Kidnap scare hits Nigerian students in Malaysia


Auwal Dankaka Hussain
For Nigerian criminals, the world is their oyster, their new stage, and Niger Delta-like kidnapping of fellow Nigerians, their new act. Malaysia is their present port of call.
Auwal Dankaka Hussain’s kidnapping in Malaysia has got other Nigerians worried that it will become a trend. And the kidnappers have already gone to work even before his release. Now, other young Nigerian students in Malaysia are afraid of going out, as even the life of the Nigerian High Commissioner to Malaysia has been threatened. It is now sixteen days since Hussain was kidnapped while waiting for a bus. First, the kidnappers asked three of his friends to contribute RM10, 000 (N500, 000) each for his release. The ransom was then slashed to $1,000 according to the Nigerian High Commissioner to Malaysia, Mr. Peter J. E. Anegheh. But that was not before Hussain’s friends paid RM1, 000 to the kidnappers.

Hussain’s classmate and friend, Bashir Muzakkari, said when the kidnappers threatened to kill Hussain, they quickly paid the money into Hussain’s account and the kidnappers used his ATM card to withdraw the money. “They said that would be the last time we would hear from Hussain if we did not send the money. So we put RM1, 000 (N50, 000) into Hussain’s account, which the kidnappers withdrew. The High Commissioner later came to our school and informed us that the security cameras showed them doing so but their faces could not be seen.”

Professor Abdulkarim, the president of Nigerian Diaspora Organization, Malaysian Chapter, (NIDO-My) believed that the students should not have given the money to the kidnappers. He said it is better to leave the matter in the hands of the High Commission. “I’ve spoken with the High Commissioner and he said that they are on top of the situation and working closely with the police. So it’s better to let them handle it,” Professor Abdulkarim said.

However, Hussain’s friends are no longer in the picture. Rather, the matter is now in the hands of the Malaysian police. Weekly Trust attempted to speak with Alhaji Dankaka Hussain, Chairman of Bebeji Local Government Area of Kano State and father of Hussain, but the effort proved abortive.

A common occurrence

This is not the first time a Nigerian student studying at a private university in Malaysia would be kidnapped. About two months ago, two students were also kidnapped in a similar fashion. There is also a report that a certain parent had to pay $10,000 before his daughter was released. Furthermore, some students told our reporter that three more students (two girls and a boy) were kidnapped last weekend. But the High Commissioner, Peter J. E. Anegheh, said there was no such incident. “We received a call a couple of days ago that some Nigerian students studying at a certain university were abducted. So we went to the school and requested that the administrators should gather the students together and we asked if anyone of them was missing. But all the Nigerian students there were accounted for,” he said.

In a telephone conversation with Weekly Trust, Sameerah (not real name), a student of Limkokwing University, who was kidnapped and later released after a ransom was paid said she’s now doing better. She also said that she has just completed counselling and appreciates the help of her university and the Malaysian police. But she is not happy with the contribution or lack thereof of the Nigerian High Commission in Malaysia.

In an interview with Weekly Trust, the High Commisioner said he could not sleep since Hussain disappeared. “We’ve been very worried here,” he said. “The High Commission is the Nigeria the students have in Malaysia and I’m the head. Therefore, I’m very worried. On Children’s Day, there was a holiday in Nigeria as well as Malaysia but I was at the police station throughout that day. We’ve not rested and have been meeting regularly with the police.”

Diplomatic threat?

However, the kidnappers are not happy that he’s playing active roles in the cases so far and for that reason they have threatened his life. “They said they would kill me and my wife,” he said. However, it is not only the High Commissioner and his family that live in fear. Other students are afraid of meeting visitors, going for shopping or leaving the house. Salma (not real name) is a final year student of Business Information Systems. Like Hussain, she studies at Limkokwing University. She said she only goes out when it is absolutely necessary.

Sameerah also goes to the same school and has also cut back on the number of times she goes out. “Even before the kidnappings started, I wasn’t going out often. But since this unfortunate thing happened, I rarely leave the house.”

Who are the kidnappers?

