Exposed: Eight(8) tips for bikers to avoid being kidnapped while traveling long distance

The rampant kidnapping incidents across Nigeria have turned inter-state travel into a scary exercise for some bikers.

A few bike travellers have been abducted in recent times by kidnappers who demanded crazy amounts of money as ransom before releasing the victims. This has discouraged some bikers to stay off the road for long journeys.

More often than not, the kidnappers terrorise, abuse, and kill their victims even when a ransom was paid for the safe return of those in their custody.

In January 2024, the PUNCh newspaper reported that civil society groups, under the aegis of the Civil Society Joint Action Group, said 17,469 Nigerians were abducted under the Muhammadu Buhari and Bola Tinubu administrations from 2019 to date.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja, the Civil Society Joint Action Group, revealed that 2,423 persons had been killed, while 1,872 others had been abducted since the inauguration of President Tinubu.

Out of the total number of 17,469 kidnapped from 2019 and to date, 90 per cent of the cases were recorded under Buhari, while 10 per cent have been recorded under Tinubu.

With the increasing cases of insecurity and kidnapping for ransom, here are safety tips that may protect you from being a victim.

1. Avoid travelling at night: kidnappers operate mostly at night, night travel is risky because your bike may develop an unexpected fault and you would want to stop to check, while you’re trying to figure out a solution, kidnappers may come out for you in numbers and you will be their next target especially on bad, poorly lit roads. Avoid night travels by all means.
2. Avoid displaying your profession on your bike windshield. For instance, some bikers will have sticker like this on their windshield “I’m a medical doctor” such information sends signals to abductors that you have plenty money stock somewhere.
3. Make your mechanic test ride your bike two days before your trip
   Oftentimes, when someone else test ride your bike, they discover new things which you don’t normally pay attention to. Get your mechanic’s objective feedbacks and make necessary corrections before you hit the road. Kidnappers take advantage of people whose vehicle breakdown on the highway, to prevent this, fix all known issues with your bike to avoid being kidnappers target.
4. Ride to the nearest police station or place of safety whenever you feel your bike is being followed while travelling.
5. Fill up your petrol tank whenever you’re travelling with your bike, avoid stopping too many times to get fuel, fill to the brim to reduce stop Time.
6. Respect curfews or restrictions imposed on the movement of vehicles and persons on the road or at your destination.
7. Limit your speed to 100km per hour and be vigilant about your surroundings.
8. Don’t pick up random people at the roadside. We have seen cases where criminally minded people beg for lift from bikers and they end up being agents of kidnappers, please avoid giving unnecessary lift to strangers who can cost you fortunes.

Did you enjoy this post on Kidnapping cases in Nigeria? We’ve also written a post on a couple of other interesting posts.

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