Recent developments in southern Nigeria prompted late president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua, to initiate an amnesty programme in order to eradicate abduction and violence in the region.⁽²⁾ Thereafter, it appeared that calm had finally come to stay, yet the violation of women’s rights in eastern Nigeria is increasing: women are being abducted by non-militants.⁽³⁾

This CAI paper examines abduction as a violation of human rights under relevant international and regional human rights instruments. It is argued that this wave of profit-driven abduction violates women’s rights in eastern Nigeria, with particular focus on Abia State. What steps have the Government of Abia State taken to combat this issue? The paper concludes with suggestions on how to improve responses to the abduction surge.

Abduction is a violation of human rights

The United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UNWED) defines victims of abduction “including those persons who were forcibly detained or arrested and last seen in the custody of the security forces or agents of the state, as well as those forcibly and unlawfully abducted by other known or unknown armed groups or parties.”⁽⁴⁾ However, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPED) does not define abduction. The ICPED only refers to abduction in its definition of enforced disappearance in Article 2 as the abduction of an individual by security forces of a state or private individuals authorised by the state to do so, coupled with a denial on the part of the state with regards to the whereabouts of the individual.⁽⁵⁾

Despite differences in definitions of abduction, said crime is quite different from enforced disappearance. In the case of enforced disappearance, no ransom is demanded and the whole process of abducting an individual is engineered by the state. The same cannot be said for the focus of this paper, abduction, which is planned and executed by a private party, often an armed group, who demands money in return for the safety of the abductee(s). Abduction has become a profit-driven crime in Abia State. Despite the ICPED’s lack of clear distinction between abduction and enforced disappearance, the crime violates human rights: it curtails a person’s right to freedom of movement.

In both the mentioned human rights instruments⁽⁶⁾ and the African regional human rights instruments, it is not explicitly stated that ‘no one shall be abducted’ or that ‘all persons have a right to not to be abducted.’ The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, to mention a few, make provisions for human beings not to be subjected to inhuman treatment.⁽⁷⁾ Can it be inferred from these provisions that abduction amounts to a violation of human rights, because it subjects a person to inhuman treatment, curtails a person’s right to freedom of movement and also threatens a person’s right to life? Given that abduction also threatens the right to life, the right to be free from degrading treatment and the right to human dignity, abduction definitely violates human rights.

When Nigerian women are abducted they are usually subjected to all kinds of inhumane treatment by the abductors.⁽⁸⁾ Nigeria, as a state party to the ICCPR and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, has a duty to protect its citizens, especially the female citizens in eastern Nigeria, from abduction.

Abduction and the violation of women’s rights in eastern Nigeria

Women tend to suffer more than men when abducted, because they endure not only physical and emotional violence, but sexual violence as well.⁽⁹⁾ For example, on 9 September 2010, the women amongst abducted victims along the Aba-Port Harcourt expressway in eastern Nigeria were raped by the abductors.⁽¹⁰⁾ A woman in Aba, Abia State was forced by her abductors to have sexual intercourse with her second son after they had killed her first son for refusing to do so.⁽¹¹⁾ On 17 September 2010, Stanley Uche and his wife were abducted. His wife was released to procure funds for the abductors. Despite paying the demanded sum to secure the release of her husband, the abductors nevertheless killed her husband.⁽¹²⁾ Similar cases of abduction and abuse of women are abundant in Abia State. Journalist Peter Offor points out that not a day passes by without reports of abduction in the State. Women are inevitably regular victims of this wave of violence.⁽¹³⁾

When these eastern Nigerian women are raped by abductors, their rights to respect for human dignity and to freedom from degrading and inhumane treatment are violated. In one case, 15 abducted school pupils were abducted, amongst them a number of girls.⁽¹⁴⁾ Raping or coercing a woman to have sexual intercourse with her son has deep psychological effects on her, not to mention the increased risk of contracting HIV. The abduction and abuse of women in eastern Nigeria, particularly Abia State, amount to a host of rights violations. What is the State doing to protect its female citizens?

