschalk is an ANC member.
He is also a friend of the Horst Kleinschmidt mentioned in the Bridgland book.</span></em></p>Controversy around Winnie Madikizela-Mandela continues in death as it did in life.Keith Gottschalk, Political Scientist, University of the Western CapeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1084342018-12-13T12:27:05Z2018-12-13T12:27:05ZHow poor management of Nigerian forests led to exploitation by criminals<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249649/original/file-20181210-76956-1li564j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Across the world forests have been exploited as a source of cover from which to launch attacks.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rettet den Regenwald/shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nigeria’s forests cover <a href="http://www.transcampus.org/JORINDV12Dec2014/Jorind%20Vol12%20No2%20Dec%20Chapter4.pdf">about</a> 96,043 square km– that’s about 10% of the country’s landmass. But the presence of authorities in these sanctuaries is either non-existent or, at best, sporadic. This has led to forest areas being poorly managed, which in turn has led to them being exploited by criminals and posing a security threat. </p>
<p>Using the theory of ungoverned spaces as a foundation, I conducted <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10246029.2017.1369135?journalCode=rasr20">a study</a> to understand the major reasons for the invasion and use of forested landscape for criminal activities in Nigeria. </p>
<p>I found that the forests are used by terrorists, kidnappers, cannabis cultivators, cattle rustlers and robbers. This is because they offer shelter and have resources that can support militants – like food or illegal logging to finance their activities. </p>
<p>The phenomenon isn’t new. Across the world forests have been exploited as a source of cover from which to launch attacks and use in defence. <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4020-5462-4_1">At least</a> half the violent conflicts of the 20th Century took place in forested areas, including Ethiopia, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, India and Mexico. In Ethiopia’s battle of Adwa for example, Ethiopian forces <a href="https://books.google.com.ng/books?id=dascAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA179&lpg=PA179&dq=forest+and+italian-ethiopian+war+by+oba+gufu&source=bl&ots=UX6JHbLzQy&sig=jIg2QFOFk1F4Ny5wgpkDTFoXOfI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjOuszj1pffAhUFTN8KHc0mDrsQ6AEwEnoECAAQAQ#v=onepage&q=forest%20and%20italian-ethiopian%20war%20by%20oba%20gufu&f=false">used the</a> forests’ thick foliage and mists to hide them against the bombing campaigns of the Italians. </p>
<p>What makes the Nigerian situation problematic is that criminals have been able to exploit forests because of poor management. <a href="https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=JWf4X2apWMYC&pg=PA194&lpg=PA194&dq=The+political+reality+of+conservation+in+Nigeria+areola&source=bl&ots=w6DFd9kula&sig=W0CtQ0uaONfQEzFNUCIdxSmYt6Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiPxpirpI3fAhWFDsAKHUOGCsQQ6AEwAHoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=The%20political%20reality%20of%20conservation%20in%20Nigeria%20areola&f=false">By law</a>, forests fall under the government’s mandate, but the Nigerian government hasn’t been able to secure them because of their huge size, lack of personnel and poor surveillance technology.</p>
<h2>Types of criminals</h2>
<p>In addition to an extensive literature review, I conducted interviews with security operatives – including military personnel, police officers and operatives of national drug law enforcement agency – and with 10 communities who lived by some of the forests. </p>
<p>My research uncovered a range of illegal activities.</p>
<p><strong>Terrorism:</strong> The violent activities of Boko Haram insurgents in northern Nigeria have <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/boko-haram-isis_us_564cd890e4b00b7997f8c15d">led to</a> the death of thousands of people, the displacement of millions and the massive destruction of infrastructure. </p>
<p>Through interviews I conducted security operatives and some victims of the insurgency, I found that the militant organisation operated from a number of forests in north-eastern Nigeria, including the Sambisa, Kala Balje, Balmo and Kagoro forests. </p>
<p>Sambisa Forest, for example, is meant to be a government protected area, and is rich in wildlife, but it’s overrun by militants. Boko Haram <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311706189_FORESTS_AND_FOREST_RESERVES_AS_SECURITY_THREATS_IN_NORTHERN_NIGERIA">invaded</a> the forest in 2013 and made it into one centre of their operations. It <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/the-forest-concealing-boko-haram/3343895.html">sprawls across</a> across four states and extends into neighbouring Cameroon, Niger and Chad – an area the size of Belgium. Its vastness, rugged terrain, sparse population and dense tree cover make it an ideal hiding place. </p>
<p><strong>Kidnapping:</strong> Kidnapping has become a <a href="https://owlcation.com/social-sciences/Kidnapping-Overview-Causes-Effects-and-Solutions">major crime</a> in Nigeria. It’s a national problem. In 2017, the three countries <a href="https://www.aig.dk/content/dam/aig/emea/denmark/documents/k-r-trends2017-nya.pdf">with the</a> highest number of reported kidnappings were India, Nigeria and Pakistan.</p>
