Activists and aid workers who document government abuses or monitor elections often risk abduction by those who oppose their work. In Nigeria, the Niger Delta region was known for such practices, however, there has been a decline in the region following the amnesty programme. Unfortunately, the kidnapping business is now growing popular in the North with both Local and International Personalities at risk. Stockholm-based Civil Rights Defenders is distributing a bracelet that sends out “Help!” messages when its wearer activates it, or if someone pulls the bracelet off its wearer forcefully, the BBC reported. The bracelet has a GPS tracker and will send information about the wearer’s identity and location to nearby workers who could come to the rescue. The Civil Rights Defenders headquarters also gets a notice. At the same time, the bracelet posts messages to Twitter and Facebook. The advocacy group hopes to give out 55 bracelets within the next year and a half. Civil Rights Defenders says the bracelet was inspired by the case of Natalia Estemirova. Estemirova documented human rights abuses in Chechnya in the northern Caucaus region. In 2009, she was abducted and shot in the head.
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