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Kidnapping, Hostage Taking Could Become Political Terrorism Tools, Says Minister
By Kingsley Omonobi
Ahead of the 2011 elections, Internal Affairs Minister, Capt. Emmanuel Ihenacho (rtd) has said kidnapping and
hostage taking, may become the preferred tactic of those he described as political terrorists.
He said "hostage taking and political kidnapping, a tool used by fundamentalist groups, has degenerated into means of currying financial incentives and achieving political ambitions."
Ihenacho gave the warning just as Police Affairs Minister, Adamu Maina Waziri tried to absolve politicians from the menace called kidnapping, insisting that the code of conduct of politicians did not encourage kidnapping as a tool to achieving power, adding that kidnapping is criminality 'simplicita'.
Inspector-General of Police, Ogbonna Onovo, on his part, said there was need for more stiffer penalty for kidnappers, explaining that the 10-year imprisonment punishment stipulated for such offenders as contained in Section 315 of the Criminal Code was not enough deterrent.
Both ministers and the Inspector General of Police, spoke at a one-day workshop on 'Kidnapping as a threat to national security' organised by the Alumni Association of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos, in Abuja.
Said Ihenacho: "In Nigeria, kidnapping started as a major political weapon of militias in the Niger Delta region. However, in recent years, this phenomenon has also spread to other parts of the nation, as unemployed youths and young university graduates have adopted this method for improving their financial status. Kidnapper now carry heavier weapons than the security agencies, which amplifies that it has become a very formidable force that government must contend with."
Biometric security technology
The minister stated, however that "due to the increase in kidnapping in recent times, the Federal Government and other stakeholders have begun to embrace biometric security technology. It will check the wave of abduction in the country, a development which has further exacerbated the already precarious security situation in the country."
National interests are being threatened
To Adamu Waziri, "It is in our national interest to deliberate on the problem of kidnapping because our national interests are being threatened by kidnapping. For many months, banks in Aba were closed because the economy was hijacked. If this is allowed to continue, our march to democracy will be stalled.
"We also have to collectively identify, isolate and eliminate the underlying causes of kidnapping. We need to assure our citizenry that if we cannot completely eliminate, we can reduce it."
10-yr imprisonment inadequate
Emphasizing on the offence of kidnapping and why it is prevalent, Onovo said, while 10 years imprisonment was inadequate, there was need for an enhanced judiciary process like the setting up of special courts to fast track the process of getting kidnappers tried and punished.
Source: Vanguard, 13th August 2010.
KIDNAPPINGS
Police Arrest 500 Kidnappers
* Mother, wife, other relations also picked
By Kingsley Omonobi & Anayo Okoli
ABUJA— INSPECTOR General of Police, Ogbonna Onovo, said, weekend, that at the last count, there were about 500 kidnapping suspects in Police cells across the country with many of them having confessed to the criminal act and others caught in the act.
He also suggested the setting up of 'Special Courts' to try and punish kidnappers to serve as deterrent to others planning to join.
Onovo said: "As at today, we are requesting for special courts to try kidnappers, so that it will not only serve as deterrent, it will also help to decongest Police cells. Their numbers are increasing by the day and there is inadequate punishments for them except the courts come on stream.
"Cases of kidnapping should be seen as acts of terrorism for the fact that it is not only technology driven, it has been commercialized and can be used as an instrument of coercion. So it has to be fought with technology, information and with the support of everybody. It must not be a factor in 2011. Those who aid and abet it must be revealed, including their collaborators."
The Police IG said that kidnapping apart, dangerous criminal trends like terrorism, trans-national and organized crimes in hard drugs, arms and ammunition which transcended borders and territory, were problems the police was struggling to deal with, noting that the Nigeria Police was blessed with the personnel to do the job if properly equipped.
He added: "Another area that is of great concern is the fight against corruption and we have taken this fight to far reaching levels throughout the year. We have succeeded in reducing it to the barest minimum. Cases of accidental discharge are being tackled by providing better training while there was ongoing sensitization on the need for every Nigerian to know that crime fighting is everybody's responsibility."
Onovo who was speaking during the decoration of eight newly promoted commissioners of Police, warned politicians planning or strategizing to use the instruments of kidnapping to gag or influence voters direction in 2011, to think again, noting that with government's renewed vigour towards equipping the Police in the fight against kidnapping and other crimes, such plots would be neutralized while no culprit would be spared no matter the status.
The eight commissioners of Police were: Adenrele Tasheed Shinaba, CP in charge Anti-Terrorist Squad; Felix Osita Uyana, COMPOL MOPOL; David Omojola, CP Quarter Master; Jubril Olawale Adeniji, CP in charge Federal SARS; Abdulahi Mogaji, CP Kogi State; Ibrahim Maishanu, CP Police College, Kaduna; Amanam Abrakasanga, CP Police Cooperatives; and Olajide Akano, CP in charge Criminal Intelligence Bureau, Force Headquarters.
Abia police pick 4 'kidnappers'
Meantime, the Abia State police command has arrested four persons in connection with the abduction, two Sundays ago, of four journalists and their driver.
The chairman, of Lagos State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Mr. Wahab Oba; Secretary of the Council, Zone G, Mr. Adolphus Okonkwo; Mr. Shola Oyeyipo; Council's Assistant Secretary, Sylva Okereke; and their driver, Mr. Azeez Abdulrauf were kidnapped in Umuafouka junction near Ukwakiri in Obingwa Local Government Council of Abia State. The journalists were released six days after.
The arrested suspects were two males and two females who were said to have been picked up in the course of police combing of the community.
Abia State commissioner of police, Mr. Jonathan Johnson, said one of the female suspects served as cook for the kidnappers, while the other was said to be the mother of one of the kidnappers who is still at large.
Meanwhile, scores of policemen and other security operatives are still besieging some communities in Obingwa council area in search of the hoodlums who kidnapped the journalists and their driver.
The pressure and tension generated by the abduction of the journalists prompted the Federal Government to give the police an order to ensure that the hoodlums were captured and the menace of kidnapping wiped out of the state and other parts of the country.
Abia State Government, on its own part had put some measures in place to help fight the menace. Governor Theodore Orji is said to have placed orders for the procurement of three more armoured personnel carriers, APC, to enable the police effectively combat kidnapping and other crimes.
IGP counsels over 2011
Still basking in the euphoria of the successful liberation of the four kidnapped executive members of the NUJ last week, the Inspector General of Police, Ogbonna Onovo, said the forthcoming elections in 2011 would be the greatest challenge and test to the nation's democratic dispensation hinting that reports indicated that rising cases of kidnapping and its patterns were pointers to what politicians intended to do to perpetrate themselves in power.
Onovo said: "The last one year of policing the country has been very tough but by God's grace and support of everybody particularly the government, we are marching on. Let me, however, say that the greatest challenge to our democracy lies ahead in 2011. So many people have said there will be bloodbath, assassinations and kidnapping as a result of the elections. But I am saying we will surprise these people.
"I am saying the year 2011 will come, the elections will hold and we will ensure it is free, fair and peaceful and we as a nation will remain in one piece while all those that will do things to disrupt the elections or try to set the nation ablaze will have themselves to blame."
Source: Vanguard, 26th July 2010.
Kidnapping: If we must win the war
Kidnapping: South East rulers scandalised - HRH Orji, Anambra traditional ruler
How to stem kidnapping –Expert
Kidnap Saga: Four Suspects Arrested
21 suspected kidnappers, 25 cultists arrested in Abuja, Delta
Kidnapping, akin to terrorism — Akunyili
CAN wants stiff sanction against kidnappers
Why kidnapping thrives, by Akunyili, ASUU president
Police parade suspected kidnappers, others in Delta
Monarch Sacked As Journalists Are Freed
We will tackle security problems in S-East – Jonathan
Mass police deployment in S'East underway
Kidnapping: Police redeploy 3,500 officers in Anambra, Abia
The menace of kidnapping?
Kidnapping: Enugu to Demolish Suspected Hideouts
Lagos: Released journalists receive joyous welcome
This kidnap matter is really simple
Kidnappers scare us away from home –Diaspora Nigerians
How Police Aid Kidnappers, By Falana
Kidnapped journalists freed in Abia, set to arrive Lagos
Kidnapping: Jakande, Amaechi's wife, Ojudu advise journalists to be security conscious
KIDNAPPING: Elevated To An Industry In Rivers, Abia Despite Amnesty
Kidnapping As Another Bizarre Saga In The Southeast
Kidnapping: CNPP calls for national summit on security
Obingwa As The New Hub Of Kidnapping
'It Is A Very Unfortunate Situation And Also Painful That This Type Of Thing Is Happening Right Now'
'We Need To Build On GSP To Make It Easier To Track Criminals'
In Anambra, The People Want Unemployment Tackled To Stem Kidnapping
'Nigeria Represents A Bad Product In The World Today'
Kidnapping: Ekweremadu Backs Call For State Of Emergency
South East Zone, The Most Troubled In Nigeria - Onovo
Anglican Primate Wants State Of Emergency In South-East
Kidnap Saga: NUJ Meets In Lagos To Raise Ransom
Kidnappings: Panic in police high command
Jonathan declares war on kidnappers
Police discover hideout of journalists' kidnappers
Kidnappers reduce ransom to N30m as Interpol moves into Abia
...We're closing in on them-Onovo
Save my job, police chief Onovo tells kinsmen
Onovo berates Imo police command, Mark advocates state of emergency
Oritsejafor Urges FG To Focus On Security
Senate seeks state of emergency in S'South, S'East
Kidnapped Journalists: Interpol Arrive Abia State
Isreali security experts to rescue kidnapped journalists
Falana alleges connivance
Kidnapping: Senate president advocates jungle justice
Kidnapping: A diary of shame
Onovo To Kidnappers: Get Ready For War
Kidnappings: No responsible govt 'll allow it –Mark
Abduction of 4 journalists: It's sad, unacceptable –FG
Akunyili: Journalists' Kidnap, Challenge to National Security
Kidnapping Of Journalists Unacceptable – FG
Freed journalists arrive Lagos, recount experiences
By Olasunkanmi Akoni, Jemi Ekunkunbor & JImoh Babatunde
LAGOS CHAIRMAN of Lagos State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Mr. Wahab Oba, and three other journalists: Mr. Adolphus Okonkwo, Sylva Okereke, Shola Oyeyipo, with their driver, Mr. Azeez Abdulraf,
kidnapped by gunmen at Umuafouka junction, near Ukwakiri, in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State, a week ago, regained their freedom, yesterday.
They arrived Lagos at about 6.30 pm aboard a chattered ZS-SME flight at the Local Air wing, Ikeja to the warm embrace of journalists who turned out in their large numbers.
According to reports, they regained their freedom between 1.30 and 2.00 a.m. at Ukwakiri.
Narrating their ordeal to newsmen at the Police Headquarters, Umuahia; Wahab and the others said they were released by their abductors miraculously in a market.
He said the hoodlums had taken them to a market square where they were abandoned between 1.30 a.m. and 2.00 a.m. and that they had to wait till 6.00 a.m.
Wahab said: "We were there until the police came and rescued us. They collected all our personal effects, including laptops, wrist watches and the sum of N3 million and even shared the money in our presence."
He said they were fed on bread once a day but that at a time they declared a fast "and they asked us if we were fasting against them."
Wahab noted: "We explained to them that we were journalists, at the vanguard of enthroning good governance, and even told them that we were at the forefront in the campaign for the release of Chief Ralph Uwazuruike. We even requested them to give our phones to us to contact our families for them to bring the money they requested but they said that they were not after our money but that of the government.
Every passing minute was harrowing, hopeless— Oba
They arrived at about 630 pm aboard chattered ZS-SME flight at the Local Air wing, Ikeja, to the warm embrace of journalists who turned out in their large numbers.
The first to step out of the chartered plane was Wahab Oba, who was all smiles, in an orange coloured T-shirt, followed by Shola Oyeyipo, Adolphus Okonkwo, Sylva Okereke all spotting T-Shirts but were all speechless.
They were immediately driven to Iyalla, Ladi Lawal Press Centre where they addressed a large crowd of journalists.
Oba in high spirit said: "We were sleeping in chains, and given a meal per day at about 12 noon. They moved us around every two hours. Sylva became our soothsayer, Adolphus cried like a baby, and Shola vowed to be a devout Christian after. We fasted on Friday before our release yesterday".
We were not beaten but blindfolded
"We were not beaten except that they blindfolded us on some occasions. The kidnappers told us that they resorted to protests as a result of bad governance in Abia and accused the state government of diverting the money the Federal Government released for amnesty.
"They told us that they were giving the state government one month to either complete the amnesty programme or face their wrath, stressing that they would come out openly to shoot at people."
Wahab said the hoodlums accused the government of insensitivity to the plight of residents of the state and threatened to disrupt the 2011 general elections.
Mr. Sylva Okereke, a Daily Champion correspondent, said that at a point the kidnappers blindfolded them and took them to a point they were to be slaughtered.
They told us to say our final prayers
He said: "They told us to say our final prayers. I don't know whether government paid any money but they told us that they did not collect any money and that they were releasing us due to our profession so that we would go and right the wrongs in the society."
Okereke who described the kidnapping incident as a sad event, said that the hoodlums had the best of communication networking, adding that all the information that transpired in the course of their captivity were at the finger-tips of the kidnappers.
He said: "These people are well connected and are aware of every bit of police movement both internal and external," adding that the kidnappers' colleagues outside the country were also communicating with them.
Meanwhile, the Abia State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Jonathan Johnson declined comments, saying the Inspector General of Police would soon be in Umuahia to address journalists on the issue.
Community calm as commissioner, others react
Ukwakiri in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia, where the kidnapped journalists were rescued, was calm, yesterday, but there was still a heavy presence of security men in the area.
Reports said that the people carried on their normal activities but expressed joy that the journalists regained their freedom unhurt.
Policemen posted to the area on the rescue operation were also happy as one of them told NAN at their camp in Ukwakiri Primary School that their allowances were stopped over the problem.
The policeman, who did not want to be named, said there was a standing instruction from "the top" that no allowance be paid them till the journalists were rescued alive.
Chief Okoro Kalu, a community leader, told NAN that he was happy that the journalists, who had helped to shape the country positively, regained their freedom.
He said: "We all in prayers consulted oracles in the community and were assured that the journalists were still alive. We are happy they have regained their freedom at last."
Chief Azuka Alagwu, the President of Aba Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, said the kidnapping of the journalists had drawn the attention of the Federal Government to the sufferings of the Aba business community.
He urged the government to eradicate kidnapping to save businesses in Aba, which is 10 kilometres from Obingwa.
Alagwu commended the Federal Government and security agencies for conducting the rescue operation successfully and urged them to sustain the tempo toward eradicating kidnapping in Nigeria, adding: "The progress so far shows a hope for Nigeria , they should not relent."
'Govt should deploy more policemen'
Chief Nwogu Iheasimuo, Chairman, Abia State Amalgamated Tricycle Operators Association, Aba Zone, told NAN that the rescue operation had restored calm to Aba.
He urged the government to deploy more security operatives to the state, particularly in Aba, where hoodlums had allegedly run the people out of business.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, the Rivers Commissioner for Information, has expressed gratitude to God over the release of the journalists by their abductors.
The commissioner said in Port Harcourt that it was a thing of joy that the journalists came out unharmed.
The commissioner who thanked the security agencies for their role in the operation, added: "I wish to commend Mr. President for his commitment to the security of lives and property in the country."
Also, Mr. Akinola Ariyo, Financial Secretary, Lagos State Council of NUJ, said on telephone that journalists in the council were happy over the freedom of their colleagues.
Ariyo said: "All newsmen in Lagos council of NUJ are very happy about the release of the kidnapped journalists. Today (Sunday), we are holding a stakeholders meeting, which will be followed by an executive council meeting."
Ariyo thanked the Federal and State governments, the security agencies and NUJ President Muhammad Garba for their roles in the release of the journalists.
He also thanked other members of NUJ, religious leaders and Nigerians for their prayers over the incident.
Reactions trail release of abducted journalists
"Stand up against criminals, pay no ransom," an elated Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili, told Nigerians, yesterday, following the release of the journalists who were kidnapped on July 11.
Akunyili said payment of ransom had encouraged kidnapping which has now become an industry, adding: "I just feel so happy that our brothers are safe and no one succumbed to the threat of the kidnappers who are criminals that go about torturing people emotionally."
In his reaction, the President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, NGE, Mr Gbenga Adefaye recommended that a harsh example be made of deviants to put an end to kidnapping.