<p>Boko Haram’s kidnappings of schoolgirls, for example, is well-known. Forests are a useful hiding place for the group, particularly when the number of victims run <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311706189_FORESTS_AND_FOREST_RESERVES_AS_SECURITY_THREATS_IN_NORTHERN_NIGERIA">into the</a> hundreds. </p>
<p>Crime <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrBKI1yBSU8">syndicates</a> also use thick forestland between Abuja and Kaduna for their kidnapping activities. They abduct victims for ransom on highways and then hide them in forests. In some places the evidence of kidnappings is only revealed by <a href="https://www.nairaland.com/3040341/dss-takes-over-abia-forest">mass graves</a> that are discovered in the forests. </p>
<p><strong>Ritual killings:</strong> For a long time, forest cover has also been used by members of cults to carry out murders. For instance, people <a href="http://saharareporters.com/2013/01/21/money-making-rituals-and-superstition-nigeria-leo-igwe">are killed</a> and their body parts are used as charms in the belief that they will bring wealth. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/07/horror-ritual-killings-everywhere-inspite-civilization/">police raid</a> on the Ogwugwu shrine, in Okija Forest, 50 decomposing bodies and 20 skulls were discovered. </p>
<p><strong>Armed robbery:</strong> Armed robbery has been a major security challenge in Nigeria for a long time, and forests have played a role in its perpetuation. </p>
<p>The forest along the Benin City bypass has been dubbed an <a href="https://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/05/battle-of-the-evil-forest-edo-police-boss-versus-kidnappers-armed-robbers/">“evil forest”</a> by locals as it’s a hideout for armed robbers who launch attacks on commercial busses using that road. </p>
<p>Idu and Gwagwa forests in Abuja and Kabakawa Forest in Kaduna have also been <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311706189_FORESTS_AND_FOREST_RESERVES_AS_SECURITY_THREATS_IN_NORTHERN_NIGERIA">identified</a> as notorious bases for criminals who regularly mount roadblocks to attack travellers and also rob people living in the areas that border the forests. </p>
<p><strong>Cannabis cultivation:</strong> Nigeria is <a href="https://www.nairaland.com/4678736/nigeria-ranks-8th-weed-smoking">considered</a> to be among the countries with the highest rate of cannabis consumption. It’s also producing <a href="https://books.google.com.ng/books?id=9NCZBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA91&lpg=PA91&dq=Hanley+paul+on+cannabis+cultivation+in+nigeria&source=bl&ots=y3gmvMZDDZ&sig=69wna72TK2IknYivwtwYoKGUJSQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwis8vuT5JffAhWGZlAKHeGiAtcQ6AEwBnoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=Hanley%20paul%20on%20cannabis%20cultivation%20in%20nigeria&f=false">a huge</a> amount . I carried out interviews with operatives of the national drug law enforcement agency who revealed that a large proportion of cannabis cultivation is carried out deep inside the forests. </p>
<p><strong>Cattle rustling:</strong> Cattle rustling <a href="https://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/giga/afsp/article/view/989">has become</a> a major security problem, claiming the lives of hundreds of herders and the theft of thousands of livestock. In just one year, cattle rustling <a href="https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/322-herders-killed-60-000-cattle-rustled-in-2013.html">resulted</a> in the deaths of 322 herders and the theft of 60000 cattle in northern Nigeria. </p>
<p>Rustling commonly happens with the help of forest cover. In north-western Nigeria, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311706189_FORESTS_AND_FOREST_RESERVES_AS_SECURITY_THREATS_IN_NORTHERN_NIGERIA">most of the</a> recorded cases take place in the Kamuku and Kuyanbana forests. Criminals have made a permanent home in the two forests, from which they launch attacks.</p>
<h2>Lack of state presence</h2>
<p>Forests are dense, isolated and vast. This makes make them hard to control and creating government bases in them is a challenge. This explains why there isn’t a state presence in many of them. </p>
<p>There have been attempts to bring the high level of criminality under control. Recently, raids were <a href="https://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/south-south-regional/209480-nigerian-armys-operation-crocodile-smile-arrests-suspected-oil-thieves-in-niger-delta.html">carried out</a> to apprehend criminals. But these measures are sporadic and don’t create a permanent solution. </p>
<p>Forest spaces must be properly governed. Special security forces, trained to work in this terrain, must be deployed. The government must also invest in technology – like CCTV surveillance systems – to monitor criminal activity. Taking these basic steps will act as a deterrent, and perhaps put a stop, to some of this activity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108434/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Azeez Olaniyan receives funding from Social Science Research Council and African Peacebuilding Network, New York; Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, Munich Germany. </span></em></p>Nigeria’s forests are used by terrorists, kidnappers, cannabis cultivators, cattle rustlers and robbers.Azeez Olaniyan, Senior lecturer, Ekiti State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/969102018-05-21T19:50:43Z2018-05-21T19:50:43ZNew ‘virtual kidnapping’ scam targeting Chinese students makes use of data shared online<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219684/original/file-20180521-42203-1wszr37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Student data is a popular target for hackers and a hot product on the online black market.