VOA常速英语2019--尼日利亚绑架案引发恐慌

Kidnapping Raise Fear Among Nigerians

Olumide Peter was on his way back from an evening class of the International Institute of Journalism¹ in Abuja when several men hijacked² his car and took him away.

Olumide Peter从阿布贾国际新闻学院夜校回家的路途中，几名男子突然劫持了他的车，并带走了他。

“I tried to maneuver³ myself to open the door; they overpowered me. They hit me with a spanner and some vehicle tools and immediately the guy came out with a gun. He said he’s going to kill me.”

“我努力挣扎着想要去把门打开，但他们人多力气大。他们用扳手和汽车修理工具砸我，忽然间一名男子走出来，手里拿着把枪，说要杀了我。”

He was held for several days and tortured until an unknown amount was paid to the kidnappers⁴.

他被劫持了好几天，受尽折磨，直到交出一笔赎金绑匪才放他走。 

Nigeria is seeing an unusual wave of abductions that is cutting across every socioeconomic class.

近来，尼日利亚有些不同寻常，绑架案件此起彼伏，各个阶层无一幸免。 

According to the police, 685 kidnappings occurred countrywide in the first quarter of the year, an average of seven per day.

据警方表示，仅在今年第一季度，尼日利亚全国范围内就发生685起绑架案件，平均每天7例。 

Kidnappers demand between 1000 dollars to 150,000 dollars as ransom⁵, depending on the financial resources of the victims.

绑匪通常会索要一笔1000至15万美元不等的赎金，赎金大小取决于受害者的经济状况。 

In the past, many abductions were traced to militants⁷ in the south agitating⁸ against oil companies, or the Islamic militant⁶ group Boko Haram in the north.

过去，许多绑架案件都是由南方煽动反对石油公司的激进分子，或北方伊斯兰激进分子团体Boko Haram挑起的。

But security experts say the recent abductions are the result of Nigeria’s economic hardships and poverty.

不过，安全专家表示近期的绑架案主要是尼日利亚国内经济萧条和贫困状况导致的。 

“In fact, most of us saw it coming, because there is hunger in the land.

事实上，我们大多数人都明白为什么会有这些绑架案，因为我们的人民吃不饱肚子。 

And Nigeria has been on economic doldrums for some years now,

并且这些年来，尼日利亚一直处于经济萧条期， 

and crime will increase, definitely, because people become more desperate.”

犯罪率上升这是必然的，因为人们越来越走投无路。” 

The Nigeria government has responded to the wave of kidnappings by setting up an abduction response team.

尼日利亚政府建立了绑架案应对小组来回应大批的绑架案例。 

Nigeria police spokesperson Frank Mbah says the team is making some progress.

尼日利亚警方发言人Frank Mbah 表示，该小组已取得初步进展。 

“That is actually a decrease, a significant drop in the rate of kidnapping in Nigeria. And this drop began to manifest itself soon after the launching of oppression Puff⁹ Adder¹⁰, a very lethal¹¹, a very functional¹², a very effective and efficient anti-crime strategy.”

“尼日利亚的绑架案有所下降，可以说是大幅下降。在打压鼓腹毒蛇运动发起之后，这一下降尤为明显。打压鼓腹毒蛇运动是一个十分强劲，十分有效的打击犯罪策略。”

But security expert Senator Iroegbu says the Nigeria police force may be unprepared for the tasks ahead.

然而安全专家 Senator Iroegbu 表示尼日利亚警方可能并没有做好准备。 

“The number of police force is not near to the standard, the United Nations standard, per 500 people or 1000 people within a space.

“按照联合国标准，每一区域内需要部署500至1000名警察，而尼日利亚警方离这一目标还有较大差距。

So, we are short of manpower. We are short of intelligence. We are short of communal¹³ cooperation that we need.”

所以，我们既缺乏人力，也缺乏头脑。我们也需要更多不同群体间的合作。” 

Last week, tens of kidnappers captured across Nigeria were paraded publicly in Abuja.

上周，数十名在尼日利亚被逮捕的绑匪在阿布贾公开游行。 

Experts like Iroegbu believe if triggers like unemployment and poverty can be reduced, the abduction wave would get smaller too.

Iroegbu 这样的专家认为，如果像失业、贫困这样的情况能有所缓解，绑架案就会有所下降。 

While security officials crack down on perpetrators, victims like Olumide move on with their lives ,careful about where they go, aware that they could be a kidnapping victim again.

当安保人员打压罪犯之时，像Olumide 这样的受害者像往常一样继续过着自己的生活。只不过他们依然担心自己去哪里才会安全，依然清楚自己可能再次落入绑匪之手。

1 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

2 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

3 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。

4 kidnappers   

n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were freed yesterday by their kidnappers unharmed. 他们昨天被绑架者释放了，没有受到伤害。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The kidnappers had threatened to behead all four unless their jailed comrades were released. 帮匪们曾经威胁说如果印度方面不释放他们的同伙，他们就要将这四名人质全部斩首。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

6 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

7 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

8 agitating   

搅动( agitate的现在分词 )； 激怒； 使焦虑不安； （尤指为法律、社会状况的改变而）激烈争论

参考例句：

• political groups agitating for social change 鼓吹社会变革的政治团体
• They are agitating to assert autonomy. 他们正在鼓吹实行自治。

9 puff   

n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气

参考例句：

• He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
• They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。

10 adder   

n.蝰蛇；小毒蛇

参考例句：

• The adder is Britain's only venomous snake.蝰蛇是英国唯一的一种毒蛇。
• An adder attacked my father.一条小毒蛇攻击了我父亲。

11 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

12 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

13 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。