'Put an end to kidnapping'
He said: "We hope government will put an end to these incidents of kidnap that embarrasses us all and makes Nigeria look like an uncharted jungle. We hope the President will take a strong step on security and reassure everyone that Nigeria is a safe place peopled by decent citizens. We also hope that journalists will not be afraid to perform their duties as enshrined in the Constitution."
The National Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Leman Shuaib, said Nigerians should resolve to make the recent episode, the last of kidnap saga in the country.
He told NAN that it was time the nation got rid of the menace of such despicable and embarrassing act, adding: "For the first time, the nation stood up against an irresponsible act, but this kidnapping should be the last that would occur in this country."
The NUJ president called on government to use all the arsenal at its disposal to flush out criminals that had taken over, especially in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State.
He also asked the people of the LGA to cleanse one another of the stigma, noting that the security forces still have men and women of distinction.
Shuaib said: "I can vouch for men and women in the State Security Service and the Police Force, but we believe that the police need to be properly equipped. The kidnappers were simply choked, and they took off."
The Chairman of Lagos State Council of the NUJ, Mr Wahab Oba, and three other journalists as well as their driver, regained freedom in the early hours of yestrday, at Ukwakiri in Obingwa LGA.
An exhausted Oba told newsmen the kidnappers took them to a market place around 2.00 a.m. and abandoned them, after stripping them of their personal belongings.
Welcome to freedom— Editors
The Nigerian Guild of Editors, NGE, has welcomed the kidnapped journalists and their driver back to freedom after a harrowing week of kidnap by some deviants.
A statement signed by the President of NGE, Mr. Gbenga Adefaye said: "It is great relief that the journalists are back to their families alive and without harm.
"While we celebrate their lives in freedom, the Guild hopes that the security agents would not relent in the pursuit of those criminals who have done so much to blight our image and condemn us to the jungle.
We hope that the Federal Government would re-double its efforts to guarantee the security of lives and property and make the crime of kidnap poisonous enough to deter evil minded kidnappers in our midst.
"It is clearly unacceptable for any person or group to make any part of the country unsafe through the criminal act of kidnap."
Source: Vanguard, 18th July 2010.
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Lagos: Released journalists receive joyous welcome
Font size: Joke Kujenya and Kelvin Osa-Okunbor
Several journalists and family members trooped to the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, Sunday to welcome the four journalists that were released by the Abia State kidnappers Sunday.
Jumping, shouting and singing to thank God for the freedom of their colleagues, the teeming journalists could not contain their joy.
It was a beehive of activities at the expansive terminal of Concorde Airlines as the four kidnapped journalists and their driver disembarked from a private jet Hawker Sidley 125 with registration number ZS-SME about 6.30pm into the warm embrace of their colleagues. The craft belongs to Topbrass Aviation Company and managed by Captain Roland Iyayi, ex-Managing Director of Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).
The released men are: Wahab Oba, Lagos chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Zone G Secretary, Adolphus Okonkwo, Assistant Secretary, Sylva Okeke, Shola Oyeyipo, a Lagos-based journalist, and their driver, Azeez Abdulrauf.
They were captured last Sunday in Ukbariki, a boundary town between Abia and Akwa Ibom states in Aba in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State.
Their kidnap drew condemnation across the country.
The jubilating journalists reveled in solidarity songs as the aircraft taxied to a halt at the apron of the terminal about 6.45pm.
As the Oba and others sauntered into the embrace of their colleagues, Adolphus Okonkwo broke down in tears apparently moved by the solidarity and joy scores of his colleagues expressed in rallying around him.
Oba, spotting a multi-coloured Tee-shirt on black trousers was all smiles at the welcome session.
The freed men were received by a delegation led by the NUJ National President, Mohammed Garuba, Vice Chairman , Lagos Council, Deji Elumonye, former NUJ chair, Lanre Arogundade, Waheed Odusile, ex-national NUJ officer, Gbenga Oniyiga, a national vice chairman zone G, as well as other officers from other councils.
Also on hand to receive the journalists were officials of the State Security Services (SSS), and the Lagos State Police Command public relations officer, Frank Mba and many other well wishers.
Expressions of "Thank God" and "Up chairman, my chair, my chair" rented the air as the rejoicing journalists expressed gratitude to God for sparing the lives of their colleagues whom they agreed went through harrowing experience in the hands of the kidnappers.
Oba and others were later driven away from the airport in a convoy of two vehicles; a Honda CRV Jeep with registration number PB777 KJA which was driven by a colleague: Mojeed Jamiu and the second with registration number EQ658 APP.
The automobiles took off on high speed enroute the NUJ state secretariat at Iyalla Street, on the Ikeja axis of the metropolis. where it is said that the journalists would continue their celebration.
Scores of airport workers and airline officials expressed excitment on the arrival of the released journalists.
Source: The Nation, 18th July 2010.
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This kidnap matter is really simple
Ogochukwu Ikeje
There is possibly only one man whose grief can match that of close family members of the four journalists and their driver kidnapped last Sunday in Abia State. That man is no other than Inspector-General of Police Ogbonna Onovo. Relatives of the seized Lagos-bound journalists have been in tears. It was even reported that a girl-child of one of the
abducted men promptly refused to taste food until her father was freed. Nothing of the sort has been said of the IGP. But you can guess that since that Sunday, food may not have tasted the same in Mr. Onovo's mouth. You can tell from his action and utterances since the news of the kidnap broke.
First, he ordered the police commands in both Akwa Ibom State (from where the kidnapped journalists commenced their return trip by road) and Abia (where they were actually abducted) to fish out the kidnappers and free their captives. Next, Onovo summoned his senior officers for a brainstorm. Then, he effectively relocated to Abia, as one report put it, and immediately started talking tough. He gave the abductors 24 hours to release the journalists, stressing that the gunmen holding them had gone too far. He said the journalists were doing their legitimate duty. So why kidnap them?
At another point Onovo turned to traditional rulers, reportedly pleading with them to save his job by helping to fish out these troublesome kidnappers. Clearly, these are no fun times for the police chief. And just as clearly, the impression has been created that this kidnap matter is very serious, perhaps complicated, requiring all manner of solutions, from deployment of more security personnel to co-opting traditional rulers into the battle.
The Senate favours a military option. For that was what came out of its emergency meeting following the abduction of the journalists: a state of emergency. All of that goes to make their point that we have quite a tough puzzle on our hands and we need a tough solution. In fact, Onovo at a point threatened that the police could make the kidnappers regret their action.
But I think the whole kidnap matter is really simple, and does not require any tough-talk. A monster born and nurtured in Nigeria has so grown in stature and might that it is doubtful if you can find any weapons to shoot it down. It has found a fertile ground to multiply and dominate. Such a monster is what we are up against in the kidnap saga.
Let's face facts. The police we know continue to grapple with a mountain of challenges. The average cop is poorly clothed, woefully housed and pitiably paid. He is less equipped than the outlaws he is expected to contain. So the good cop you find is actually a superman, giving a good account of himself with little or nothing at his disposal. But how many of them do we have?
Now take Onovo's plea to traditional rulers. What can the monarchs do? Are they not also kidnapped as often as anyone else?
Now consider the state of emergency option. How many troops will be deployed, and to which state? Is the senate thinking of Abia alone or the whole of the South-East? And what about the South-South? Will troops also move in there?
Even if a state of emergency manages to cool things down for a while in the South, kidnappers are also posing quite a challenge in other parts of the country. In the North they are causing quite a lot of trouble too, as they are in the West. The monster has grown and mutated.
The moment the leadership of the country began to think less of the youth and their future (and that started a long time ago), the monster was conceived. The moment schools began to multiply without a single thought on how the graduates will be absorbed, that moment the monster was coming alive. And as the economy continued to worsen, jobless young men took to crime in spite of themselves. They become ready tools in the hands of sinister characters. For a fee, young men take life. For a little sum, they are doing anything.
For the youths, the urge to take to crime becomes irresistible in the face of opulence amidst sweeping poverty in the land. Somehow the contrast of glittering four-wheel drives in swanky neighbourhoods and sheer squalor in the suburbs is difficult for some to come to terms with. They take to crime, any crime.
When the first kidnappers started, in the South-South, their ransom was quite substantial. Now, as the economy continues to worsen, and more and more kidnappers are born in other parts of the country, we hear N40,000 is not such a bad idea for a ransom.
There has been so much room for criminality in the land that unless we begin to engage the unemployed meaningfully, we will fail to deal effectively with the crime of kidnapping or any other vice, for that matter. It is as simple as that.
Source: The Nation, 18th July 2010.
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Kidnappers scare us away from home –Diaspora Nigerians
From MODESTUS CHUKWULAKA, Abuja
Monday, July 19, 2010
Sacred by the possibility of being kidnapped for ransom, Nigerians living outside the country are now avoiding their fatherland, the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Togo Theodore Nneji said in Abuja yesterday.
Nnaji said if nothing concrete was done by the relevant authorities to end the despicable act, most Nigerians abroad will find it difficult to visit home, especially those from the South-East.
He described the rampant cases of kidnapping in the country, particularly in the South eastern part of the country as man's evil against his fellow men. He blamed politicians as being the ones that introduced it as a means of dealing with their political opponents.
According to him, no kidnapping case will be successful if those close to the victims do not give away their travel schedule to the criminals. "The kidnappers are neither ghosts nor spirits, they are humans like us and they live among us, but people don't want to talk about it because of fear of falling victims."
Nnaji particularly blamed the people of the South East for the rampant cases of kidnapping in the area saying the people must have to go back and take a second look at their value system. "Before in Igboland, you just don't return suddenly with money and expect to be applauded, your parents will take you inside and ask you how you came about the wealth and if you don't give any satisfactory answer, they will not touch the money.
"Unfortunately, today nobody asks where you got the money from, all they want is to see you with wealth and everybody will clap and the result is what we have today where people now kidnap for as little as N20,000."
Nneji lambasted the various security agencies in the country as well as the Federal Government both of which he said had not done much because despite the numerous checkpoints around the nation, these criminals always have their way.
He then counselled the police to go the extra mile in dealing with these crimes, adding that they should carry out more researches on how to stop kidnapping and other such criminal acts. Nneji expressed his concern that the Federal Government has not done enough to cater for the citizenry, saying just as it is done in many other nations, Nigeria can afford to pay social security subventions to her teeming youths.
"The government can afford to pay a stipend to every youth and it will not weigh us down because this is a country you hear of billions of money in scam day in day out." He posited that if there was constant power supply, most of the little-minded people who have taken to crime would have been engaged in other things that will give them honest means of livelihood.
The PDP chieftain who is has declared interest in the seat of Obowu Constituency in the Imo House of Assembly, said Nigerian politicians should cut down on their expenditures saying most of them are uncalled for since they don't have any direct impact on the larger society.
Source: Sun, 18th July 2010.
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How Police Aid Kidnappers, By Falana
By Olawale Olaleye
The kidnap of four journalists and their driver in Abia State last week has put the nation's security agencies on the spot as the Senate, Presidency and opinion leaders put pressure on the police to check the state of insecurity now prevalent
across the country.
On Friday, a new dimension to the discussion on the menace of kidnapping was opened as a Lagos-based human rights activist and lawyer Femi Falana told President Goodluck Jonathan that the top hierarchy of the police were colluding with kidnappers in perpetrating their acts.
In a two page letter to President Jonathan titled "Connivance of Police Authorities in the Rising wave of Kidnapping in Nigeria" and dated July 16, Falana states: "It is common knowledge that the leadership of the police has been aiding and abetting kidnapping and other violent crimes in several parts of the federation."
Falana cited two cases in which he claimed "the security of innocent people has been compromised by the police authorities who have enriched themselves at the expense of law and order.
"In July 2009," he continued, "Alhaji Mohammed Hassan, a former Minister and a senior lawyer petitioned the Inspector General of Police over the brutal killing of 71 persons in Gombe State by an official killer squad known as 'Kalare'. In the investigation of the petition, the Police confirmed the serious allegations.
"But instead of charging the suspects to court for the heinous crimes of kidnapping, abduction, rape, armed robbery, etc, the Police Authorities in Abuja in collaboration with the Gombe State Government arraigned the petitioner before a Gombe Magistrate Court where he was charged with giving false information to the Inspector of Police. Although the frivolous charge has been quashed in favour of Alhaji Hassan the 'Kalare' has continued to unleash terror on the innocent people of Gombe State.
"Last December, a traditional ruler and a college provost were kidnapped in Ekiti State. Both of them lost their lives in a ghastly motor accident at Lokoja, Kogi State while they were being taken to a hideout by their abductors. One Charles Patrick Ovie, the leader of the criminal gang and three other members were seriously injured in the accident.
"They were arrested and taken to Abuja by the police for interrogation. In their copious confessional statements the suspects have admitted that they had killed not less than 50 people including 15 police men and Mr. Kehinde Fasuba, an Accountant with the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN); kidnapped the Secretary to the Kaduna State government and several other persons; snatched many cars and robbed banks from where they carted away millions of naira. Curiously, the Inspector General of Police hurriedly caused the suspects to be charged before a Magistrate Court in Lokoja which lacks the jurisdictional competence to try them. In an advertorial published by some concerned persons in Ekiti State in the The Nation newspaper of July 14, 2010 it was pointedly asserted that 'the suspects are being prosecuted under HOLDING CHARGE, which is liable to be thrown out because it has been declared illegal by the Court. This, we believe is being deliberately done by the police to facilitate the escape of the dangerous suspects."
The lawyer stated that the two cases he cited, like several others, have been compromised by the police authorities. He urged the Federal Government to investigate the cases with a view to urgently identifying, discussing and punishing the highly-placed police officers who have conspired with kidnappers and other criminal gangs in unleashing terror on helpless Nigerians.
Falana also advised that the government should examine the socio-economic implications of crime prevention and control if it wants to eradicate violent crimes in the country.
He mentioned the case of Lagos State where the rate of crime has declined substantially because the state government has productively engaged the street urchins otherwise called "area boys" and other disenchanted youths.
He added that such is the support received by the Lagos State Police Command from the state government, corporate bodies and individuals. Such support, he said has enhanced the dedication of the police leadership and boosted the morale of the operatives of the anti-robbery squad in the state
"Instead of engaging in provocative prodigality, the National Assembly should be encouraged by Your Excellency to enact a social security law that will address the frustration of the growing army of unemployed youths and the vulnerable segments of the society," he stated.
Falana's letter came in the wake of the heightened anxiety of Nigerians over the fate of the four journalists- Mr. Wahab Oba, Chairman of Lagos Chapter of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Aldophus Okonkwo, the union's secretary, Shola Oyeyipo and their driver, Yekinni Aziz, who are spending their eighth day today in the custody of their abductors.
The Senate on Wednesday issued a riot act to the police to act fast and decisively to stem the tide of growing crimes which have put the citizens in perpetual fear.
However, on Friday, President Jonathan announced that one of the abductors of the journalists had been arrested by security agencies.
Source: This Day, 18th July 2010.
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Kidnapped journalists freed in Abia, set to arrive Lagos
By Ayo Olesin and Demola Babalola
Four journalists kidnapped by gunmen in Abia State regained their freedom in the early hours of Sunday after a week in captivity.
The kidnapped men include the Chairman, Lagos Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Mr. Wahab Oba; Secretary, Mr. Sylvester Okereke; Zonal Secretary, NUJ, Zone G, Mr. Adolphus Okonkwo; a council member, Mr. Sola Oyeyipo and their driver, Mr. Azeez Abdurauf.
The men were rescued by a combined team of security operatives including police detective and State Security Services operatives who used special tracking devices to trace calls made from the kidnappers' hideout.
It was not clear if any ransom was paid to secure the release of the journalists.
According to the spokesperson of the SSS, Ms Marylyn Ogar, who spoke with our correspondent on the telephone, the service deployed its officers to Abia State and adjourning states to help the police in tracking down the kidnappers.
Though Ogar refused to give the details of the operation that led to their release due security reasons, but said the service provided the technical input that led to the release of the journalists.
She said, "Our men were deployed to the area and I can tell you that it was a combined efforts with the police.
"We have tracking devises which helped us in the search and I can confirm to you that it worked."
They were ambushed on July 11 at Umuafor Ukwu Local Government Area while returning from a three-day National Executive Council meeting of the NUJ in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
The kidnappers had initially demanded a ransom of N250m, which was later reduced to N30m.
Official sources, who confirmed the development, said the men arrived at the state capital, Umuahia at about 9am on Sunday and were taken to the office of the Commissioner of Police.
They were also scheduled to undergo a comprehensive medical examination before being taken to their respective homes.
Oba was said to have spoken with his wife at about 6am on Sunday. Other victims have also contacted family members.
