NYSC: Serving Their Bandit-land

“Mr. Ross: be not uneasy, your son, Charley Bruster, …we got him and no powers on earth can deliver out of our hand.” This was one of the letters sent to a distraught father, Christian Ross, whose son, Charley Ross, was kidnapped on July 1, 1874, in Philadelphia, United States of America, by two unknown fellas.

The felons were said to have written about 23 different letters of ransom demands to the Ross family. The kidnappers, according to the Pennsylvania Center for the Book, demanded the sum of $20,000 for the release of Charley, an amount of money the family could not afford. The father of the victim detailed the agony of the family over the kidnap of Charley in a book titled: “The Father’s Story of Charley Ross, the Kidnapped Child.”

The US security agencies did all they could to get Charley released from captivity all to no avail. The closest clue they got was the match of Charley’s ransom-demand letter with another letter written for ransom in another kidnapping case. The police were able to link the two letters to one ex-convict, William Mosher, who was killed earlier in a police shoot-out. Mosher’s accomplice, Joseph Douglas, who was arrested during the encounter, was said to have confessed to the kidnapping of Charley, but regrettably announced that only Mosher knew where he was kept.

Charley’s father, Christian, died in 1897, and the mother in 1912. His older brother, Walter Ross, who was present when Charley was kidnapped, equally passed on in 1943. To date, Charley Ross’ kidnap is one case the US has not been able to unravel. The Pennsylvania Center for the Book documented the ugly incident in the history of America as the first known victim of kidnapping for ransom in the US.

The beauty of the whole incident, however, is that as far back as 150 years ago, the US had developed a technology that allowed it to match handwriting. Yes, Charley was never discovered, his abductors were unravelled. Douglas, the accomplice, who could have been of help, unfortunately died before he could volunteer more information.

America learnt its lesson from the Chaley Ross’ case. One century and 17 years later, another kidnapping took place in California. An 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard was kidnapped on her way to school on June 10, 1991. The US authorities swung into action and searches began. No positive results were achieved despite all the identity profiling supplied by witnesses. However, on August 24, 2009, 18 years after Dugard disappeared, one sex offender convict on parole, Phillip Garrido, showed up in the University of California, Berkeley, accompanied by two young girls. Eagle-eyed security personnel in the university observed something unusual about the party. Garrido was taken into custody for questioning. One thing led to the other, and the suspect invited the mother of the young girls to prove his case. The mother turned out to be Dugard, who was kidnapped 18 years ago, and the girls, her children; all products of serial rape she suffered in the hands of Garrido, who, in connivance with his wife, Nancy, kept the victim at the back of their house!

Pronto, the husband and wife were arraigned, convicted, and sentenced to 431 and 36 years imprisonment on April 28, 2011. But that was not the end of the matter. For failing to discharge its responsibilities of monitoring Garrido, who had been on parole for the rape he committed in 1976, Dugard sued the State of California. In 2010, the courts awarded the sum of $20 million to Dugard against the State of California for its contributions to the young girl’s ordeals in the hands of the felon. California paid the awarded sum of money because America runs a system that punishes infractions, negligence and inefficiency in governance. The accounts of Dugard’s kidnap are recorded in two books: “A Stolen Life” (2011), and “My Book of Firsts” (2016), written by Dugard.

What America learnt over the years was put to test in 2020, when an American, Phillip Walton, aged 27, was kidnapped in Niger Republic and ferried to the Nigerian side of the border by his abductors. The US special forces came visiting the camp. In the operation that lasted less than 20 minutes, the elite US special forces “…executed a daring night-time operation to rescue their fellow American with exceptional skill, precision and bravery…”, so wrote the then US President, Donald Trump. Walton was rescued on October 31, 2020, 96 hours after he was kidnapped in Niger Republic, and 11 of his abductors were said to have “dropped dead before they knew what hit them!” The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, said of that rescue mission thus: “The United States is committed to the safe return of all US citizens taken captive. We delivered on that commitment late last night in Nigeria….We will never abandon any American taken hostage.” That is a nation that cares!