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hacker-front-his-computer-dark-face-381063385?src=-MNo4FyERRe8422Q3kgneg-1-8">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A warning about a “new” international scam targeting Chinese students in Australia <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/scam-warning-fake-%E2%80%98virtual-kidnapping%E2%80%99-scam-targets-chinese-australians">was issued by the Australian Federal Police</a> on May 14, 2018. </p>
<p>In a typical scenario, students are contacted by someone pretending to be from the Chinese Embassy or Consulate telling them that they have been implicated in a serious crime in China or Taiwan, and asking them to collaborate with investigations. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-victim-can-also-become-the-offender-in-online-fraud-57560">Why the victim can also become the offender in online fraud</a>
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<p>The target is told to hide themselves for a few days and cut off all contact, including with family members in China or Taiwan. The families then receive calls telling them their child studying in Australia has been kidnapped, and a ransom demand is made.</p>
<p>International scams of this nature are hard to investigate, but there are things you can do to avoid falling victim to them. </p>
<h2>The evolution of a scam</h2>
<p>Chinese and Taiwanese people have been victims of telecommunication scams like this for decades.</p>
<p>Crime syndicates would provide notes to their members, teaching them how to mask their caller IDs and what to say. The criminals usually collect personal information such as the student’s name, birthday, university attended and where they are originally from. This information, though basic, is essential to build trust with the victims.</p>
<h3>The scam starts in Taiwan</h3>
<p>The first generation of the kidnapping scam started in Taiwan in the late 1990s. </p>
<p>Organised crime syndicates would call parents and tell them that their child had been kidnapped and demand a ransom. During the call there would be sounds in the background of someone crying and screaming, saying “Help me, Mum/Dad!” Sometimes they might have the name of name of the child and, occasionally, will have researched the background of the family. Lots of Taiwanese were caught in the scam and paid the ransom.</p>
<p>Since the sim cards in use at the time were usually pre-paid cards, and the mobile phones usually cloned, criminal investigation was difficult. This pushed Taiwanese Government to tighten the rules on purchasing pre-paid cards.</p>
<h3>And then moves to China</h3>
<p>Before too long organised crime syndicates with members from both Taiwan and China started to use this method to scam people in China. </p>
<p>Criminals set up their crime base on Kinmen Island (an island belonging to Taiwan located close to the Chinese mainland). From there they could connect to the signals provided by a Chinese service provider and scam people in China. Conversely, crime bases were set up in Xiamen, the China territory opposite Kinmen, using signals provided by Taiwanese service providers to conduct scams on Taiwanese people. </p>
<p>In both situations they could avoid being arrested as there was limited collaboration between Taiwan and China on criminal investigations. Collaboration between the two jurisdictions only began when the Chinese government realised the seriousness of the scam.</p>
<h3>The scam comes to Australia</h3>
<p>With the commencement of cooperation between Taiwan and China against the telecommunication scam, a number of cases were successfully cleared and suspects were repatriated between Taiwan and China for prosecution. To minimise the risk of prosecution, organised crime syndicates then moved to their operations to <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/97-taiwanese-arrested-in-eastern-europe-for-telecom-fraud">Eastern Europe</a>, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-telecoms-fraud/china-blames-taiwan-criminals-for-surge-in-telephone-scams-idUSKCN0XJ022">East Africa or Southeast Asia</a> (including <a href="https://international.thenewslens.com/article/27791">Australia</a>, <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/225-chinese-scam-suspects-arrested-in-phnom-penh">Cambodia</a>, Indonesia, Kenya, Thailand and the Philippines) in the past few years.</p>
<p>Moving the call centre to a third country not only made it more difficult to investigate the crime, it also made a successful prosecution more difficult. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/facebook-is-fighting-social-media-identity-theft-in-india-but-its-a-global-problem-81471">Facebook is fighting social media identity theft in India, but it's a global problem</a>
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<h2>Old scam, new tech</h2>
<p>What is innovative in the recent scam compared with the earlier ones is that they have chosen to target international students from China and Taiwan who are away from their family. International students are more likely to be a successful target since it’s harder for parents based overseas to check whether the event is real. </p>