Vice Chairman of the Lagos NUJ, Mr. Deji Elumoye said the men were expected in Lagos later on Sunday evening and would address a press conference at the Ladi Lawal Press Centre, Alausa, Ikeja.
Source: Punch, 18th July 2010.
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Kidnapping: Jakande, Amaechi's wife, Ojudu advise journalists to be security conscious
By Akinwale Aborisade and Chukwudi Akasike
Two veteran journalists, Alhaji Lateef Jakande and Babafemi Ojudu have warned journalists across the country to always apply caution in the discharge of their duties in order to avert possible landmines.
Their advice came on the heels of another counsel by the wife of the Rivers State governor, Mrs Judith Amaechi, who
also urged journalists not to be deterred in their job of giving voice to the voiceless
They spoke against the backdrop of the recent kidnap of four journalists as well as the assassinations of others in the past.
Jakande, a Second Republic governor of Lagos State, and Ojudu, a former Managing Editor of The News Magazine, who gave the advice, submitted that the spate of abduction, threat to lives and assassination of journalists were becoming very alarming in the country.
Jakande who spoke to one of our correspondents on Friday recommended that there should be a meeting of journalists' organisation to brainstorm on possible ways by which the vice could be addressed.
The octogenarian said, "We should call a meeting of world journalistic organisations in respect of the current development in which lives of professional journalists are wasted in Nigeria every time.
"I think hostilities against journalists are uncalled for as they are serving interests of the poor masses.
"They are watchdogs of the society but their security is now threatened. It is unfortunate."
Ojudu described the situation as gruesome and frustrating.
He said journalists and media managers should take the issue of security of lives very seriously.
He contended, "Media houses, the Nigerian Union of Journalists and the League of Editors have to organise security seminars for our people. And we may begin to apply for licences for arms to protect ourselves. The police seem not to be in a position to protect any of us.
"We can't sit down and be targets. I appeal to our professional bodies to enlighten members on how we can defend ourselves in dangerous situations. Seriously too, journalists should begin to apply for licence to carry guns."
If this was not taken into consideration, he said, the trend might continue to grow and could even get worse.
Ojudu said journalism was a very sensitive profession; hence, there was the need to secure practitioners against attack
Meanwhile, Dame Amaechi has called on journalists not to be deterred by the recent threat to their social responsibility as a result of the kidnappers' action in Abia State.
The governor's wife, who suggested that stringent measures be taken against kidnappers in the country, urged journalists to continue to carry out their function of giving voice to the voiceless.
Mrs. Amaechi, who spoke in Port Harcourt on Friday lamented the untold hardship inflicted on the wives and children of the media practitioners as a result of the continued absence of their breadwinners.
"It is very sad that harmless journalists have become items for ransom. This is the height of inhumanity to man.
"It is very cruel and barbaric and I can imagine the untold hardship inflicted on their wives and children," she stated.
The governor's wife called for a better welfare package for journalists, adding that such package should include insurance cover.
She appealed to the kidnappers to release the journalists, even as she urged female journalists to join the campaign against kidnapping in the country.
Source: Punch, 18th July 2010.
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KIDNAPPING: Elevated To An Industry In Rivers, Abia Despite Amnesty
FROM ANN GODWIN (PORT HARCOURT)
Despite Federal Government's grant of amnesty to militants in the Niger Delta region, the kidnapping and armed robbery industry is on the rise. But not bowing to the torrent of incidents, the Rivers State Police Command has vowed to make the state too hot for criminals indulging in the nefarious business.
The command last week nabbed a four-man gang that specialized in killing policemen and stealing their weapons, while running kidnapping on the side.
The arrested kidnappers confessed to how they abducted and killed an oil worker, Mr. Haruna Mutairu, after collecting N2.4 million ransom from his family, including his Infinity Jeep.
The SUV, which was being used by the leader of the gang, Sunebari Daboru aka Golden, a native of Ogoniland in Gokana local council of the state, was later involved in an accident, which claimed the lives of nine persons in a local eatery at New Town Junction, Eleme, two months ago.
Golden, alongside other gang members, David Lomson, alias Deadboy, Peter Ifeanyi, popularly called Pero, and one other member, whose name was not confirmed, also confessed killing eight policemen in the state on seven different occasions, where they snatched over four AK 47 rifles from the diseased policemen.
The kingpin of the gang, Daboru, who is in his early 20s told newsmen in Port Harcourt, while they were being paraded, how he killed one Chinda, a doctor, on April 16, this year at Okporo road before snatching his car. He said he decided to shoot Chinda when he proved stubborn by refusing to surrender the key to his vehicle.
A youth leader of Elengbu Community, Nna Adiele Uche, who was killed recently along Iroigwe road in Rumuigwera, as a result of argument, which ensued on the right of way, was also the handiwork of Daboru.
Daboru further revealed, "apart from that, I killed a police sergeant at the Rivers State Universal Basic Education Board when we went to rob the money that was meant for workers' salary at Elechi Beach, Port Harcourt. Before we embark on any bank robbery, we usually get information on various bank transactions by insiders in the banks."
The Rivers State Police Commissioner, Mr. Suleima Abba, described the revelations made by the gang as not just startling but saddening and disturbing. He, however, regretted that the reformed militants were part of the criminal population that is posing daunting challenge to the command, as he pointed out that one of the criminals was caught with a Post-Amnesty identity card.
"We have it on record that some ex-militants have been involved in violent crimes. I do not have the full details now, but it will be provided shortly. As I speak to you, we have in our detention an ex-militant who was involved in kidnapping. He was caught with an amnesty ID card."
Abba, however, assured that the command is on top of the situation, adding that the development was part of the command's promise to do whatever is required to ensure that lives and properties of Rivers people are protected.
The police commissioner warned landlords in the state to be wary of the people they rent their houses to, adding that those who habour criminals could be charged with aiding, abetting of crime and shielding criminals from the law.
On the alleged reports that most crimes carried out in the state were perpetrated by people from neighbouring states like Abia and Akwa Ibom, Abba maintained that 80 per cent of the crimes recorded in Rivers were carried out by criminals who are non-residents of the state.
A native of Abia State, Mike Osondu, in a chat with The Guardian, alleged that kidnapping in Abia is being carried out by the boys, whom a former governor used but later abandoned during the last elections. The move, according to Osondu, forced the boys to resort to kidnapping.
Meanwhile, worried by the recent insecurity challenges at the boundaries between Rivers, Abia and Akwa Ibom states, Governor Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State, has expressed readiness to liaise with the two neighbouring states to find a lasting solution to the problem.
Amaechi, during a recent media parley, noted that the security situation in Rivers has improved but lamented that the only insecurity challenge facing the state comes from the various boarders linking Rivers, Abia and Akwa Ibom.
The governor pointed out that the state has the capacity to handle and control the insecurity situation but regretted that they do not have the authority to do so, otherwise it would have gone ahead to deal with the situation. He expressed disappointment that despite informing the Abia State Governor, Mr. Theophilus Orji, to do something about the insecurity challenge, nothing according to Amaechi, has been done by the governor till now.
The development in Abia State is now scaring people away from traveling to the state. It would be recalled that gunmen had last week kidnapped four journalists and their driver in Abia, demanding a ransom of N250 million, but later slashed it to N150 million.
Source: The Guardian, 18th July 2010
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Presidency Angry With IGP Onovo Over Statements On Israeli Support
FROM MARTINS OLOJA, ABUJA BUREAU
THE presidency is quite miffed by the Inspector-General of Police's panicky remark, which suggested that the Nigerian government's security and intelligence apparatus has been so helpless that the Israeli's efficient super spy network, the MOSSAD, has been contracted to assist in fishing out the abductors of the four journalists and a driver in Abia state, last Sunday, The Guardian has learnt.
Although the President was quoted in Uyo as disclosing, without details, that one of the alleged kidnappers had been arrested, it was learnt that his office has been outraged by the seming panicky efforts of the Inspector General of Police.
Signals from the security arm of the Presidency indicate that the IGP's reported reference to the Israeli MOSSAD, as offering assistance, was so terribly received in the presidency.
Sources at the State House confirmed, last night, that, apart from the fact that the office of the president is angry that the disclosure of the location is quite indiscreet in security management, the disclosure itself is capable of undermining the efforts of the intelligence agencies that have been assisting in tracking the men of the underworld that have been holding the journalists.
Besides, it was learnt that the Presidency and the Police Affairs Minister have met repeatedly over the recent in
cedents. A source in the Presidency said, the IGP "should have been aware that the sophisticated tracking device that located the whereabouts of the kidnappers and their electronic devices was acquired last year by the State Services Department, also known as the SSS, when the late president Umaru Musa Yar'Adua was persuaded by the office of the SSSDG and the National Security Adviser (NSA) that the country needed the multi-million Dollar tracking device, which the IGP requested and was released to him with operatives trained to man it."
It was confirmed that, before the IGP left for the East, he asked for the tracking equipment and the SSS leadership secured the consent of the president for its release.
It was also learnt that the intelligence arm of the presidency has been studying another secret report that the spate of abduction in the East is a 'dress rehearsal' for what will happen during the 2o11 elections in the area.
The Presidency is already investigating the intelligence that suggests that the development could explain why not many aspirants have been declaring for governorship positions in most states of the South East, including Abia, Imo, and Enugu. The pessimistic approach is linked to fear of sophisticated kidnappers, who, it is learnt, have logistic support from some state houses in the area "because of the need to use them (kidnappers) in 2011"
Besides, we learnt last night that the Abuja operatives are also probing another lead, in this connection, that the four journalists' capture was not spontaneous "as one of the victims from the East was indeed linked to some political aspirations of some opposition figures; hence, they were trailed and captured in order to get some lessons on what to expect in 2011."
In the words another source in the Presidency: "Unless we don't want to speak the truth here, most senior citizens in the Niger Delta area know that, this was how political leaders made militants in the area around 2002 and 2003, and now we have a monster...We will not allow ambition for political office to turn the East into another Afghanistan or Iraq in Nigeria... No, we will nip it in the bud before the elections."
Source: The Guardian, 18th July 2010.
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Kidnapping As Another Bizarre Saga In The Southeast
BY GODWIN IJEDIOGOR
IT all began in the Niger Delta region as a means to an end. It was a means of drawing local and international attention to the underdevelopment, environmental degradation and plight of the inhabitants of the area, no thanks to government inactivity and activities of oil companies.
At the outset, the objectives were identifiable. The perpetrators were known, as was the purpose, and the target were foreign oil workers.
In the beginning, ransoms were rarely demanded and hardly paid, as it was not an economic venture, but purely part of the struggle of the people of the region. Even when locals became part of the hunted, ransom was still not the issue.
But like most vices, once started, they soon deviate from the original cause, if at all, there were genuine reasons to justify them, and get out of control. That is the case with kidnapping in Nigeria today.
Today, kidnapping and abduction is no longer a Niger Delta issue. In fact, there are less kidnappings in the Niger Delta than there are now, for instance, in the Southeast, which has since become the hub, just as the purpose has become commercial and borders purely on criminality.
Today, businesses are closing down in parts of the Southeast, particularly in the Aba axis of Abia State, which is also the commercial nerve centre of the state they call God's own state, due to security glitches and kidnapping for ransom. Residents, especially the well-to-do, sleep with both eyes half open, wake into insecurity and move about cautiously and in palpable fear.
It is not only businesses that are feeling the impact; it is gradually taking a toll on social functions, including burials, as the bereaved and their guests are not spared the ordeal.
Stories abound of the bereaved being threatened, persuaded or coerced to 'settle' or part with some amount of money to have a smooth burial of their dead relatives. Otherwise, they or their guests, who dare to stray into the area, stand the risk of being kidnapped and made to pay higher amounts as ransom. Yes, it has come to that.
A man recently recounted how he was made, forced, whichever term best suits the situation, to pay a 'settlement' to would-be kidnappers, who wrote and sent text messages to his mobile phone, or faced his invitees being abducted.
Being strange to him, he approached some resident friends and relatives for advice, and their advice was, 'ah pay o; pay them o, otherwise nobody will come for the burial.' And he had no real option, having been sternly warned never to alert security agents.
Little wonder that the usual bubbling activities at ceremonies, social functions and Yuletide season are vanishing in the Southeast and elsewhere, including now the North.
Yet, there are police checkpoints all over the place in some of the cities and major highways, making many Nigerians believe that it is an issue of failure of intelligence and information gathering and application.
In almost all the cases, victims upon their release were warned not to do anything, including giving necessary information to security agents, that could jeopardise their safety subsequently, which most of them find convenient to abide by.
Similarly, some of the abductions appear to be with the connivance of insiders, relatives or friends of the victims or their children, while only a few are carried out on trial basis.
Imagine, sometime ago, a female undergraduate from one of the Southeast states was reported to have arranged and organised her own kidnapping, mainly to extort money from her 'frugal' parents.
Think of a man organising the kidnap of his own friend, relative and even parents, just to have a slice off his 'stingy' brother's wealth, knowing full well that he would pay the ransom demanded by his collaborators.
Not long ago, a man paid some ransom to secure the release of his ailing father, not knowing that the man had already died in the process. All he got was that the hypertensive old man died because of his dilly-dallying before paying the money.
Nowadays, some kidnappers have the temerity to ask for ransom in foreign currencies. They dictate the terms and pace! Imagine!
Even when some suspects are identified, caught and charged for the offence, their prosecution lasts for eternity, due largely to shoddy investigations and watery evidences, as a result of the reluctance and fear of most victims to stand in the witness box against the accused.
A few have been killed in the process of kidnapping victims or attempts to rescue them by security agents, but this does not seem to be deterring the perpetrators and their sponsors.
In the past, communities, their residents and even traditional rulers were alleged to have connived with the perpetrators of the act, either as sponsors, hosts or by running errands for them during negotiations to secure the release of their victims. This means these people are not faceless; they are not spirits, they either live in our midst or neighbouring communities. They are known to some people and lurk around at functions/ceremonies, trying to pick their victims.
With the recent kidnapping of journalists- Chairman of the Lagos Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Wahab Oba; Zonal Secretary of the union, Adolphus Okonkwo; Lagos Council's Assistant Secretary, Sylva Okereke, Shola Oyeyipo and their driver, Azeez
Abdulrauf, it appears nobody is really safe or immune from being targeted any more. Every one has become a potential victim.
The list is growing by the day, and perhaps the first notable kidnapping for ransom, outside the Niger Delta and in the Southeast in particular started with the case of Dr. Ego Cordelia Uzoezie, then Anambra State Commissioner for Women Affairs, and her graduate son, Kenechukwu, who were abducted by hoodlums at Nsugbe, near Nwafor Orizu College of Education, on their way from the school on January 27, 2007.
The kidnappers later demanded a N50 million ransom for their release. The rest is now history.
Nnewi businessman, Chief Pius Ogbuawa, was also kidnapped on the same day in controversial circumstances and N20 million demanded as ransom by his abductors.
But it was not restricted to businessmen or government officials, but anybody who could pay or with relatives capable of paying the ransom, including monarchs. And Patrick Mbamalu Okeke, then 73-year-old traditional ruler of Abagana in Njikoka Council of Anambra State tasted it on April 26, 2008.
His counterpart, Eze Eberechi Dick of Mgboko Ngwa Amaise Autonomous Community and chairman of Obingwa Traditional Rulers Council had his turn on November 21, 2008 in his village.
He did not return to his palace until seven days later and after a N10 million ransom had allegedly been paid.
Popular Benin, Edo State, transporter, Bob Izua, owner of Bob Izua Motors, had the bitter experience on June 8 in Benin City, when he was kidnapped, but released days later after the family reportedly parted with a princely N5 million.
Ostensibly realising that it was a money-spinning venture, more criminals went into the venture, sometimes daringly and callously.
For Mr. Kelechi Nwankpa, then chairman of Obingwa Council of Abia State, August 25, 2008 was a memorable day, for the wrong reason, though, as he was kidnapped on his way to office from his village, after his driver had been shot dead.
He breathed the air of freedom three days later, after the state government reportedly paid some ransom.
A lawmaker, Mr. Joseph Dimobi, representing Anaocha II Constituency in the Anambra State House of Assembly, was on November 15, 2008 kidnapped and N30 million ransom demanded for his release. It is not known whether the money was reduced or paid before he was let go by his abductors.
Bearded and popular Nollywood actor, who played Okonkwo in the Things Fall Apart television adaptation of Prof Chinua Achebe's book in the same name, Pete Edochie, was on August 16, last year taken by unknown gunmen in Onitsha, Anambra State, after his bodyguards were over-powered.
