Journal of Development Communication And Applied Theatre

With increased insecurity in Nigeria, kidnapping has evolved into a lucrative enterprise intertwined with political corruption and money politics. Nigerian literature has thus emerged as a vital tool for critiquing these societal ills. This study examines Peter Omoko‘s 2023 play Kidnapped, a sharp satire that exposes kidnapping as a repulsive ―career‖ while foregrounding its traumatic effects on victims and communities. The statement of the problem reveals a critical gap in Nigerian literary scholarship. Although kidnapping has spread across the Niger Delta and beyond, causing socioeconomic paralysis and widespread psychological disorders, few studies interrogate its traumatic dimensions in contemporary drama. Existing scholarship often prioritises political or economic analyses, neglecting the long-term psychological scars such as Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), loss of agency, and intergenerational fear that Omoko dramatises through survivors struggling to rebuild their lives. The purpose of the paper is twofold: to analyse how the play portrays individual and collective trauma, and to evaluate Omoko‘s innovative use of satire as a tool for resistance and healing. The theoretical framework integrates Cathy Caruth‘s trauma theory (unclaimed experience and belatedness) with Frantz Fanon‘s postcolonial critique of violence, revealing kidnapping as both a symptom of neocolonial failure and a potential site of psychic recovery. The methodology is qualitative, relying exclusively on close textual analysis, thematic interpretation, and examination of dramatic techniques (dialogue, irony, symbolism) drawn from the primary text. The anticipated outcomes will demonstrate Omoko‘s creative fusion of satire and survivor agency, proving literature‘s cathartic power in fostering national healing and supporting policy reforms for trauma rehabilitation. Ultimately, the study positions Kidnapped as a compelling intervention in Nigerian literature urging renewed focus on the human cost of insecurity.

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