<p>With the advance of technology, people are now putting more information online. At the same time, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-12/qld-school-students-personal-details-stolen-in-website-hack/6935118">student data is a popular target for hackers</a> and a hot product on the online black market. Criminals are able to target parents, build trust with them and persuade them the scam is real using the detailed information they have about the family and the “kidnapped” child. </p>
<p>In the reported cases, the students followed the instructions of the criminal syndicates and hid themselves. When concerned parents cannot get in touch with their child, they tend to believe the scam is real and pay the ransom.</p>
<h2>Criminal investigation is difficult</h2>
<p>The transnational character of the crime has made investigation difficult. The victims – students and parents – are in different countries and, to make progress on an investigation, the Australian authorities need cooperation with Taiwanese or Chinese authorities. As the victims are not resident in the country where the syndicate is based and from where the scam is conducted, the police in the third country are usually reluctant to collaborate. </p>
<p>Furthermore, members of the crime syndicates are highly mobile and it is often too late to secure evidence and arrest criminals by the time the police in Australia have received and actioned a request for investigation assistance. Or it might turn out that the call centre is not in Australia but in a third country. </p>
<h2>What students and families can do</h2>
<p>With scams like this it is important to encourage reporting to the police and to raise public awareness. In this case, the Australian Federal Police, and <a href="http://sydney.chineseconsulate.org/chn/ggl/t1547562.htm">the Chinese Embassy</a> and the <a href="https://www.roc-taiwan.org/au/post/23833.html">Taiwan Cultural and Economic Office in Canberra</a> have all issued an alert to students about the scam.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-we-need-to-do-more-for-the-victims-of-online-fraud-and-scams-59670">Why we need to do more for the victims of online fraud and scams</a>
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<p>Students and parents should have diverse ways of making contact with each other. For example, students could share with their parents the contact information of their close friends so that the parents have another way to contact their children. They also should have a special way or code to indicate to each other when they really are in danger. </p>
<p>Finally, everyone should be vigilant about securing personal data. This includes: schools securing their systems to avoid leaks of student information; students being careful not to put too much personal information online; and all parties being alert when adding new friends on social media.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96910/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Lennon Y.C. Chang is the Vice-Chairman of the Asia Pacific Association of Technology and Society that he co-founded in 2014. He is also affiliated with the Cybercrime Observatory at the Australian National University.</span></em></p>A new scam tricks families based overseas into paying a ransom for Chinese students in Australia who have supposedly been kidnapped.Lennon Y.C. Chang, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/912772018-02-19T14:27:42Z2018-02-19T14:27:42ZForced disappearances are on the rise as human rights violators cover their tracks<p>It seems the global campaign to protect human rights has had an unexpected side-effect: governments are changing their preferred methods of getting rid of political opponents. </p>
<p>Fear of scrutiny has prompted governments to switch from brazenly killing their opponents to forcing them to “disappear” – leaving their fate unclear, and helping leaders avoid accountability for their actions. The majority of disappearance cases go unsolved – in the absence of a body, forensic evidence or even eyewitness accounts, the people and groups responsible go unpunished.</p>
<p>Assessing the frequency of forced disappearances is difficult, but the practise seems to be becoming more widespread. Evidence from the <a href="http://www.humanrightsdata.com/">Cingranelli and Richards Human Rights Database</a> indicates the number of countries with 50 or more cases of forced disappearance almost doubled from 12 states in 2012 to 19 states in 2015 – the most recent year for which we have comparable data.</p>
<p>As of September 2017, the United Nations <a href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Disappearances/Pages/DisappearancesIndex.aspx">Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances</a> – which began collecting data in 1980 – had been notified of 45,120 active disappearance cases involving 91 states. And with many cases from before 1980 still unsolved, this figure very probably under-represents the total.</p>
<p>But perhaps even more disturbing than the large numbers of disappearances world-wide is the evidence I present with Caroline Payne in an <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14754835.2015.1103158?journalCode=cjhr20">article</a> in The Journal of Human Rights. We’ve found that governments who are party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees people’s rights to liberty and security and is monitored by the United Nations, are in fact <em>more</em> likely than non-signatories to switch from conventional extrajudicial killings to forced disappearances.</p>