Another Nollywood actor of the Osuofia fame, Nkem Owoh, was kidnapped along the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, with an initial N15million ransom placed on his head. The rest is now history.
Gender is not a barrier to the nefarious act. Neither is old age nor frailty. The ability to pay or be paid for is the determinant. So, it was not surprising when wife of the late wealthy transporter, Igwe (Dr.) James Mamah of the famous Ifesinachi Transport was abducted by two gunmen on August 20, last year shortly after Edochie was released by kidnappers.
Mrs. Grace Mamah was abducted at a private College of Education in the Barracks area of the university town, Nsukka, Enugu State.
In Delta State, the aged father of the immediate past Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, was picked from his home in Ika North East Council and was later released after money had changed hands.
Before then, the aged father of Thisday newspapers' Eddy Odwirhi was abducted at his home. His corpse was found at a location described by the kidnappers after the family had rallied round to raise some money as ransom.
For those who thought it was a Niger Delta phenomenon, the incidents in the Southeast disproved them. And for others who initially took it as a Southern affair, events in the North in the days to come erased that feeling, for in September last year, Secretary to the Kaduna State Government (SSG), Mr. Waje Yayok was taken from his country home by kidnappers who asked for a N40 million ransom for his release. His was the highest profile kidnap case in the state.
Although he later regained his freedom, it is not unlikely that the kidnappers were 'settled.'
At the peak of the controversy over the way and manner former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo emerged as Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in this year's February 6 governorship election in Anambra State, his 78-year-old father, Simeon, was kidnapped at his Isuofia home.
Ostensibly considering his son's status and class, they demanded a ransom of N5 billion ransom. Fortunately, the man was let go, obviously after the family parted with 'something.'
On May 26, this year in Benin City, medical doctors took to the streets and marched to the palace of the Oba of Benin, Omo'Noba Erediauwa, following the unusual kidnap of five doctors in the state, starting with Dr. Osaro Osifo in May.
For several months this year, Ekiti State had to contend with the activities of kidnappers, allegedly from neighbouring states, who terrorised the citizens and returned to their bases.
The first sets of people kidnapped were picked up randomly at different locations in the state capital, Ado-Ekiti. At the end of the operations, no fewer than five people, including a regional manager of a bank and a University of Ado-Ekiti lecturer were in their net. They were set free days after their families had paid some ransom.
The kidnappers returned to the state weeks after and kidnapped several others, including a former council boss and some notable personalities, who had to pay some amounts of money to secure their release.
The last set of victims included the late Attah of Ayede, Oba Adeleye Orishafbemi, his son, a former Provost of the state College of Education, the late Dr. Gabriel Olowoyo, chairman of the state chapter of Trade Union Congress (TUC), Mr. Rufus Olaiya and his wife and several others.
Oba Orishagbemi was picked from his Toyota Camry car, which was also stolen by the kidnappers, at Ilawe along with his son on their way to his domain.
Olowoyo, who saw the monarch's car at Ilasa-Ekiti, while trying to buy some food items, was forced into a waiting bus in which the kidnappers were conveying their victims to unknown destination.
On their way to Lokoja, Kogi State, the kidnappers had an accident, in which Oba Orishagbemi and Olowoyo died.
The leader of the gang, one Charles Ovie, was seriously injured and later arrested on his sick bed by the police, while investigation into the activities of the gang of kidnappers is yet to be concluded.
But the arrest of Ovie appears to have put to and end, at least for sometime, the incessant raid of the state by kidnappers.
Even places of worship are longer safe zones. With desperation setting in, the hoodlums have become more brazen and storm such places to take their victims.
On June 13, 2010, the traditional ruler of Umebulu community in Rivers State, Eze Sunday Njoku was kidnapped from the church.
Source: The Guardian, 17th July 2010.
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Kidnapping: CNPP calls for national summit on security
By Adelani Adepegba, Abuja
Following the release of the four kidnapped journalists, the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties has called for a national summit on security over the rising cases of kidnapping and general insecurity in the country.
It stated that the insecurity in the country confirms the truism that the Nigerian State has failed woefully to provide security and welfare to the citizenry, citing the huge security votes squandered by public officials and the poor execution of good security projects.
In a statement by the CNPP National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Osita Okechukwu on Sunday, the body pledged solidarity with the Nigerian Union of Journalists and challenged President Goodluck Jonathan to convoke a National Summit on Security immediately.
The group said that information reaching it indicated that N30million ransom was paid for the release of the kidnapped journalists as evidenced by the non-violent nature of the release, "for no gunshot was fired, nobody was injured nor any kidnapper arrested, contrary to the claims of President Goodluck Jonathan."
The CNPP said, "Let us not forget in a hurry that all is concerned today, because the victims are high profile journalists; at different times many Nigerians are held hostage by felons mutating out of gross unemployment in the land.
Source: The Guardian, 18th July 2010.
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Obingwa As The New Hub Of Kidnapping
BY SAMSON EZEA (JUST BACK FROM ABIA STATE)
OBINGWA Council of Abia State is strategically located in Abia South senatorial zone. It is bounded on the north by Isiala Ngwa South and Osisioma Ngwa council area on the south. On the west is Aba North, while on its eastern end is Akwa Ibom State.
It was at Umorfa-Ukwu junction, along the Aba Ikot-Ekpene road that kidnappers abducted four journalists and their driver last week Sunday.
Before then, Kelechi Nwankpa, the immediate past chairman of the council was kidnapped on August 25, 2008 on his way to office from his village after his driver had been shot dead. He was released three days later, after N10 million was allegedly paid as ransom.
On November 21, 2008, the traditional ruler of Mgboko Ngwa Amaise Autonomous Community and the chairman of Obingwa Traditional Rulers Council, Eze Eberechi Dick, was kidnapped in his Amaise village. He was released after seven days, following the payment of N10 million ransom.
The council, according to the last population census, has a population of 181, 894 people and its headquarters is at Mgboko, with vast thick bushes covering most parts.
It used to be part of the former Obioma Ngwa Council, which was created in 1976 in the old Imo State. Following the creation of Abia State in 1991, the council was ceded to Abia.
In 1996, Ebonyi State was carved out of Abia and Obioma Ngwa Council was split into Ugwunagbo, Osisioma Ngwa and Obingwa councils, all in Ngwaland in the present Abia State.
The people of the area are known for their determination, hardwork and restiveness. Despite their population, they occupied a vast arable land, as most of them are peasant farmers. They produce palm oil and kernel, vegetable, cassava, plantain and banana, which are sold to buyers, especially from Aba metropolis.
There are small-scale industries at Ehere and Ovom areas within the council. Due to lack of enough land in Aba metropolis, most business organisations and individuals acquired a lot of landed property in the area.
Other council areas within Ngwaland that had a close boundary with them are Ngwa North and South, Ukwa East and West and Aba North and South.
Along the Owerri-Port Harcourt Expressway, which separates the councils in Ngwaland were stern-looking policemen with gun and sacks of sands on the road, stopping and searching vehicles and their occupants.
On a trip to Umuomai-Ukwu, Nsulu Market Square in Isiala Ngwa North council on Wednesday, some boys sat in a shop drinking and smoking quietly. But all that changed when The Guardian arrived, as did the countenance of the boys.
Being an unfamiliar face and fondling with the mobile phone as if dialling a number, the shop attendant asked what the matter was.
Upon mentioning that kidnapping was giving Ngwa people a bad name, the boys turned and left the shop immediately.
During the return journey to Aba later, the driver was speeding and nobody in the vehicle dared to ask why he was driving like that on a not-very-good-road. But on enquiry, he replied that he didn't want to be taken unawares.
The silence and cautious looks of the other passengers were mind bugling, only to a first timer to the area, especially at this point in time. And raising the issue of kidnapping in the state attracted some disdain from the obviously now irritated co-passengers and a darting look from the two policemen in front of the vehicle.
The driver responded immediately that apart from the journalists kidnapped on Sunday, one man was kidnapped that Wednesday morning along Port Harcourt-Owerri Expressway by persons dressed in army uniform in Toyota Hilux van painted in army colour, after double-crossing the victim's vehicle and forcing him into their own at gunpoint and moving through a pathway close to the road.
On okada from Ntor Abala Market Square in Mgboko, when The Guardian expressed the fear of being kidnapped, the rider replied: "No, they will not kidnap you; they know the people they kidnap."
In one community along the Ikot Ekpene road is a vast land covered by thick bushes and sometimes a few houses in the midst. On a first visit, one may think people do not live in some areas, as you could trek for 20 minutes without seeing anybody on the road.
The people avoided discussing the issue of kidnapping for fear of being attacked or killed by the kidnappers.
At Owerrinta/Umuika junction in Isiala Ngwa South, while waiting for a bus with two other men and a woman, an attempt to engage them in a discussion on kidnapping met a brick wall, as none of them was ready to hear anything of it.
On the way to Umuahia, one of the fellow travellers, who simply gave his name as Michael warned The Guardian to be very careful in discussing the issue of kidnapping.
Asked why, he replied that it was big industry in Ngwaland and the perpetrators have their agents everywhere, because they make so much money from it, including policemen on the roads.
He told me the story of how one Divisional Police Officer (DPO) at Osisioma Ngwa was fingered by one of the kidnappers when he was caught, but nothing has been heard about the matter since then. "And they want us to believe that they are fighting kidnapping?" he asked rhetorically.
Aba, which used to be the commercial nerve centre of the Southeast, is now a shadow of its former self. At Osisioma Ngwa junction, it is a war of billboards of different organisations advertising their goods and services. But inside Aba, some of them have closed shops, because of crimes, especially kidnapping.
From the Osisioma Ngwa junction to the Aba-Port Harcourt road that used to witness traffic congestion in the past due to the influx of people from different parts of the country and beyond, who came to buy goods, it was a different story-one of declining commercial city. It was emptying.
Investigation shows that some big companies, like Unilever have closed shop since 2006 due to incessant kidnapping of their workers, especially the expatriates. In its place are Nestle and PZ Cussons, which are running skeletal services there.
Nigeria Breweries left the city in 2005 after being harassed so much by armed robbers and kidnappers, but returned back recently when the kidnapping saga was thought to have died down.
In front of their factory gate on Industry Road were stern-looking military and police personnel guarding the area.
A source in the company, who pleaded anonymity, told The Guardian that the company came back because "there is better water in the area for the production of Star Beer than in Enugu. There is market in Aba, but kidnapping is a source of worry here. You cannot sleep with your two eyes closed."
Chief Anthony Emukaeme, chief executive of Tonimas Oil and Services, with so many filling stations in Aba and environs and a factory at Osisioma Ngwa, was sometimes ago abducted by kidnappers dressed like priests, who traced him from Aba to his village.
The owner of Dan Dollars Motors was recently shot on the legs by kidnappers while trying to escaped been kidnapped him in Aba residence.
In Aba, unlike in the past, there are a lot of desolate buildings that used to be offices, as more companies and businessmen are relocating to Owerri or other neighbouring states.
A source disclosed that there are a lot of informants in Aba, mostly indigenes, including artisans and others engaged in minor jobs like loading and offloading of goods working with the kidnappers.
"They know those who are millionaires and billionaires in Aba. They give kidnappers data about such people and they are compensated later. But they continue their normal jobs.
"They are mostly from the nearby councils to where they retire after the day's job and come back the next day. There are areas in the city that are no-go-areas for ordinary people, as miscreants used them as hideouts," the source disclosed.
For now, Aba is crying for redemption from the stranglehold of criminals, especially kidnappers and their agents roaming the commercial town for their next victims.
Alleged Complicity Of Some Traditional Rulers In Abia Orchestrating The Crime
THE indiscriminate creation of so many autonomous communities and installation of people of questionable characters as traditional rulers by the immediate past administration in Abia State, some indigenes say, appear to be fuelling the crime.
It also created rivalry, suspicion and bickering among members of the communities and the traditional rulers, who engaged in a battle of supremacy, resulting in the alleged aiding and abetting of kidnapping, as some of their personal security men have been fingered in the menace.
Without much funding from the present government in the state, some of the traditional rulers are allegedly sponsoring and protecting the kidnappers in their areas, who give them returns at the end of the day.
A man, who craved anonymity for fear of being molested, confirmed this development to The Guardian at Obikabia community in Isiala Ngwa North council area. He said if the traditional rulers and indigenes of Ngwaland were committed and ready, kidnapping would stop immediately.
"These kidnappers are living among us and we know them, but we dare not disclose their identities or hideouts for fear of being killed.
"Even if you give policemen information about their activities, they will disclose it to the kidnappers and you will become the target. Sometimes they will arrest them, by the next day, they will release them," he said.
It was gathered that the traditional ruler of Abala autonomous community in Obingwa Council, Eze Wilson Nna, was killed alongside with his wife, Rose, by the kidnappers early last year for disclosing to security agents the identities of kidnappers and their hideouts in the area.
Abia State Governor Theodore Orji confirmed this incident in an exclusive interview with The Guardian in Umuahia on Wednesday.
According to him, the traditional ruler was a friend of the government who did not like the kidnapping activity and the bad image it is giving the state and Ngwaland in particular.
So, he volunteered useful information on the activity of the kidnappers in the area and their hideouts, without knowing that the kidnappers and their agents were monitoring him.
"The kidnappers came from their hideouts in the nearby border area of River State and murdered the traditional ruler and his wife and fled without being apprehended. Up till today, those kidnappers have not been arrested or tried," the governor regretted.
Towards the end of last year, the state government dethroned two traditional rulers for their alleged complicity in the kidnapping saga. The sacked monarchs are Chief Reuben Nworgu of Ihe-Iyi autonomous community in Ugwunagbo Council and Chief Emmanuel Oforji of Isi-Obehie autonomous community in Ukwa West Council. They were alleged to have aided and abetted kidnapping.
Their alleged involvement confirms suspicion by both the government and the people that the business of kidnapping has the backing of some well-placed people, including some traditional rulers and perhaps other prominent members of society. Little wonder these hoodlums carry out the acts with impunity, with the backing of powerful individuals.
Investigations show that the traditional rulers are suspicious of themselves, as there is no love lust among some of them.
A source told The Guardian that in one of the meetings held shortly before the sack of the two monarchs, the governor alleged that some royal fathers were harbouring criminals, especially kidnappers in their domain.
One of the prominent monarchs in the state, octogenarian Eze Isaac Ikonne of Aba, challenged him to mention the names of such traditional rulers and that he (monarch) should not spare any of them.
Eze Ikonne even went the extra mile to narrate before the gathering how a fellow monarch sent him a threatening text message when he challenged the said monarch on alleged criminal activities in his domain and promised to show the text message to the governor if need be.
Even at that, some royal fathers, especially those against kidnapping, have been targets of these kidnappers. Apart from the late Nna and his wife, another royal father in Osisioma Council was reportedly kidnapped and later killed.
Alleged Complicity And Challenges Of The Police, Vigilante And Other Security Agents
FOLLOWING the kidnap of the four journalists and their driver on Sunday at Umuaforka junction, along the Ikot-Ekpene-Aba in Obingwa Council, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Ogbonna Onovo, arrived Umuahia on Tuesday and had a close door meeting with the Governor Orji, Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 9, Umuahia, state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Jonathan Johnson, other security chiefs and traditional rulers in the state.
Also in Umuahia on Tuesday were national executives of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), led by its president, Mr. Garba Mohammed. Two security experts accompanied them from Israel.
Since Tuesday, the NUJ executives have been discussing with the abducted journalists and their kidnappers, who have reduced the initial N250 million ransom to N30 million. But they turned down the pledge of N15 million offer made to them, arguing that it was too small.
A privy to one of the conversation between the kidnappers and the negotiators on phone disclosed that the kidnappers revealed that they know and were adequately informed that the journalists were on a trip to Uyo and were going returning by road through the Ikot- Ekpene road.
"We are quite informed about the movement of the journalists and we waited for them along the road. We worked with information and somebody close to them gave us the information about their movement," one of the kidnappers was reported to have disclosed on phone.
The Guardian investigation revealed that even with the mobilisation of more policemen to the areas, it has been difficult to ascertain the particular hideout of the kidnappers, because the Nigeria Police has no tracking device.
It was also gathered that efforts and proposal by the police authority to purchase a tracking device had been awaiting attention at the Ministry of Police Affairs.
A source close to the police authority disclosed that the development has remain a source of worry and concern to the police.
Some of the plain clothe policemen, who were deployed to the villages in the area to search for the hideouts of the kidnappers and possibly rescue the abducted journalists leave the areas for towns immediately it is 4 pm for fear of being ambushed by the kidnappers.
