Why Kidnapping, Banditry, Armed Robbery Persist in Nigeria

The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), on Tuesday said the increasing rate of kidnappings, banditry and armed robbery in the country has been compounded by the deplorable state of roads across the country. 

To this end, the union urged the federal government to blacklist construction companies that carry out sub-standard road projects. 

In his speech delivered at the 36th National Executive Council, NEC, meeting at the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State, the National President of SSANU, Samson Ugwoke, said  Nigerian roads have become dead traps with the attendant loss of lives on a daily basis. 

According to him,  why it is easy to kidnap people on the highways  is because of the bad roads.

"If you check where we have the military and police checkpoints and recently the Federal Road Safety Corps checkpoints, they are all at the bad portions of the roads. So you must slow down, when you slow down you are under arrest. So, we are appealing to the federal government that one of the ways they should address kidnapping, armed robbery and banditry is by fixing Nigerian highways," he said.

Ugwuoke said government should try and fix the Nigeria highways, adding that the money to do it  is available.

"Government should also not give weak companies that are not able to do good jobs. Many of the roads are less than five years they were constructed but they have broken down. 

"We should blacklist the companies that do substandard jobs in Nigeria. We have good companies with good records. Let us use such companies to do good roads that can last in Nigeria. 

We have lost so many lives on the highway due to accidents. These casualties are avoidable because of the roads are fixed it could reduce accidents," he added.