The efforts of the Government and other stakeholders

The Federal Government and the Government of Abia State have made several efforts to address the issue of abduction of women, but it remains to be seen how effective these efforts are. Governor of Abia State, Theodore Orji, recently officially acknowledged the incessant abductions and raping in Abia State and stated that abductors will be dealt with by the law.⁽¹⁵⁾ President Goodluck Jonathan ordered the release of the 15 kidnapped children mentioned above.⁽¹⁶⁾ Abia State Government has furthermore passed a law which legalises the death penalty as punishment for abducting a person. The law also instates payment of a handsome reward to informants of the whereabouts of abductors.⁽¹⁷⁾ The State’s Government bought armoured cars with state-of-the-art gadgets to provide better security and protection to the people of Abia State and provides 100 patrol vans to security agencies. The Federal Government has commenced the construction of accommodation to host repentant abductors.⁽¹⁸⁾ Whilst the police have been instrumental in the release of the 15 abducted children,⁽¹⁹⁾ the same cannot be said for every other abduction case of women and other citizens in Abia State. Police officers have, in fact, been victims of the abductors, too.⁽²⁰⁾ Unfortunately, the fact that abductions continue almost undisturbed indicates that authorities need to revise their approach and dedication to this issue.

The way forward

Ijeoma Daberechi Odoh suggested in October 2010 ⁽²¹⁾ that one of the ways abduction can be curbed is by job creation, so that unemployed youths have no excuse to participate in abductions for monetary rewards. The State Government of Abia State and the Federal Government should establish a joint institution to serve as a home for all female victims, including girl children, where they can receive proper medical and psychological care. If such a joint institution were also tasked with focusing on the prevention of abductions and employed individuals to zoom in on this specific crime, perhaps abductors would understand that both Government levels consider abduction a very serious crime and above all, that they value their women citizens enough to put a stop to abductions. All hands must be on deck to protect the rights of women through increased public awareness. Governments should work together to replace fear with brave, insistent community spirit, so that collective efforts can effectively curb and prevent abduction from flourishing into a full-scale profitable venture.

Abduction as a weapon has transformed from being a weapon of the marginalised Niger Delta peoples, to a money-making venture for criminal youths in eastern Nigeria. Women’s rights are continuously violated in broad daylight. Nigeria, being a party to the ICCPR and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights has a duty to end abduction in the eastern region, to safeguard its women and girls and to aid female victims of abduction.

NOTES:

(1) Contact Flora Ogbuitepu through Consultancy Africa Intelligence's Rights in Focus Unit (rights.focus@consultancyafrica.com).
(2) Xan Rice, ‘Nigeria begins amnesty for Niger Delta militants’, Guardian, 6 August 2009, www.guardian.co.uk.
(3) ‘Shocking story of kidnapping: The Aba time bomb’, Elombah, 10 October 2010, www.elombah.com.
(4) Truth and reconciliation commission reports of South Africa, ‘Reports of the human rights violations committee: Abductions, disappearances and missing persons’, 21 March 2003, www.info.gov.za.
(5) Article 2 of the International Convention for the Protection of All persons from enforced disappearance 2006.
(6) Office of the United Nation high commissioner for human rights, http://www2.ohchr.org.
(7) Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, www2.ohchr.org, and Article 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, www.africa-union.org.
(8) ‘Shocking story of kidnapping: The Aba time bomb’, Elombah, 10 October 2010, www.elombah.com.
(9) Patience Gulu, ‘The usefulness of human rights frame work in addressing gender based violence’, My Peace Women, October 2010, www.peacewomen.org.
(10) ‘Shocking story of kidnapping: The Aba time bomb’, Elombah, 10 October 2010, www.elombah.com.
(11) Ibid.
(12) Sahara Reporters, ‘The untold story: Aba in the firm grip of kidnap militia’, Sahara Reporters, 2 October 2010, http://www.saharareporters.com.
(13) Peter Offor, ‘15 pupils kidnapped in Aba’, Daily Sun, 28 September 2010, http://www.sunnewsonline.com.
(14) Ugochukwu Eke & Bisi Olaniyi, ‘Security agents close in on kidnappers of 15 kids’, The Nation, 1 October 2010, http://thenationonlineng.net.
(15) ’This madness in Abia must stop says Orji’, Voices From Nigeria, 30 September 2010, http://nigeria.myinternetforum.com.
(16) ‘President orders rescue of 15 kidnapped children’, Information Nigeria, Nigerian News, 30 September 2010, http://www.informationnigeria.org.
(17) Matthias Nwogu, ‘Abia buys armoured vehicles to deter kidnappers’, Next, 17 September 2010, http://www.234next.com.
(18) Ibid.
(19) Gordi Udeajah, ‘Kidnapped kids regain freedom in Abia’, The Guardian Nigeria, 2 October 2010, http://www.ngrguardiannews.com.
(20) Peter Offor, ‘15 pupils kidnapped in Aba’, Daily Sun, 28 September 2010, http://www.sunnewsonline.com.
(21) Ijeoma Daberachi Odoh, ‘Kidnapping in Nigeria and its root causes’, 23 October 2010, http://www.tncp.net.

Written by Flora Ogbuitepu ⁽¹⁾