One of them, who preferred anonymity, accosted The Guardian around 2.30pm on Wednesday at Umueleghele village in Isiala Ngwa South Council explained that the place is very dangerous, especially for someone that is not familiar with the area.
Most of the people who summoned courage to speak to The Guardian on the development alleged police complicity in the menace. They averred that most police officers in the area, including the superior officers, are aiding and abetting kidnapping. They alleged that the policemen connive with the kidnappers by offering them useful information and arms to kill any of the officers that stood in their way.
On the activities of the vigilante groups in combating the crime, it was noted that the law establishing them prohibits them from killing, hence whenever they apprehended kidnappers, they handed them over to police. The police, they alleged, will collect money and grant them bail without charging them to court, a development have created deep animosity between them and the police, thereby making them to work at cross purposes in tackling kidnapping in the state.
Investigation also reveals that a former Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Osisioma Ngwa Council, Mr. Linus Egbe, was recently arrested and whisked to Abuja over his alleged complicity in the saga, having being fingered by one of the kidnappers arrested.
Since his arrest, which was confirmed to The Guardian by the police authority, nothing has been heard about him or his roles and that of other collaborators in the crime.
With the glaring challenges and failure of the police to fish out the abductors of the four journalists last Sunday, 200 men of the State Security Service (SSS) arrived Umuahia with their tracking machine on Wednesday to join in efforts to rescue the journalists.
Also on Thursday morning, two police helicopters arrived at the Sam Mbakwe Airport Owerri, en-route Umuahia, to assist in the search for the abducted journalists.
Despite all these, one of the negotiators with kidnappers disclosed that they (kidnappers) were aware of all these security arrangement, but had remained undaunted in collecting the ransom.
A source close to the NUJ national executive told The Guardian yesterday that if nothing positive was done by weekend, they would address a press conference and call for a joint task force of security agents to rescue their abducted colleagues.
Topography Of The Areas As A Hindrance
THE topographic setting of the Ngwaland makes up nine out of the state's 17 councils is quite unique, in the sense that a first time visitor will find it difficult to differentiate the council areas.
While the popular Aba metropolis is within Aba South and North councils, other council within Ngwaland, such as Isiala Ngwa North and South, Ukwa West and East, Obingwa, Osisioma Ngwa and Ugwunagbo, surrounds the area.
While there are no land space in Aba metropolis, following the violation of the master plan by land sellers and buyers, other closer councils have vast land covered with thick bushes and farm lands and with many link roads to Aba metropolis, allowing the people easy access to Aba at their will.
It was learnt that all the pathways and link roads to Aba serve as easy route for the kidnappers to escape at will and the bushes and uncompleted buildings in the villages as their hideouts.
The Guardian investigation reveals that security men who made attempt to nip their activities in the bud by chasing them into the villages and difficult terrains of the bush were ambushed and killed without trace. It is the same challenges that the police sent there to try rescue the abducted journalists are facing now.
Kidnapping As Organised Crime And Industry In The State
INVESTIGATION shows that kidnapping has become an organised crime and industry in the state, because of the alleged involvement of many people in it and the compensation they get after a successful operation.
While there are those who specialise in kidnapping victims with arms and hold them hostage in their hideouts in the bushes and villages, there are others in the city monitoring plans by security agents to get them, which they relay back to their collaborators to enable them re-strategise.
It was observed that while the kidnappers of the journalists and their driver have been using the journalists' cell phones to communicate with the negotiators, there are other agents working with them that had been talking with one of the negotiators with a different cell phone.
As they were conversing on Wednesday night, a security agency's tracking device was able to pick up the conversation and surprisingly, the person at the other end was said to have been within Umuahia, indicating that there was high conspiracy in the whole saga.
In almost all the villages and communities visited in the area by The Guardian, nobody was willing to discuss anything about kidnapping for fear of being hunted down or killed, even when they claim to know those behind it. Those who dared to discuss it did so on the condition of anonymity and briefly before another person, who may be an agent of the gang, saw him or her.
Source: The Guardian, 17th July 2010.
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'It Is A Very Unfortunate Situation And Also Painful That This Type Of Thing Is Happening Right Now'
BY SAMSON EZEA
Abia State Governor Theodore Orji speaks on the menace of kidnapping in the state and recent kidnap of four journalists and their driver.
What is your reaction to the recent kidnap of four journalists and their driver along Aba-Ikot Ekpene road?
It is a very unfortunate situation and also painful that this type of thing is happening right now. My reaction is that of detest. The government of Abia State is determined to ensure that those journalists are released.
We would unravel the circumstances surrounding this kidnapping. We are not happy about it; kidnapping has become a national embarrassment that must be eradicated.
Is your government, in collaboration with security agents, in touch with the kidnappers?
Kidnappers don't talk to government. If they were talking with the police, they would be able to tell me. But normally, what they do is to talk to the relations of the victims, who would then tell the police. They don't talk to police; they don't talk to government, those kidnapped would be allowed to talk to their relations.
What has been the effort of your government in combating the crime?
We have been doing a lot to fight this problem. We have been equipping the police, logistically and otherwise. We have taken actions, in terms of promulgating laws that would stop kidnapping. We even made kidnapping a capital offence in the state.
We have taken some initiatives also, like the banning of okada (commercial motorcycles) as a means of transportation in the cities and replacing it with tricycles. We have sensitised the people and even dethroned traditional rulers that were suspected to be involved in kidnapping.
The vigilante group, backed by law, is also in operation in the state to assist the police. We have installed equipment to stop kidnapping. We have also asked for the assistance of federal government and they are helping us.
As of now, we have a lot of police personnel in the state and equipment. I have personally made arrangements to buy more Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) from my security vote to donate to the police. We have bought lest than 205 patrol vans for the police and given them enough communication equipment.
Considering the situation on ground in the state, do you think the police personnel are doing enough?
I will say they are doing their best; they are trying their best, but I believe they have to be more committed. There are some bad eggs in the police and there are good ones among them, just like we have in any organisation.
They are trying, but you know these kidnappers have sophisticated equipment, which they operate with. They have informants in our midst. When you are planning, they are also counter planning. That has been the problem.
Are you not worried that recent kidnapping cases had been in the Aba axis of the state?
That is correct; the crime has been concentrated in Aba areas. If you come to Umuahia and other parts of the state, kidnapping is not rampart. You don't even notice it all.
I believe it has been occurring around Aba, because most people staying there are wealthy people. Most of the businessmen who have money live within Aba axis. That is why kidnappers are ravaging that place. That is my own conviction and belief.
What do you think could be responsible for this vice, because it was not an issue before now?
There are a lot of thing that are responsible for kidnapping, including poverty, unemployment and greed, because kidnapping is being perpetrated by youths.
It also has political undertones in the Southeast.
There are insinuations in some quarters that the arbitrarily creation of autonomous by your predecessor, which conferred chieftaincy titles on men of questionable character, may have contributed to this?
When I became governor, I told the people that I would not create any other autonomous community. The existing ones are not created by my government. Since I came on board, I have not created any and I am not planning to create any. We have stopped the creation of more, because we know the implications.
What are the socio-economic implications of kidnapping on the state?
Of course, one doesn't need to go far to get the cost and implication of the menace on the economy of the state. It is already grinding the economy of the state to a halt, especially Aba, which was the commercial centre of the state before now.
Most industries are closing down and some of the businessmen are relocating. You know what it means, which is why we are fighting tooth and nail to ensure that the crime is nipped in the bud.
About two months ago, when the crime drastically reduced, Nigeria Breweries relocated to Aba, because the atmosphere was conducive. That is what we want, because they know that Aba is a fertile place for business.
We are doing everything possible to eradicate the crime.
Do you think government has done enough in creating employment opportunities for the teeming youths?
Yes, of course, government cannot employ everybody, but government will do its best to employ the number it can and create enabling environment for employment to be carried out.
In Abia State, we have been trying to revive some of the moribund industries. When that is done, we will employ people. The modern ceramic industries employed 1000 people after being revived. We are creating skill acquisition centres for people to be self-employed and independent.
The number of unemployed people has remained on the high side, because the more you employ, the more others graduate from school. But we will not be deterred; we will continue to do our best.
Could there is a cartel behind kidnapping in the Southeast, especially in Abia?
I have said it before that there is political undercurrent in the kidnapping that is going on in Abia State; it is the handiwork of a cartel. We want to have concentrate evidence before taking any action on them, because this type of thing needs concrete evidence to substantiate it. That is what we are working on.
We want to have evidence of those behind it, because obviously some people are behind it. Some could be done by these boys who are hungry and jobless, but some have political undertones attached to it.
Is it true that a traditional ruler and his wife were killed in Obingwa Council for giving useful information about kidnapping activities?
That is correct! The man was a friend of the government; he loved my government and was prepared to aid government to succeed in tackling kidnapping. He was able to identify the people that were involved and gave information to government.
But those kidnappers came from Rivers State in the night and murdered the man and his wife. Up till today, none of them have been arrested or tried.
Source: The Guardian, 17th July 2010.
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'We Need To Build On GSP To Make It Easier To Track Criminals'
EDITOR
Security consultant and chief executive of Frankcom Limited, Mr. Frank Odita, a retired Commissioner of Police told AJIBOLA AMZAT that and proffered solutions on how Nigerian police Force can be strengthened to deal with the crime
Kidnapping seems to be on the increase in Nigeria. How did we arrive here?
As a security consultant, I can say that kidnapping in Nigeria started in the Niger Delta, where militants and other hoodlums kidnapped expatriates workers in the oil industry and extorted money from them. The expatriate workers were turned into endangered species at that point, and of course, the oil companies who brought them from their respective countries would not let them die in Nigeria. So, arrangements were made, ransom were paid and the victims were released.
That has now made it very attractive, because it turned out to be a low-risk, high yield crime. Low risk in that you just abduct somebody and disappeared with him, go to a safe haven and call the relations to talk to the victim, using his own telephone line, and play on their sentiments and succeed in extorting money from them.
The situation is degenerated when expatriate officers left, as the kidnappers now started abducting highly placed Nigerians in the oil industry or members of their family. And the same procedure is followed- negotiate, pay ransom and obtain a release. So, it became very attractive to the criminals. Why would he go to do armed robbery and face the barrage of the weaponry from the police when he can quietly abduct somebody, take him to a safe haven, name a price, negotiate and get quick and easy money?
Then came the amnesty programme, and the boys who were in the business of kidnapping now have another means of livelihood. They are fed three times a day and at the end of the day, they are paid allowances and have abandoned the business of kidnapping.
But our brothers in the Southeast, who are very good at business, moved into the kidnapping business and started kidnapping their fellows. They started kidnapping aged mother or fathers of highly placed citizens in their land, and because no one wants to lose his/her mother or father, ransoms were paid.
And so long as ransoms are paid, the business continues to thrive and the escalation has now become an embarrassment to the nation.
Why did the police allow the menace to fester up to the point of national embarrassment?
The police are handicapped, in the sense that the areas where these boys operate are not mapped areas. So, no navigational equipment can take the police straight down to the point where the guys are, and unfortunately also, our GSM providers have not developed equipment that can track to the nearest point where the calls are coming from. They can only tell you the call area, not the exact street where the call is coming from.
So, what the police need is a device that can tell them that the people calling are from a particular street and from point A to point B. That is what the police need to cordon off the area and get the kidnappers arrested. And don't forget that the criminals also are not fools, if they make a phone call here; the next phone call will be at another distance. So, the police are dealing with moving target and tracking them becomes difficult. They can only rely on the people in the neighbourhood, and where does that take us? It means we now have a war sitting on a tripod.
So, government, security agencies and the public have a role to play. Government is to provide an enable environment by giving the security agencies the wherewithal to operate with, such as developing a device that can serve like a tracker, using the GSM providers, so that when a phone rings, they can tell you with pin-point accuracy or at least with nearest metres where the call is coming from.
The greatest problem of the police is lack of equipment.
Do you think the IGP leading the operation to rescue the kidnapped journalists would lead to their release?
Yes, he is leading the operation to see for himself what his men are reporting to him, whether they are even lifting a finger. I want to believe that the present crop of senior officers at the top echelon of the police will reduce themselves to the level of being a cog in the wheel of the progress of security.
Take Lagos State for instance, it has a security committee, where what the needs of the police are made available, including wireless equipment. If this kind of kidnapping were to be happening in Lagos, Governor Babatunde Fashola would have done something fast about it. Modern equipment is one of the effective tools for policing, so we would stop the police chasing shadows. A call comes, you ask a GSM service provider where is the call coming from, if they give you the name of the street, you move your men down there immediately.
But can't the police adopt a proactive approach?
There are crimes that are preventable and some that are not preventable. You can prevent burglary, car snatching, etc, but you cannot prevent murder or assassination. The best you can do to prevent kidnapping is to mount checkpoints. Unless the person so kidnapped raises an alarm at checkpoints, the police won't know, because every citizen has a right of association and movement.
So, it is not possible for a policeman to see you and call you a kidnapper.
Maybe that is why the crime is on the rise?
Not exactly; it is attractive because ransoms are being paid, and there are so many idle youths around. Do you know why Lagos has become the safest city in Nigeria? It is because the governor has provided jobs for a lot of teeming youths of Lagos. You find people sweeping the streets, carrying wastes in vehicles, and they are gainfully employed. After carrying all those buckets of litters into those lorries from morning till evening, by the time they close in the evening, they are looking for where to lay their heads, not to go and kidnap people or commit any crime.
Unfortunately, there are not many governors doing what Fashola is doing in Lagos.
The IGP gave a 24-hour ultimatum to the kidnappers to release their victims, but that has passed uneventfully. What is the sense in issuing an order to those who don't take instruction from you?
There is something you achieve through psychology. The statement he made could make the kidnappers think the police have developed a strategy to catch up with them. And if they catch up with them, they will be sorry for themselves, because kidnapping is now attracting death penalty, just like armed robbery, in some states. They could say to themselves, 'let us release the journalist and let them go.
So, the threat is not misplaced.
Is the structure of Nigerian police strong enough to combat this new dimension of crime?
Once a new dimension of crime surfaces, the modus operandi is studied, of course, an action plan is developed and it would lead to curbing the excesses of the criminals. The criminals are always developing methodologies for committing crimes and the police's business is to study the methods and counter them through their own actions. Once it is handled professionally, it is nipped in the bud.
I believe the structure of the Nigerian police is strong enough to deal with this new dimension of crime. In fact, it is simple to handle when they occur. For instance, it is difficult to kidnap somebody in Lagos, because all the streets have patrol cars blocking strategic locations and once the information from patrol cars says somebody is kidnapped and it is going towards this direction, immediately checkpoints are set up and the people can't go far; they will get arrested.
Remembers that all streets in Lagos now are mapped; now you can even drive blindly in Lagos if your car has a navigator. So people who developed the navigator can develop equipment that will help the police. MTN used to have this service on their network, we only need to build on that GSP to make it easier to track criminals.
Source: The Guardian, 17th July 2010.
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In Anambra, The People Want Unemployment Tackled To Stem Kidnapping
FROM CHUKS COLLINS, AWKA
NO other case of kidnapping had attracted so much public outcry like that of the four journalists and their driver abducted on their way from a conference in Abia state.
Whereas many are calling on Inspector General of Police Ogbonna Onovo to resign for ineptitude, others are calling for a mass purge in the rank and file, "because corruption has become so much part of them."
Things got so bad in Nnewi, especially after the kidnap of a senior member of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Chief Benson Nwankwo, on May 24 that the association called out its members on a protest march.
They also ordered indefinite total boycott of courts and were joined two days after by all the markets and businesses in the town until Obi and the state police boss, Mr. Philemon Leha, rushed down to address and reassure them that efforts were on to apprehend the hoodlums.
That is perhaps why the Anglican Bishop of Nnewi, Dr. Godwin Okpala, and his Catholic counterpart, Rev. Hilary Okeke, as well as the Onitsha Metropolitan Archbishop, Rev. Valerian Okeke, in their separate reactions, want President Goodluck Jonathan to tackle the malaise, so as to stem the persistent slide in our national life.
On his part, president of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Kingsley Ezekwelu, saw kidnap as a political creation driven by massive unemployment and greed. He said politicians, in a bid to secure their positions at all cost, recruit, financially induce and arm jobless youths to bulldoze them to success, only to disappear and abandon then them in the cold after achieving their aim. The youths, he added, thereafter take to kidnapping as a way to make quick and easy money for their sustenance.
Ezekwelu blamed the weak security network/agencies, who overtime have been found to be working hands-in-gloves with the hoodlums by lending them guns and aiding their smooth operations and evading arrest/prosecution.