I have dwelt on those cases above to show that crime and criminality are not natives of Nigeria. The most developed countries of the world also have their own share of the good, the bad and the ugly. However, what separates Nigeria from other sane countries of the world, is our inability to initiate a concrete system that rewards good deeds and punishes bad behaviours. We also do not learn from experience and mistakes! Take the case of the eight intending National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members who were kidnapped in Zamfara State on August 17, 2023, while on their way to Sokoto State where they were mobilised to observe the compulsory NYSC programme for one year. According to the reports, 11 of the fresh university graduates from Akwa Ibom State were in the bus enroute Sokoto State Orientation Camp when bandits waylaid them. Three of the travellers escaped while the remaining eight, alongside their driver, were shepherded into captivity.

A serious nation, which considers the safety of its citizenry as priority, would have given all to ensure that those children did not spend a day in captivity. But not Nigeria. From the lackadaisical attitude of those in authority to the flat-footed nature of the nation’s security agencies, all Nigerians got was assurance that the victims would be rescued. Anyone, who is familiar with the advancement Nigeria has made in technology, especially in the telecommunications sector, would be appalled that in the Nigeria of 2024, kidnappers could still hold victims and go ahead to make calls demanding ransom without being tracked! That is our collective shame! Unfortunately, it happens to us daily! The last victim of the vibrant eight young school leavers was released, or ‘rescued’, as the authorities would want us to believe, on Thursday, August 2, 2024. That was a clear one year and five days after the victims were kidnapped!

More nauseating was the pattern with which the first set of victims were ‘rescued’. Like birds in a poultry cage, the victims were ‘rescued’ piecemeal as detailed by the NYSC Director General, Brigadier-General Yusha’u Ahmed, who said: “On August 22, we rescued the last corps member in a set of eight, Solomon Daniel Basse. On the 30th of August 2023, we rescued the first prospective corps member, Emmanuel Esudue. Victoria Bassey Udoka was rescued on the 20th of October 2023. Abigail Peter Sandy was rescued on the 7th of December 2023. Sabbath Anyaewe Ikan was equally rescued on the 7th of December 2023. Obong Victor Udofia was rescued on the 3rd of February 2024. Daniel Bassey was rescued on the 8th of February 2024. Glory Etukudo Thomas was rescued on the 9th of June 2024.” The Army General, as usual with all our security agents, had an alibi for the scattered ‘rescue’ operations. He said that the movement of the kidnapped prospective corps members from one camp to the other by their abductors made the ‘rescue’ operation to be piecemeal!

Ahmed was not through. He intoned that “no state government brought any amount for their rescue as claimed in the media. I must state that I have not received one naira from any state government so far in the name of the rescue of these corps members. No group of people or organisations aided in the rescue of the prospective corps members apart from the security agencies, particularly the army and the DSS.” Do we clap for our agile General! No mention was made of any of the abductors “neutralised or fell to the superior firepower of the security agents, while some escaped with bullet wounds!” Pity!

Now, in recognition of their service to their Bandit-land, the ‘rescued’ eight intending corps members would be issued their discharge certificates for the completion of the one-year compulsory NYSC programme in the camps of their abductors! Wow! That is a good gesture, anyway, for it would have amounted to double jeopardy if the young boys and girls were asked to repeat the service year. However, the problems of the ‘rescued’ victims go beyond the issue of issuance of discharge certificates. While in captivity, a lot must have happened to their psyche. Would these ones ever trust the Nigerian nation again? Would they ever have confidence in the ability of the state to rise to defend them anytime the need arises? What about the agony they were subjected to, and yet, there is no cheering news that one of the felons who visited the inhuman treatment on them was apprehended? How do we build their confidence and ensure that they remain patriotic? The females among them, who can tell what they went through?

