Author(s) :

TOLULOPE Julius Omoyeni. Ph.D..

Volume/Issue :

Abstract :

Kidnapping for ransom is a persistent manifestation of insecurity in Nigeria. Studies have consistently explained this through poverty, unemployment, criminality, terrorism, and governance failure. While important, these do not fully account for kidnapping’s transformation to a sophisticated system of accumulation. This article argues that kidnapping-for-ransom has evolved into "Ransom Capitalism" a political-economic system in which insecurity is productive, fear is a commodity, and human vulnerability is a source of wealth. This study adopts a qualitative political economy approach to examine how state fragility facilitates a ransom economy in which fear and vulnerability become mechanisms of accumulation. Drawing on State Fragility Theory, this paper advances three arguments. First, state fragility creates structural conditions that enable ransom capitalism. Second, kidnapping has evolved into a sophisticated economy characterized by organized networks, differentiated pricing, and specialized roles. Third, the marketisation of fear is the principal mechanism through which criminal actors accumulate capital and reproduce insecurity. Fear generates a demand for protection, creating markets that are dependent on persistent insecurity. This study argues that the relationship between kidnapping and state fragility is cyclical. While state weakness facilitates kidnapping networks, the ransom economy erodes state legitimacy, encourages security privatisation, and deepens governance deficits. Consequently, kidnapping is not merely a symptom of state fragility but a process that actively reproduces it. This study finds that kidnapping-for-ransom in Nigeria has evolved into a political economy of accumulation, where fear and vulnerability are commodified. This system emerges from and reproduces state weaknesses. The study concludes that the greatest obstacle to dismantling ransom capitalism may not be a lack of security resources, but the absence of a political will to confront the networks and institutional weaknesses that keep insecurity profitable. Keywords: Criminal Entrepreneurship; Kidnapping-for-Ransom; Marketisation of Fear; Political Economy of Insecurity; Ransom Capitalism; State Fragility.

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