The state chairman of Labour Party (LP), Mr. Jude Ezenwafor, said government should have a deliberate policy on youth development, employment, and the development of social infrastructures, like hospitals, schools, roads and the agriculture sectors, etc, which is lacking presently, because they are well-known heavy employers of labour.
Mr. Ellis Ezenekwe, coordinator of Rural Communities Development Outreach, a non-governmental organisation, described kidnapping in Anambra and the Southeast geo-political zone in general as a new phenomenon that was taken for granted at the initial stages, such that Governor Peter Obi initially a saw it as a political blackmail by his opponents.
He said: "For this reason, the administration mis-diagnosed the raging kidnap bull, which incidentally clearly predated his regime. That is simply why Obi allowed it to blossom into the monster that we have today, such that investors have stopped coming, while the existing ones have been re-evaluating their investments in the area, with the sole aim of pulling out and relocating to other less hostile locations.
"As a result, traders and transporters from parts of Africa and the country are no longer willing to enter parts of Anambra and the Southeast as before. Today, the police are littered all over every street in the Southeast, angrily and menacingly brandishing their weapons and harassing the innocent helpless citizens, who are trying to make ends meet.
"The governors, local government chairmen and the other elected public office holders need to align forces and find innovative ways to create jobs to engage the youths. The rural communities of the South east today, remain virgin grounds for creating employment."
Ezenekwe, therefore, urged them to now positively consider again the earlier counsel of his outreach, which is to use the ecological funds to rehabilitate the rural communities, bearing in mind that the zone is predominantly rural and that they all suffer serious ecological problems.
Meanwhile, Teco Solutions Inc, a United States-based international security consultant, has expressed willingness to come in and help out.
According to one of its executives, Ms. Catherine Agada, the company was moved by the apparent helplessness of the people in the state, hence the plans to bring in its best hands of well-trained professionals, security experts and first-class gadgets with which to educate and train Nigerian topflight executives, their staff, as well as relations on modern security precautions, maneuvers and nip any security threat/challenges in the bud.
Tony Uche, a youth leader and counselor with the Anambra Rebirth, also an NGO, said: "The abominable phenomenon due to the frustration and state of hopelessness, which unemployment and the near-total collapse of societal norms/values have forced on the youths.
The cyclical trend, he stated, "is further fuelled by the deliberate marginalisation policy of the federal government on the zone and failure of the successive regional, state and local governments in the zone."
Chief Bona Maduaforkwa, a security and intelligence expert, blamed it on "the gross ineptitude of the police and the suspected pact between some criminals in the state with some of the officers."
He also accused the police hierarchy of "shocking policy of deceit, as it pertains to security of lives and property in the state, which has today crippled the policing of the state."
Maduaforkwa traced the foundation of the rising insecurity in the entire 177 communities of the state to the era of Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju, "and the embarrassing failure of the Obi administration to bring succour through democracy dividends to the citizens."
An executive of the Okada Riders Association, Elvis Agukwe, said: "The Imo State vigilante model, which the IGP acknowledged, should be studied and adopted by the state. A sustained awareness should be created all over the state to make citizens aware that the matter concerns everyone and should not be left for the government alone."
He pointed out that this may be the right time to revisit the issue of state and community policing, while urging the government to tackle the high rate of unemployment in the state, by recruiting some qualified youths into its severely depleted workforce.
Ikenna Mbazulike Amechi, a member of the state House of Assembly, saw kidnap as a serious societal problem anywhere, lamenting that it has become politicised in the state.
According to him, the communities, their leaders, including the monarchs, the security agencies and government at all levels owe the people a natural duty to confront the malaise frontally.
"After all, the victims are usually kept in our communities and neighbourhoods from where they were also catered for during captivity. Law enforcement leaders in the state must be sanctioned for failure to live up to their responsibilities, and also commended and rewarded for success," he noted.
Amechi also wants citizens to stop obscene display of wealth and affluence in the midst of hunger, lack and abject poverty.
Saying that the victims cut across social class, gender, age, profession and state of health, he added that in most of the cases, it was evident that what matters is been money.
Source: The Guardian, 17th July 2010.
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'Nigeria Represents A Bad Product In The World Today'
EDITOR
There is a book about Nigeria written by Karl Maier titled 'This House Has Fallen'...Nigeria is proving to be a wayward country. We have unwittingly chosen to go in the opposite direction of human civilisation.
What is your assessment of the state of the nation ahead of the 2011 general elections?
There is a book about Nigeria written by Karl Maier titled This House Has Fallen. No one seems to have any doubts that this is the case with Nigeria today. All indices point to a failing nation where the rule of law is consistently undermined and the state seems to have lost the will and the capacity to enforce its own laws. My worry is that in spite of the current state of the nation, we remain a people in denial. Nigeria is virtually a failed state but our reaction as a people to this state of affairs is curious.
I contemplate that any rational community of human beings, who have allowed their house to collapse, will first mobilise to clear the debris and commence reconstruction. A more enterprising group will take the circumstance as an opportunity not only to rebuild but also to redesign and modernise. This is why serious countries take the opportunity of the devastation caused by war to rebuild and modernise their countries. Nigeria is proving to be a wayward country. We have unwittingly chosen to go in the opposite direction of human civilisation.
I am willing to accept that all hope is not entirely lost but we can all see snippets of failure in various departments of our national life. It will be true to say that major parts of the Nigerian House are collapsing and we are busy doing cosmetic patchwork more like the white-ed sepulcher; we paint the outside white whereas the inside is filled with iniquities. I think that is symbolic of what the state of the nation is today in Nigeria. Everybody knows that things are not working but we console ourselves in our own simple corner that when there is no electricity, it doesn't matter because the sun would rise in the morning; If your phone is not working, what does it matter, service would soon be restored. But nobody cares to audit the cost to the nation.
Lets look at the enormous impact a pothole can make on the economy. Take the example of a doctor who has a dying patient that needs very urgent medical attention but cannot get to the patient on time due to traffic hold up caused by a simple pothole. The patient dies. One productive Nigerian dies and the national workforce is depleted. Again, you need to open a letter of credit and you are rushing because the bank department is closing by 1pm and you left your office by 10 am. You need to do that to get your papers in and the people over there are waiting because the MD is planning to go on vacation. You get into this traffic and instead of getting there at 1pm, you get there at 2.45pm and the bank has closed. The next day your partners oversea cannot understand your explanations. So, what would have come in two weeks would now come in two months and there is a cost to it but nobody is auditing.
Recently I read in the papers that business is almost at a standstill in the South East because of the spate of kidnappings. When kidnapping started, people were only concerned about the discomfort and the threat to life. Very few bothered at the collateral damage and its impact on businesses. Abia is now one state in the South East where nobody wants to go. That is also symbolic about the state of the nation. The state of the nation is also showcased by the health care sector where Nigeria can barely provide proper basic healthcare to the citizenry. Countries like India and Egypt have become medical Mecca of sort to the elderly in Nigeria.
Then you talk about electricity. Your uneducated relative, who wants to be a vulcanizer, cannot rely on the national grid for electricity. So also is the farmer who wishes to process cassava to garri. These micro enterprises must necessarily generate their own power in Nigeria. How can things run efficiently? The time and capital invested would have been used for better purposes.
The state of the nation is also symbolised by the confusion that we cannot even manage a constitution in terms of knowing what is right and wrong. So, everything is like panel beating. The constitution is an arrangee constitution. This year's budget is not out and we are in the second half of the year. That is part of the state of the nation. We all say the right things but the fact is that somehow we find it difficult to do the right things.
We can also see the state of the nation in football. Our recent failure in South Africa shows our inability as a nation to make preparation for an event that was signposted to the entire world four years ago. The coach that took our players to the tournament only met his players less than a month to kick off. We had our first friendly 12 days to the kick off when South Africa had had almost a hundred friendly matches. Nigeria had three friendly matches and in spite of the abundance of gifted players, ended up not winning a single match throughout their short stay at the event. But who is auditing?
Every administration in the past 25 years has promised to improve power supply in the country. How come this remains an elusive dream? We have the resources; we can buy the most advanced power generating turbines in the world, but do we have the indigenous capacity to operate and sustain it? It will appear that we are applying a political solution to a technological problem. Every technology driven equipment requires backup support. It is important to have an indigenous capacity to provide the required maintenance and support.
What then do you see in the first two months of Jonathan's administration as the country's President?
I see a lot of expectation as far as the citizens' hopes and desire for change is concerned. I see an appreciation by the new leadership of the state of the nation; but I have not been able to connect this to a good sense of history. In terms of the structures of government, I fear that Nigeria as presently structured might be an encumbrance rather than a propelling motor for the incumbent.
I recognise that the new leadership comes with a measure of freshness but my fear is that Nigeria as currently structured might present curves in the way of progress for it. My wish would be that the leadership would show an appreciation of the constraints of time in the sense that this administration is a child of destiny and in spite of the myriad of problems that we have in Nigeria, it only has less than one year in office. This administration does not have four years. I pray that in spite of the noise about 2011, the administration continues to maintain its levelheadedness and act with the profile of an administration that has ten months. In this sense, it must be a task force government and must choose critical areas to address where it can make optimum impact in six to 10 months. The motto of this administration should be to deliver impactful results that are verifiable to Nigerians within the time available to them. The best way to go is to outsource the execution of projects to Task Forces.
For instance, the new Special Adviser on power, Prof. Barth Nnaji should head a taskforce that will deliver a specific power project within a given time frame. This has absolutely nothing to do with the 7-point agenda. You can also take fundamental projects from the poverty eradication or the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) schemes and create taskforces for their execution within desirable time frame. Each project should be analysed for its beneficial impact, and dynamic Nigerians with the right competencies and attitude are invited to the respective taskforces. This will make a difference in citizen's perception.
The construction of a second Niger-Bridge calls for a task force. If the President should flag off the construction of the Niger Bridge within six months, he will get a standing ovation. That is what Nigerians want to hear now and that must shape the temperament and complexion of this administration. It can't be otherwise.
So, whether another four years comes or not, this administration must acknowledge that what they have now is not more than ten months. It must not indulge in the luxury of pretending that they have more than ten months. They may eventually have, but right now they don't.
Where do you place our democracy after assessing the last two previous administrations?
In a previous interview with The Guardian where we talked about Obasanjo's presidency, I had cause to say that we need to audit the circumstances in which Obasanjo came into office as the president of this country. If he, for instance, came in because Nigeria was at the verge of disintegration and his coming was able to save the nation then, major issues like infrastructural development, healthcare and some other critical issues become secondary. This is simple because you cannot build anything in a fractured country. In some way, I can relate this to our democracy, which is very much in its infancy. Obasanjo symbolised the birth of our democracy and the measure of its growth is signposted by the "doctrine of necessity". It is obvious that the issues of national survival continue to be at the heart of the growth of democracy in Nigeria. And as far as anyone is concerned in Nigeria, democracy will always earn pass mark as long as we continue to benchmark it against national survival.
The important thing is that people learn from their mistakes. That's how history is made. I believe we could have done better as a people if we had the enabling environment especially in the values that shape our conduct as a people. You must remember that we came from a prolonged period of military rule. The Nigerian psych over a period of time was shaped by the military. I once said that the owners of our democracy are the military. They scripted the constitution that this democracy is running on and it becomes more obvious by the day. So, for me, democracy is growing but it is not the kind of growth that we anticipated. If you compare our growth with the growth of democracy in Ghana, then there is no way the Nigerian democratic environment can score pass mark.
The Ghanaian democracy is more matured because what Ghana has been able to do is to conduct fairly acceptable elections and you don't need anybody to tell you because incumbents have been voted out of office. The opposition in Ghana has won elections twice; one voted out, the other one comes in. So, you can see that somehow Ghana is doing better than Nigeria. Also, their performance in the just concluded FIFA World Cup in South Africa cannot be disconnected from their environment. Our show at the event also symbolises the state of our nation. All these are a measure of our development or lack of it.
What hope do you see for the future?
This is a bad time to be a Nigerian. I am deeply curious about the direction that our democracy is going. The hopes and aspirations of Nigerians are now more than ever revolving around the current President, Goodluck Jonathan. Sometimes I feel sorry for our youths because their expectations are heavy. Everybody is looking for a Messiah and people are now saying this is a man who has never contested for any elective office but have held the highest office in Bayelsa state and now the country's presidency. Somehow time and destiny have conspired to put him where he is.
For Nigerians, he can't be but God's anointed. So, now that he has been entrusted to that leadership responsibility everybody is hoping that he would perform well but can he perform magic when you have three effective tiers of government, each one coming with its own baggage. How far can a Jonathan go with the kind of legislature where they take delight in fighting each other physically, where men would drag women out without blinking? What kind of democracy do we have where budgets are passed and nobody is asking questions? Where judges pass judgments that even kids are wondering how? What can he do where the police force that is charged with enforcing our laws have been indicted as the most corrupt institution in the word? So, how far can a Jonathan go in a country that is highly politicised? How can he be effective with godfathers laying claim to him and his office. These are the critical questions that require answers and that is why I choose to join others who are praying for him.
You were one of those who faulted rotational presidency right from the onset. With controversy trailing the Peoples Democratic Party's (PDP) zoning arrangement what do you think should be the way out?
In an interview with The Guardian in 1999, I noted that as commendable as the PDP zoning arrangement was, it had no depth. I also acknowledged that the concept was a way of stabilising the country's politics and not a constitutional issue. It was an article of faith that all members of the PDP applauded at the time. I believe it was wise and rational. It served Nigeria well. The rotational power arrangement was conceived and implemented to give a sense of belonging to all Nigerians. Somewhere in the constitution it was said that every Nigerian must have a sense of belonging. But I have always maintained that power that swings merely on the basis of North and South didn't show much depth. The power that shifted to the South West made little or no meaning to the South South. And so the agitation continues.
Laudable as the concept was when it came, it was an arrangee program. It was short on details. That was what I complained about in 1999 and that is what is happening right now. I am alarmed and deeply concerned about the direction and complexion of the current debate on zoning. Zoning has served a good purpose and can still do if we become a bit more patient and painstaking.
President Jonathan became President on the back of a joint ticket with the late President Yar'Adua. In the pursuit of equity and fair play, will it be unreasonable for the PDP to support Jonathan to complete the second term on their joint ticket and the North takes its turn in 2015 for two terms. In this case, it will be said that the North and South shared this joint ticket and the North will get its full weight in gold when it takes its turn in 2015 for two terms.
The PDP will need to thoroughly review and upgrade their commendable zoning formula. Let the PDP get their civilised and competent members to tinker a solution and create more viable options instead of allowing yesterday's men to set Nigeria ablaze. The new PDP chairman, Nwodo, has a responsibility to douse the tension and bring sanity by raising positive viable options on this count.
What is your assessment of the viability of opposition to the PDP?
People are looking for a means of livelihood and they want it short-term. Politics present short-term livelihood options to a multitude. It is not party ideology that differentiates political parties in Nigeria. The difference between PDP and ANPP as far as Nigeria is concerned is that one party is in power and the other is not. Any party that has no control of a state cannot sustain itself financially. There has to be a strong base–PDP has it because of its control of majority of the states as well as good funding. It is not possible in the current Nigerian circumstance to have a viable opposition without a strong financial base. It becomes even more difficult in the face of the legion of parties that we now have.
What do you think of the state of corruption in Nigeria?
Nigeria has now completely succumbed to corruption. In the last 20 years, corruption has advanced from mere bribe taking to ransom taking. For an average Nigerian citizen, these are the faces of corruption that he encounters daily: At the police check point, you pay ransom to reclaim time; PHCN official disconnects your electricity in any guise, you pay ransom to have it reconnected; you apply for a driver's license, you must pay ransom to have it issued after passing the test, you supply stationery to a government agency or ministry, you have to pay ransom for your payment to be processed; woe to you if you have goods to clear from the ports. I used to joke that if a tsunami happened in Nigeria and the international community sends relief materials to the victims, the goods will never leave the ports in Nigeria because the ransom takers have no sense of charity. Corruption in Nigeria is no longer bribery, it has moved to 'State Hostage Taking'. It is public knowledge how the tiers of government relate to each other. Ministries must necessarily pay ransom to get their budgets approved. So, in a sense, the spate of kidnapping in the country was introduced by the State. Both the State and the entire society are enmeshed in corruption. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has already admitted that it is overwhelmed by the situation.
What are your views about image laundering campaign?
We have not done enough locally to develop a Nigeria character that will be attractive to the rest of the world. Good conduct is the best way to market a people. Nigeria today represents a bad product. You can only polish it from the inside not from the outside. Let us build a truly civil society where the state has the will and the capacity to enforce our laws then everything else will follow.
