NCJ Number
104675
Journal
Terrorism Volume: 9 Issue: 4 Dated: (1987) Pages: 313-339
Date Published
1987
Length
27 pages
Annotation
This analysis discusses the concept of terrorism within the context of political events related to Nigeria and attemps to identify the causes that led to the political violence exhibited by the Nigerian fugitive, Umara Dikko, against the Nigerian Government.
Abstract
Also considered is the attempted kidnapping of Dikko from Great Britain. Dikko was abducted in London and drugged. He was stuffed into a large shipping crate, accompanied by a doctor who was supposed to make sure he remained alive during the flight back to Nigeria. Circumstantial evidence strongly suggested that the Nigerian Government was involved in the affair, although this was consistently denied. Four persons were convicted of the attempted kidnapping in Great Britain. The causes of terror that led to the Dikko kidnap affair are attributed partly to Dikko's threats against the Nigerian military regime. These threats were perceived as a danger to Nigeria as a nation. The analysis finds that acts of terror, irrespective of cause or motivation, are more likely to provoke counterterrorism and that violence of any type is strongly condemned as an illegitimate political instrument in Nigerian society. 63 references.