Those in charge of our communication and technology have harassed Nigerians to no end in the last two years, or more, demanding from us all sorts of data. From Bank Verification Number (BVN) to National Identification Numbers (NIN), and the compulsory registration of mobile phone numbers, Nigeria has wasted billions of naira on these projects. Yet, in the year of the Lord 2024, kidnappers still make calls to collect ransom without being detected! What happens to the data in the nation’s data bank? What about the biometric registrations Nigerians were made to undertake? Our pictures and fingerprints are domiciled in the data banks of all the service providers and banks. What do our security agents do with that information when they have cases like the kidnap of the NYSC members?

The same is applicable in the case of the 20 medical students from the University of Maiduguri and the University of Jos, who were kidnapped in Otukpo area of Benue state while on their way to Enugu on August 16, 2024. The medical students were said to have been rescued, with the mastermind of the abduction “killed during rescue operation.” The Inspector General of Police (IGP), the self-acclaimed “wounded ;ion”, Kayode Egbetokun, while addressing a press conference in Abuja on Sunday, added that two other members of the gang that kidnapped the medical students were arrested during the operation, in addition to the fact that no ransom was paid.

The IGP particularly commended the officers and men of the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), for their support in the ‘rescue’ operation. No matter our level of scepticism, because of the tendency for the tall tale by our government officials, the news by Egbetokun that the kingpin of this notorious gang was “neutralised during exchange of fire with our operatives…while two other members of the gang were arrested”, is worth ‘celebrating’. It does not just click to say that a kidnapped victim was ‘rescued’ and no arrest or killing of the kidnappers took place!

While we rejoice with the ‘rescued’ victims, their family members and the nation at large, our sympathy also goes to the family of Alhaji Isa Bawa, the Sarkin Gobir, Gatawa District, Sokoto State, who was killed by his abductors because the family could not raise the N1 billion ransom demanded. The District Head’s case becomes even more pathetic because after killing him, his abductors vowed not to release his corpse until a ransom of N60 million and six motorcycles are paid! Before he was killed, Emir Bawa spent three weeks in captivity, having been kidnapped alongside his son on July 29, 2024. The District Head’s corpse remains the most expensive dead body in the history of Nigeria!

Again, all the negotiation for ransom for release alive, and for the release of the corpse, were carried out using telephone! Nigeria once had various satellites like NigeriaSat-1, NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-X which cost the nation huge sums of money in hard currency! NigeriaSat-1, for instance, when it was launched in 2003, was said to have cost $13 million, with a capacity of monitoring disaster in orbit 700km, whatever that meant! Where is that facility in the face of the calamities befalling the nation! The nation launched the NigeriaSat-2 in 2011, which is still in orbit and is said to be providing “imagery for the country.” What do our security agents do with the “imagery”, or are they blurred?

Why do we still pay the personnel in the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT) if kidnapped victims could be made to serve their fatherland in captivity? If those facilities are no longer functioning, have we asked what happened? Have we punished anyone for their failure given the huge sums of money spent to acquire them? What about our celebrated “computer guru”, Bosun Tijani, the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy? What value has he brought to the table in the last one year to stem the spate of abductions for ransom? Is it all about banning Twitter, curtailing WhatsApp and demanding for personal data from the citizenry?

While it is true that kidnapping did not start with the present administration, the government of the day should realise that one of the points the president raised while seeking for the votes of Nigerians is the issue of insecurity. If not for anything, but to make those who invested their trust in him happy for once, the president should do something different from his immediate predecessor.

Truth be told, Nigerians are yet to see the difference between the total collapse of security under the Buhari administration and the complete absence of security in the present government. If there is any difference at all, it is that the nation has moved from bad to worse, while the worst stares us in the face as the nation’s leadership pay us visits from their ‘work stay’ abroad.

I end this discourse with the headline. A solidarity salute to our Ajuwaya, the children of nobodies who served their country in Bandit-land! Corper Shan!