How do you see the amnesty and rehabilitation of the Niger Delta people?
In 1999, I discussed the issue of the Niger Delta in the annual lecture series of the Chamber of Commerce, in Asaba titled To HAVE AND TO HAVE NOT. The lecture was delivered on the back of the free market doctrine that all factors of production are entitled to a just and commensurate reward. Land earns rent; capital earns interest; labour earns wages, and intellectual capital or patents earns royalty. The people of the Niger Delta as long settled communities have a claim on the land where the oil resources are exploited. Nigeria should therefore pay a fair rent to them. Only a vanquished people can be dispossessed of their ancestral land. For it is inconceivable in any free society and by extension any democracy in the world that a factor of production will be denied its just reward. That will be tantamount to slavery, where the wages due to labour is withheld. The sure consequence is the rise of freedom fighters, although in Nigeria we call them militants. It is so cumbersome for Nigeria to do things right. As simple as the issue of the Niger Delta is, what has stopped us from the Promised Land is a dubious conspiracy of the leadership elite to appropriate other people's entitlement.
Source: The Guardian, 17th July 2010.
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Kidnapping: Ekweremadu Backs Call For State Of Emergency
Written by Nnamdi Mbawike, Enugu
Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu yesterday backed those calling for the declaration of a state of emergency in the South East following the alarming rate of crimes especially kidnapping in the geo-political zone.
Speaking to reporters in Enugu, the Deputy Senate President explained that kidnapping had assumed a dangerous dimension in the states of the South East, insisting that only a declaration of state of emergency would effectively address the menace.
He however disagreed with those who believe that governors of the south eastern states would be removed when a state of emergency is declared in the zone, explaing that the 1999 constitution of the country did not make any provision for the removal of a governor or president in the event of a state of emergency.
According to him, the removal of the governors of Ekiti a Plateu States governors when a state of emergency was declared in the states was alien to the 1999 constitution, adding that it was left to stand because nobody was courageous enough to challenge it in court.
Prince Ike Ekweremadu maintained that the removal of the governors was a complete misnomer and unconstitutional, insisting that is no section of the 1999 constitution that empowered anybody to remove a governor or appoint a sole administrator in the event of a declaration of state of emergency.
The DSP was reacting to a question on the recent call by the senate president, David Mark that a state of emergency be declared in the South East following the high rate of crimes especially kidnapping in the area.
He added that the declaration of a state of emergency would create an enabling environment for application of extra ordinary measures to stem the problem, maintaining that it does mean removal of the governor of the state concerned.
Source: Leadership, 18th July 2010.
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South East Zone, The Most Troubled In Nigeria - Onovo
Written by Godwin Opara
The Inspector General of Police Mr. Ogbonna Onovo has identified the people of the south East geographical region as the most trouble some people in Nigeria.
Mr. Onovo who made this revelation in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State Capital while interacting with political and other stake holders stated that people from outside the region are afraid of coming to the area mainly because of kidnapping and armed robbery activities stressing that the situation now is reminiscent of the days of slave trade.
He regretted that his privileged position as the Country's Inspector General of police seems as a visitation of Satan than aprove of divine favour to him because of persistence security problems perpetrated by his own people.
"I have no security problems in other parts of Nigeria except in the south East. How could my people who whole heartedly Supported my candidature as Nigeria 's police boss turn round to undo me?"
The Inspector General of police said that no sooner he assumed office than trouble Ioomed across the country, adding that all those trouble have been quenched except the problem of kidnapping in the south East.
Onovo said he would not say sorry to those who were detained in Abuja or Abakaliki during the Ezzillo crisis, that they should take it as sacrifice pointing out that the war would not have ended if he did not do what he did.
He called on the people to live in peace saying that if the police should commence searching house to house for arms and ammunitions, innocent People will be inconvenienced the more as no body will go to work or market for days until the searching is over.
He urged those whose loved ones are kidnapped to contact the police immediately and appealed to released kidnapped people to come forward with useful in formations that will lead to the arrest of their predictors rather than keep silence for fear of reprisal attack.
Some of the problems identified as causes of kidnapping in the south East are greed, hypocrisy lack of political power by the traditional rulers, too much of competition among businessmen and too much gap between the salaries of politicians and civil servants.
Source: Leadership, 18th July 2010.
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Anglican Primate Wants State Of Emergency In South-East
Written by Chika Okeke, Abuja
The Primate of All Nigeria in Anglican Community, Archbishop Nicholas Okoh has called on the Federal Government to recognise that the insecurity in South East is beyond the capacity of the state government by declaring state of emergency.
Rev. Okoh gave the indication yesterday while addressing newsmen on the state of the nation at the Episcopal house, Abuja.
He enjoined church leaders and communities to put up proposals for the resolution of insecurity in South East adding that the self inflicted wound will take Nigerians ten solid years to recover from the shock.
The clergy frowned at the apparent breakdown of law and order in Aba as criminals virtually shut down social and economic activities in the area through violence, brigandage and kidnapping in quest for money.
He emphasized that after forty years of civil war, Nigerians are yet to tow the path of good leadership while corruption and constant crisis have ruined the country.
"We are baffled that forty years after the horrors of the civil war, which we are yet to recover from, we have set out another war against ourselves.
"If the wave of wanton destruction in Aba is not eradicated, the communities will be completely ruined. There are no good roads, markets are in the decline and banks are forced to suspend operations due to incessant robberies.
The primate enjoined politicians and religions politicians to desist from using religion as an instrument for personal advancement noting that our religious plurality is an asset not a curse.
On the fracas that erupted in the National Assembly, he said "we are to be at alert concerning the ethical conduct of politicians and the crisis should never be allowed again as it is an eloquent testimony of indiscipline on the part of our leaders.
He appealed to Nigerians to increase awareness on political programmes as it will assist in checkmating irregularities in the county.
Reacting, the Anglican Bishop of Kubwa Diocese, Rev. Duke Akamisoko admonished that for Nigerians to experiences good governance they must be actively involved in the things of God. "For us to witness good governance, we must return to God because as a nation, state and individual, we have gone too badly for things to be better for us."
Source: Leadership, 18th July 2010.
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Kidnap Saga: NUJ Meets In Lagos To Raise Ransom
Written by Iyobosa Uwugiaren, Lagos, and Lilian Agih, Abuja
'Jonathan misled, no kidnapper was arrested'
Govs not responsible for security – Abia Governor
Seven days after four journalists and their driver were kidnapped by gunmen, it is the same old story by the Nigeria Police Force: "We are doing everything to get them released." But the national president of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Malam Mohammed Garba, says journalists and the families of the victims can no longer wait and have therefore fixed a meeting for 2pm today in Lagos to discuss how to raise the N30 million ransom demanded by the kidnappers.
Malam Garaba told LEADERSHIP SUNDAY last night that the gunmen had reduced the ransom from N250 million to N30 million and requested him to travel to Calabar, the Cross River State capital, and pay the money. He said the NUJ had painfully taken the decision to raise the ransom in the general interest of the journalists and their families in spite of the security implications.
"I have received several telephone calls from people asking me to reach out to friends of journalists to help raise the money; I think that is what we are going to discuss tomorrow (today) in Lagos", the NUJ national president stated.
While he expressed appreciation at the efforts of the security agencies so far in attempts to track down the kidnappers, Malam Garaba who has been part of the tracking team said the nature of the area and lack of information by the community is making the whole exercise very difficult.
One of the facilitators of today's meeting, former national president of NUJ, Senator Smart Adeyemi, said yesterday it will be best for NUJ to raise the money in the interest of the affected journalists.
Another source told LEADERSHIP SUNDAY last night that the pronouncement by President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday that one of the kidnappers had been arrested was not true.
"I am sure the president was fed with false security report; none of the kidnappers has been arrested; somebody was actually arrested based on tracking of a phone being used by the kidnappers. The person, the owner of the phone, was also a victim of the kidnappers; they stole his phone; they were using the phone until the man blocked the line and recovered it. And the man who was arrested has since been released", the security source said.
He also confirmed that the identification and business cards of the affected journalists were recovered in a house in Umuafo-Ukwu community in Obingwa local government area, during the tracking exercise on Friday.
The huge expectation by officials of the NUJ that the four kidnapped journalists would be released Friday was dashed as the combined efforts of the mobile policemen, the State Security Service (SSS) and the Interpol to secure the release of the journalists failed. Security men who went to push for the release of the kidnapped journalists arrived at Umuahia from the village, about 50 kilometres away from Umuahia, where they are being held hostage, without success.
The police authority claimed on Wednesday to have tracked down the area where the journalists are being held and promised to secure their release Friday.
Explaining the near-stalemate over the release of the journalists, a senior security operative had told our correspondent that "there was credible evidence that some security officials within the police and the SSS are collaborating with the notorious kidnappers was responsible for the intelligence failure in the exercise so far."
According to him, "the operatives' headquarters is very much aware that some policemen and some operatives are linked to the kidnapping business in the South-East; these boys send returns to them; we are shocked at how these boys get information about our moves. Within this context, it is near-impossible to track down these boys."
Consequently, LEADERSHIP SUNDAY gathered that the SSS Headquarters has ordered the transfer of Abia State director of SSS to Benin-City with immediate effect.
A security source had told our correspondent that those leaders of Umuafo-Ukwu community in Obingwa local government area, where the journalists are being held, were also not cooperating with the security operatives and the police on the issue.
"We believe the community leaders are aware of where the journalists are being held; they are not cooperating with us; they are not giving us any useful information; it is very frustrating," the security source stated.
"Every okada rider (commercial cyclist) is an informant; every telephone call operator in that community is an informant; as you are moving they are giving the kidnappers information; we believe the community leaders are also involved in this notorious business of kidnapping."
Inspector-general of Police Ogbonna Onovo had told the kidnappers involved in the notorious kidnapping business on Tuesday to get ready for war with his men. The police boss relocated to Abia State on Tuesday on the directive of President Goodluck Jonathan, who was said to have told him not to return to Abuja until the affected journalists and their drivers were set free by the kidnappers.
The chairman of the Lagos State council of the NUJ, Alhaji Wahab Alabi Oba; the assistant secretary of the council, Mr. Sylvester Okereke; the secretary of Zone 'G' of NUJ, Mr. Adolphus Okonkwo; a Lagos-based journalist, Mr. Shola Oyeyepo, and the driver attached to the council, Mr. Yekini Azazi, were kidnapped in Ukpakiri, Abia State, by unknown gunmen on their way back home from the meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of NUJ in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Onovo, who was in Umuahia Tuesday had ordered the Abia and Akwa Ibom commands to fish out the abductors of the journalists in the area. Onovo, who gave the order during a courtesy visit on Gov. Theodore Orji, said the kidnappers went too far to abduct the journalists, whom he described as watch-dogs of the society. He said: "I want to sound a note of warning that the gradual approach of the police in tackling the crime should not be taken as a sign of weakness."
Meanwhile, the governor of Abia State, Theodore Orji, has said that governors are not solely responsible for security, maintaining that security agencies have a greater task to perform in the reduction of crime.
He was speaking on "Radio Link," an audience participatory programme of Radio Nigeria.
Answering a question on the issue of security in the state, Orji harped on the need for a state police, while pointing out that governors have no adequate control of the police. He said: "The governor is the chief security officer but he doesn't control the police adequately. He only helps the police to perform. You can call your CP and give him directives and he won't abide by those directives. He would like to phone the IGP to take a counter-directive. So that is the problem and that is why people are advocating for state police. If you have a state police, you have firm control of them and can tell them what to do. You equip the police, you tell them what they have to do and they will do it.
"The problem of insecurity is a serious one and, in Abia State, we've been doing our best to make sure this issue of kidnapping is eliminated. You realize that the issue of security is not left for the governor alone. The governor is the chief security officer, that's okay, but the main people that are responsible, who are the foot soldiers, are the security agents. When I say the security agents, I mean the police and the SSS.
"What the governor does is ensure that the atmosphere is conducive for these agents to operate. It's to ensure that you empower them, that you give them those things with which they will fight crime, and that is what we have been doing in Abia State. When they make their request, we listen and oblige them. If I were a trained soldier, I'd carry my gun and pursue these kidnappers but I'm not a trained soldier. There are people who are trained, there are people who are experts in this type of business. So the governor is there to galvanise, to make sure that things they will work with are available. In Abia State, we have tried and are still trying."
The governor called on the federal government to treat kidnapping as a national calamity since it is not peculiar to Abia State. "It has now taken a national dimension and that is why the federal government should come in and see kidnapping as a national calamity. It's not only in Abia State that it's happening," he said.
Further, Governor Orji posited that the kidnappers are more equipped than the police and pointed out the need for the police to be properly equipped.
"I know that the federal government is carrying out reforms and we agree that better equipment should be provided. Let me give you an instance: In Ukwa-West local government area, there is a place that is well known for kidnapping. These kidnappers made a den there where they keep kidnapped persons. We made our investigations and found the place. We informed the police but we came to discover that the kidnappers have rapid machine gun surrounding that enclave. And when we told the police to look into what was happening there, the police had AK 47. How can one with AK 47 match somebody with rapid gun? Nothing happened until the military was invited. So the police need to be adequately equipped," he explained.
Source: Leadership, 18th July 2010.
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Kidnappings: Panic in police high command
By Olusola Fabiyi, Abuja
The leadership of the Nigeria Police Force is gripped with the fear that it could be dissolved anytime from now, following the growing rate of insecurity in the country.
Sources close to the Presidency told Saturday Punch on Thursday night that President Goodluck Jonathan's security advisers were already fed up with police management team headed by the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ogbonna Onovo.
Onovo, who succeeded Mr. Mike Okiro last year, had been contending with growing insecurity since he assumed office.
Many Nigerians, including police officers, have been killed by armed robbers, with Onovo and his team having no answer to the situation.
Just last Sunday, four journalists were kidnapped near Aba, the commercial nerve centre of Abia State, on their way from Akwa Ibom State where they had attended a conference. Since then, Onovo has relocated to the South-East, following a marching order from the Presidency to secure the release of the journalists and burst the kidnapping gangs in the region.
A source said, "Anytime from now, the Presidency will act on the issue. The Presidency seems to be tired of the several excuses of the police concerning the security situation in the country. If by now we are experiencing this, one can imagine what the situation is likely to be during the general election next year. The thinking in the Presidential Villa is that the man (Onovo) should be allowed to conduct the general election. But as things are now, only God can make that happen.
"The kidnapping is happening in the part of the country he ought to be familiar with. If he cannot curb that, you can imagine how he would perform if such a situation obtains in other parts of the country. I think the only thing now is that the Presidency is yet to decide on who succeeds him."
President Jonathan had on different occasions lamented the security situation in the country, which he said had worsened.
Speaking at the National Executive Committee meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party on June 17, Jonathan revealed that Nigeria lost the chance to host the Commonwealth Games because of the spate of kidnapping in the country. He added that all the efforts he made to convince members of the international community that Abuja where the events were to hold was far from Niger-Delta region were rebuffed.
The President said the rate of kidnapping in the South-East, especially in Abia State, was not acceptable to his government.
He said, "The security situation in the country, especially kidnapping, is worrisome. I remember when we were struggling to host the Commonwealth Games, what was used in blackmailing us was kidnapping. I told them, 'you are talking of kidnapping, I am from the Niger Delta, where we are going to hold these games is Abuja,' but they ignored us."
He said the country could no longer fold its arms and allow criminals to take charge, wondering why many Nigerians would have to hire armoured personnel carriers to go to the market.
The President also said in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on Friday, that the spate of kidnappings was " a national embarrassment."
He said, "We have allowed this kidnapping to degenerate to something very embarrassing to us as a nation. We are going to deal with it head on beacuse government will soon procure modern technology to fight the problem."
Before then, the then Minister of Police Affairs, Dr. Ibrahim Lame, had described the the Nigeria Police Force under Onovo as a failure.
Speaking at a meeting he had with the IGP and other members of the police management on March 4, 2010 in his office, Lame said it was high time the top hierarchy of the force woke up or government would have no option but to wield the big stick.
He said while government had fulfilled its own part and obligations to the police, members of the force were yet to reciprocate same. Lame listed areas in which the government had been good to the police to include salary increase, as well as increase in capital projects concerning the force.
Before now, a constable in the police received a minimum wage of N7,000. That has since been increased to N21,000. In 2009, the police had about N21bn as its capital budget. The sum was raised to N30bn in 2010.
He said the crime rate and killings were too much and that government could no longer fold its arms and watch its citizens killed as if there were no policemen in the country.