Contrary to earlier reports, the kidnappers are not students but Nigerians who come to Malaysia through student visas to engage in criminal activities. Most of them study at visa schools. Visa schools are the colleges that make their money by providing academic documentation for the ‘students’ who have interests beyond academics. With such documents, the students get their student visas renewed every year, the schools get their money and everybody is happy - except the victims of their crimes.

Professor Abdulkarim said, “Two months ago, they kidnapped two girls - one from Maiduguri and the other from Kaduna - and demanded for ransom. Because they knew they could easily be traced if they gave a Malaysian account number, the kidnappers provided a Nigerian bank account number and this led to the arrest of their collaborators in Lagos. But the perpetrators here are yet to be arrested. It is possible that these are the same people who kidnapped Hussain.”

Dr Mustapha Imam urges caution about generalizations. “Generalization of those studying in private universities as products of improper upbringing is a sentiment perhaps not all would agree to. I personally know a lot of undergraduates studying here who are morally upright.”

Ishaq Oyefolahan said, “People are already very concerned about Nigerians here” and fears that “this will add more to smearing our image.” Already, the Ministry of Higher Education has removed the subsidy foreign students enjoy at public universities. This means that Nigerian students studying at public universities will have to pay the same exorbitant tuition fees that students at private universities are paying.

This may also be a strategy to reduce the influx of foreign students into Malaysia. According to New Straits Times report of March 5, 2010, majority of the commercial crimes committed in Malaysia last year were committed by foreigners. And most of the foreigners, especially those from Africa entered Malaysia on study visas.

Riding Asian Tiger of crime

There are many Nigerians serving prison terms in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. In June, 2008 Indonesia executed two Nigerians, Samuel Okoye and Anthony Nwaolisa for drug trafficking. And about eighteen more are on death row for drug related offences. In 2001 alone, six Nigerians were executed in Thailand for drug offences. On March 8, 2003 Bangkok Post reported that 338 Nigerians were repatriated under the prisoner exchange treaty. But many more that are not eligible are still serving life sentences or are awaiting execution there.

In Malaysia, Nigerians are on the same platform with Indonesians and Chinese as the top three foreign criminals. Last year Nigeria was second in the 419 sub-sector with 68 arrests while it led the pack in money counterfeiting with 18 arrests. All in all, 94 Nigerians were arrested in Malaysia in 2009. The High Commissioner remarked: “Whenever we are in African Heads of Mission meeting and crimes are discussed, I always want to run away in shame.”


http://www.weekly.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3332:kidnap-scare-hits-nigerian-students-in-malaysia-&catid=40:cover-stories&Itemid=26

Who knows,they may soon move to the UK & then to the States before they touch down in Canada

Maybe the UK but not the U.S.

We believe in our 2nd Amendment rights. And that is the right to bear arms. I will be happy to use my glock to blow a hole in any kidnapper who comes my way.

auwal?

EzeUche:

Maybe the UK but not the U.S.

We believe in our 2nd Amendment rights. And that is the right to bear arms. I will be happy to use my glock to blow a hole in any kidnapper who comes my way.

Taa mechie onu dia!! Onye ujo .

I seems you want me to send my hommies down to D.C, so that they can deal with you mercilessly.

Why is ransome for kidnapping so cheap in malaysia ?,they really need to come learn from the niger delta boys.lol

sad.

metal-gong:

Taa mechie onu dia!! Onye ujo .

I seems you want me to send my hommies down to D.C, so that they can deal with you mercilessly.

ROTFL!

Anyone kidnapping for just $1000 is not serious in life.

m nigerian, but Bleep you, ya u d guy sayn hes goin to send his hommies, bastard, ur assholes who spoil our name, ill Bleep u up on sight bitch, useless people , d afterlife is waiting 4 u, u think ull live forvere ba, sha i jus dey feel pitty 4 u,

EzeUche:

Maybe the UK but not the U.S.

We believe in our 2nd Amendment rights. And that is the right to bear arms. I will be happy to use my glock to blow a hole in any kidnapper who comes my way.

ROFL . Amen to that! but it better be in self defense

EzeUche:

Maybe the UK but not the U.S.

We believe in our 2nd Amendment rights. And that is the right to bear arms. I will be happy to use my glock to blow a hole in any kidnapper who comes my way.

True talk my brother.