<h2>Under the radar</h2>
<p>Forced disappearance is a well-worn tool for human rights violators. In its modern iteration, it began with the Nazis, who frequently spirited people away during World War II under the “Nacht und Nebel” (<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Night-and-Fog-Decree">Night and Fog</a>) decree. Disappearances were notoriously used across in Latin America in the 1970s and 1980s, where a clutch of military dictatorships showed no compunction about simply vanishing inconvenient citizens from the face of the Earth. </p>
<p>The UN-sponsored truth commission for Guatemala <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2012/11/city-disappeared-three-decades-searching-guatemalas-missing/">estimated</a> that up to 45,000 people were disappeared during the country’s 36-year civil war, while in Argentina, campaigns to establish the fate of thousands of disappeared people <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/28/mothers-plaza-de-mayo-argentina-anniversary">continue to this day</a>.</p>
<p>Disappearances were also commonplace in the conflicts that broke out in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. It has been <a href="http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/missing-person-s-families-left-in-the-dark">estimated</a> that 40,000 people were disappeared in the conflicts in Croatia, Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The UN Committee on Missing Persons has made progress in gathering evidence and has <a href="https://www.icmp.int/press-releases/representatives-of-families-of-the-missing-from-the-western-balkans-gather-in-sarajevo-predstavnici-porodica-nestalih-iz-zapadnog-balkana-okupili-su-se-u-sarajevu/">accounted for 26,000</a> missing persons so far. </p>
<p>In other places, nowhere near the same progress has been made. In the absence of concrete evidence, holding those who ordered these crimes to account remains very difficult.</p>
<h2>Spirited away</h2>
<p>The appeal of forced disappearances to human rights violators is not hard to understand. These governments are under increasing scrutiny on all fronts. Brave activists are using social media to document attacks on rights that would previously have gone under the radar – and other governments and non-governmental organisations are still making formal submissions to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances.</p>
<p>Because signing up to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights necessarily invites more direct human rights scrutiny, many governments who join it accept that obvious extrajudicial killings are suddenly a liability. Forced disappearances, by contrast, allow them to deny involvement even as they trumpet their improved record on human rights violations for which there is ample evidence.</p>
<p>Sure enough, plenty of recent reports of forced disappearances implicate various countries which have ratified the covenant. Human Rights Watch <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2018/country-chapters/bangladesh">reported</a> “scores” of forced disappearances in Bangladesh alone. Amnesty International has said that <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/08/egypt-rampant-impunity-for-security-forces-illustrates-dark-legacy-of-rabaa-massacre/">at least 1,700 people</a> have disappeared in Egypt since 2015, and noted the disappearance of five young men at the hands of the police in <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/01/mexico-cloaked-by-silence-of-christmas-police-unleash-spate-of-at-least-5-enforced-disappearances-in-guerrero/">Chilpancingo, Mexico</a> over Christmas 2017. </p>
<p>Finally, <a href="https://nation.com.pk/07-Jan-2018/end-forced-disappearances-now">The Nation</a> and <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/research/2017/11/pakistan-end-enforced-disappearances-now/">Amnesty International</a> have both detailed the widening use of forced disappearance by the Pakistani security services. These practices were once restricted to parts of the country embroiled in conflict, but now seem to be broadening to a nationwide practice, used against bloggers and activists who dare to criticise the government. </p>
<p>While our evidence makes for grim reading, it alerts governments which care about protecting human rights and human rights organisations to pay special attention to changes in other governments’ behaviour. In particular, improvements on some rights measures – in particular extrajudicial killing – may simply signal a change in strategy by governments who have no intention of truly cleaning up their act. Human rights organisations and governments need to wake up to this and start signalling to human rights violating states that their change of tactics is not going unnoticed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91277/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rodwan Abouharb received funding from U.S. Army Research Laboratory and the U. S. Army Research Office under grant number W911NF-14-1-0485. He is a member of the Labour Party. </span></em></p>In an age of increased scrutiny, violent and repressive states are turning to subtler methods of removing dissidents and opponents.M. Rodwan Abouharb, Associate Professor in International Relations, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.