Lame said, "Regrettably, the Nigerian Police Force has not reciprocated government's gesture by way of commitment to duty and responsibility to this calling.
"The current rate of crimes across the nation, rising cases of extra-judicial killings, human rights violations, armed robbery, high profile assassinations and deliberate failure to comply with government's directive are all testimonies to the sheer incapacity or willful defiance of the police high command to this recommendation and assignment at hand.
"The current security situation in the country is condemnable and unacceptable to the government and good citizens of our great nation. I therefore believe that the time has come for the Nigerian Police High Command to review its strategies in order to perform its duties.
"No responsible government would fold its arms and watch helplessly as its citizens are being maimed or cut down in their prime, when there is a police in place."
Onovo has lately been doing a lot damage control in the South-East. On Thursday, he was in Awka, Anambra State, where he enlisted the support of traditional rulers to solve the growing incidence of kidnapping in the zone.
He also sought the support of his kinsmen in fighting crimes so that he would not be disgraced out of office. On the kidnapped journalists, he said his men had located the hideout of the kidnappers and were closing in on them.
"We are being careful because we want to free the journalists unharmed," the IGP said, adding that his men might engage in a shootout with the hoodlums as a last resort to free the abducted journalists.
Sources: Leadership, 17th July 2010
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Jonathan declares war on kidnappers
By Iniobong Ekponta
Worried by the problem of kidnapping which has taken its toll on the socio-economic lives of Nigerians, President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday declared war on kidnappers. Speaking at a Town Hall meeting held at the Akwa Ibom State Governor's Lodge, Uyo, on the second day of his tour of the state, Jonathan said government was committed to tackling the problem.
Jonathan said the matter had been taken before the Federal Executive Council (FEC). He disclosed that the Federal Government would crush kidnapping with modern technology.
He said the problem had become a national embarrassment that requires a holistic action plan. The President noted that the problem persists because of the involvement of highly- placed Nigerians. He blamed community leaders and youths for habouring the criminals, warning the government would go tough on such communities. He said: "We have allowed the problem of kidnapping to degenerate to this embarrassing situation and we will not allow that to continue".
Besides, he blamed the problem on the low economic performance, saying government was committed to fixing the economy to curb vices and improve on the wellbeing of the people. He noted that the weak economy had made politics seem the only trade for majority of Nigerians, adding that proportional representation would be used as the basis for allocating political offices.
He said government was committed to improving vital sectors of the Nigerian system for the real sector to grow.
"Government is committed to improving gas supply to companies and industries to operate optimally," he said, adding that the recent hitch in gas supply was due to technical problem at the NNPC.
Jonathan concluded the tour yesterday with the inauguration of the Independent Power Plant at Ikot Abasi, the inspection of Etim Ekpo Bridge and inauguration of roads and building projects at Essien Udim, Abak, Ibiono Ibom and Ibeno.
Sources: The Nation, 17th July 2010
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Police discover hideout of journalists' kidnappers
By Chris Orji, Enugu and Nwanosike
The police are closing in on the abductors of four journalists in Abia State, it was learnt Thursday.
They have discovered their hideout, police chief Ogbonna Onovo said, adding that the hostages would have been rescued but there are fears that they could be hurt in a bid to free them, perhaps by force.
Onovo spoke in Enugu at a meeting with traditional rulers and the business community. He is on tour of the South-East states.
The kidnapped journalists are the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Lagos Council chairman, Wahab Oba, NUJ Zone G Secretary Adolphus Okonkwo, Assistant Secretary Sylva Okereke, Shola Oyeyipo and their driver, Azeez Abdulrauf. They were on their way from a National Executive Council meeting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Also Thursday, it was learnt that the kidnappers, who were demanding N250million, had lowered the ransom.
"Police is going inch by inch searching every house in the vicinity in conjunction with men of the State Security Service, and we hope that they will be rescued soon. The essence is to rescue these men alive. We have to be careful because we don't want any of them to be killed," he said.
The gunmen have drastically reduced the ransom, the NUJ said.
"We spoke to our colleagues and their kidnappers today," the National Secretary, Usman Leman, told AFP.
"The kidnappers agreed to reduce their ransom demand to N30 million (200,000 dollars, 155,000 euros)."
"The journalists are unharmed but they are missing their families and their colleagues. We are still pleading with their kidnappers to set them free," Leman said.
According to Leman, the abductors claimed to have lowered their demand after appeals for their release, with the targeting of the journalists having provoked outrage across Nigeria.
Abia State police spokesman Ali Okechukwu said the "rescue operation is still ongoing. Our men are everywhere and we hope to get a tangible result very soon."
He did not give details of the operation.
Sunday's kidnappings were the second involving journalists in the volatile region this year.
In March, three M-Net Supersport crew members – a South African and two Nigerians — were seized in Imo state, which neighbours the oil hub of Rivers State. They were freed about a week later.
Onovo yesterday continued to lament the hurdles on his way to a successful anti-crime battle. The South-East is his major headache, the Inspector-General of Police said.
Onovo, who was in Anambra State to meet with traditional rulers and vigilance groups as well as his officers, told the monarchs that of the 600 kidnap suspects detained in the South-East, Anambra alone accounts for 400.
Addressing these groups yesterday at the Women Development Centre in Awka, Onovo said that another problem he was encountering in the zone, besides kidnapping and armed robbery, is from the civil society and some lawyers.
These groups, according to him, would always brand the police a failure when a suspect is detained. They shout for the person's release, he said.
Onovo announced that any Divisional Police Officer (DPO), who allows kidnapping in his area, would be sacked.
Any police officer found to own a shop in some of the big markets, such as the main market in Onitsha, will be redeployed. Such officers are those who leave their duty to pursue material wealth, Onovo said.
He noted that banks refused to co-operate with the police in identifying kidnappers who, he said, deposit huge sums of money in their offices.
Onovo said the police were pushing for a special court to try kidnappers in not only Anambra State but the entire South-East.
He warned that a state of emergency could be declared in the South-East, if kidnapping fails to abate.
He said Edo State that ranked second behind the South-East zone in crimes is calm, after traditional rulers and occult groups performed rituals against kidnappers and other criminals.
"Our problem today in the South-East is beyond what police will use force to eliminate because if we use force, it will be very devastating," Onovo said, adding:
"My question is, 'why are we killing ourselves in this zone because of money?' You traditional rulers had hands in my appointment as the Inspector General of Police; then, why do you allow your subjects to bring my downfall?
"These boys have gone from kidnapping the traditional rulers, lawyers, medical doctors in the South-East to kidnapping journalists. This is my reason for calling you, to ask you why these things are happening, which has become a national embarrassment?
To Onovo, it is painful that whenever any criminal activity surfaced in the country, the Igbo would be in the forefront. He listed such crimes as Advance Free Fraud (419), armed robbery, kidnapping and drug peddling. The South-East is leading in militancy, Onovo said.
He went on: "Ndigbo were known for hard work, their industry, but today, the way things are moving, in the next three months, their main occupation will be kidnapping, armed robbery, 419, among others."
However, the IGP offered solutions to these problems. One of them is for everybody to register his or her mobile telephone SIM cards for easy identification.
Another is tracking so that whenever somebody calls, people will know where the person is calling from.
Others, according to Onovo, include enacting a law that will make a kidnap suspect's family face the full wrath of the law, giving information to the police and refusing to pay ransom.
Governor Peter Obi was not present. His Deputy Emeka Sibeudu read his address.
Obi said: "The issue of security has been paramount in the work of this administration. The state has contributed much to the security system and is willing to contribute more by way of providing equipment and logistics to police and other security agencies to ensure that this menace is curbed.
"We can only make a headway, if further actions are taken to educate the law enforcement personnel, especially those of them on our highways and offices, to avoid unnecessary distractions while on duty as these distractions have sabotaged efforts by all and sundry to curb this unpleasant situation, more so to punish punitively officers that are engaged/found liable to this sabotages."
Source: Leadership, 16th July 2010.
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Kidnappers reduce ransom to N30m as
Interpol moves into Abia
By PHILIP NWOSU and GABRIEL DIKE
Hopes that the kidnapped officials of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) would be freed soon were kindled yesterday, as the abductors slashed the ransom from N250 million to N30 million.
National President of the NUJ, Mohammed Garuba, who spoke with Daily Sun on telephone from Umuahia said the kidnapped journalists are also in good health. He said he spoke with Mr. Wahab Alabi Oba twice yesterday.
To achieve the reduction of the ransom to N30 million, Garuba said intense negotiation was entered into with the kidnappers which finally yielded result as the demand was eventually slashed from N250million to N150 million, then to N100 million, N50 million before finally settling for N30 million.
He said that negotiation is still on to further reduce the ransom but added that the NUJ is ready to give the kidnappers what they demand in other to free the union officials. However, he said the police have placed its searchlight on the NUJ officials to ensure that the ransom is not paid.
Garuba said the NUJ is making effort to ensure that the abducted journalists are released without any incident, adding that the kidnappers are now more friendly with the officials of the union.
He said that the International Police (INTERPOL) have arrived Abia State to join in the effort to secure their release, adding that the state governor, Dr, Theodore Orji has urged the union and the families of the kidnapped persons to remain calm as the government is working towards securing their release. But he declined to stick out his neck on the actual time they would be released. He said the main problem is that the kidnappers are continually changing base.
He, however, called on the Federal Government to sanction the community where the kidnapped persons are being held, explaining that the community according to investigations is notorious for abduction of persons in the state.
He named the community as Umuafo-Ukwu community in Obi-Ngwa area of Abia State, explaining that two youth leaders of the community who wanted to offer assistance to the security agencies with information, were killed by unknown persons.
According to the national president, the two youth leaders were killed on separate dates, with the recent being on Wednesday July 14, 2010. He said the community is not cooperating with the security agencies going by their actions against the youth leaders.
He described the kidnap in the Umuafo-Ukwu community as a ring which would only take the intervention of government to break, especially with investigations showing that it is a community-based business.
Source: Sun, 16th July 2010.
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...We're closing in on them-Onovo
…Says no promotion for policemen in zone
From PETRUS OBI, Enugu
Inspector-General of Police Mr. Ogbonna Onovo yesterday in Enugu said that his men have closed in on the kidnappers who abducted four journalists and a driver last Sunday in Abia State.
The IGP who spoke while addressing members of the Enugu police command said his men have seen the location where the journalists are kept but are cautious not to strike at the hideout because of the fear of having casualties.
He said that there have been positive developments looking for them. "So we are hoping that they will be lucky enough to rescue them today; it has been raining all day and the policemen and members of the other security agencies, are all out there in that location; that's what we are doing and we are keeping our fingers crossed to see what will happen.
"Like I told you, the essence of the whole effort is to recover these men alive. If there has to be a shoot-out we have to be really very careful because if any one of them is killed in the shootout the essence is defeated.
On the involvement of expatriates in the search Onovo said: "People are getting it very wrong; we have members of the Interpol working with us; the Interpol assist all police forces in the world. Where you have a problem you can ask the Interpol to assist, so there is no question of Israeli out there to assist; if you see a white man there…the world has become a global village and police assist each other in terms of equipment and training."
He blamed the Igbo's for the current wave of kidnapping in the country and urged the police in Enugu to rededicate themselves to duty and put in their best in the battle against kidnapping.
"There was a time we had the problem of armed robbery, car snatching, burglary and stealing but today what is happening in the South East is kidnapping. The south east is the only place where I have this problem; all other parts of the country we have taken control and the policemen are doing well.
"The question we must ask ourselves is why the menace has become permanent in the zone and why we are unable to control it. All the kidnappers arrested so far in the South East are Igbos; Igbos killing themselves in Igboland. Is it a political factor, that every person must make money by all means?"
"Even kidnapping in other places have been traced to Igbo boys; in far away Malaysia a Nigerian student was kidnapped and they made call back to the Nigeria demanding money. When the Malaysians arrested the kidnappers they were Igbo boys from Nigeria here. In South Africa it is the same: so is it in our blood? "
While commending the Enugu Command the IG announced that he would withhold the promotions of policemen in some State of the South East who are not living up to expectations in fighting crime especially as it concerns kidnapping.
He vowed to ensure that the affected states which he refused to disclose do not benefit from the recent promotion of over 46,000 policemen between the ranks of Constable and Inspectors across the country.
He promised to ensure that Enugu command receive the list of those promoted immediately and urged them to work hard to improve on the performance assuring them of better encouragement from the police.
Onovo announced that all the roadblocks in the zone would soon be removed having failed to play any positive role in checking the activities of kidnappers in the South East.
Source: Sun, 16th July 2010.
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Save my job, police chief Onovo tells kinsmen
What next for kidnapped journalists?
By Ugochukwu Eke
That was the question Wednesday as the 24-hour police deadline for their release neared expiration.
It was a disturbed police chief Ogbonna Onovo who met with Abia State traditional rulers whom he urged to cooperate with the police, federal and state governments by supplying information that will aid them to combat kidnapping and other violent crimes.
Onovo said if the kidnap menace continues in Igboland, he will be portrayed as a doctor who cannot cure himself.
The situation, according to him, has brought shame to NdiIgbo.
The police boss spoke in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, at an interactive session with traditional rulers.
He urged them to stop giving titles to people with dubious means of livelihood, adding that such a move would deemphasise the worship of ill-gotten wealth by youths.
He said operatives from Israel had been drafted to the state to assist in freeing the journalists, adding that the exercise would signal a turning point in the fight against kidnapping.
Onovo regretted that his appointment, which was greeted with a wild jubilation among his kinsmen in the South-East, had been rubbished by the spate of crime in the zone.
"I know how happy our people were when I was appointed as Inspector-General of Police (IGP). Will it be our people that will remove me through their deeds?
"We are ridiculed by this act and whatever happens we are not going to keep quiet over this, stringent measures will be adopted on the issue," he said.
Onovo said the South East was noted for hard work and industry, which, he noted, were the hallmarks of an average Igbo man.
He called on the traditional rulers to beckon on their forefathers through libation, so that the criminals would know no peace.
The IGP, who met also with the business community in Aba, spoke of the need to help the police combat crimes in the commercial city.
"You need to face your challenges head-on instead of running away," he told the businessmen.
He said kidnapping had brought shame to the entire Igbo race, adding that Igbo youths were in the forefront during the era of "419", "OBT", and other fraudulent practices, such as ferrying of hard and fake drugs. Igbo people have been his source of worries, Onovo said.
Onovo lamented that Igbo youths have overtaken other ethnic groups on the crimes chart, adding they are exporting crimes, such as kidnapping, to far away places like South Africa and Malaysia. This must be stopped at all cost, Onovo said.
He said the police would start going into individual houses, particularly in Ngwaland communities, such as Obingwa, Osisioma and Ukwa East and West council areas to fish out criminals.
The police boss also said there is a bill in the National Assembly to make kidnapping a capital offence.
Governor Theodore Orji regretted that despite the big money spent on the amnesty progamme for repentant kidnappers by the state, the crime continued.
He called for concerted efforts from all stakeholders to win the war against violent crimes. The state will henceforth match force with force as the last resort, the governor said.
Eze Nzenwata Mbakwe, who is the traditional ruler of Umuosu Ukaiuga Nkwoegwu autonomous community in the Umuahia North Local Government Area, who spoke on behalf of other traditional rulers, said they were ready for other means of stopping kidnapping in their communities.
Source: The Nation, 15th July 2010.
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Onovo berates Imo police command,
Mark advocates state of emergency
Police engage informants
FROM CHARLES OGUGBUAJA (OWERRI), ALIFA DANIEL (ABUJA) AND ALEX OLISE (LAGOS
DISSATISFIED with the efforts of the Imo State Police Command in curbing the increasing level of criminality, especially kidnapping, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Ogbonna Onovo on Wednesday told the Imo State Police Commissioner, Mr. Aloysius Okorie not to score himself a pass mark in that direction.
Onovo bared his mind while replying the welcome address by Mr. Okorie during his one-day maiden visit to Imo State. He noted that about 350 kidnap suspects were currently being detained in different police cells in the Southeast.
He spoke just as the Senate President, David Mark, advocated yesterday in Abuja that the rule of law be altered and a state of emergency put in place to deal with kidnappers.
Onovo pointed out that despite the presence of about 5,000 police officers in the state, crime persisted, leading him to dispatch a 200-member anti-terrorist squad there. He regretted that police officers stationed at various checkpoints still allow kidnappers to escape with their victims.
Onovo told Okorie: "I am not too happy to stand before you and assess your performance for the past one year. From my own opinion, you have already awarded yourself a pass mark. It is like you taking an exam and scoring yourself pass. You have not failed and you have not passed. Yes, in the maintenance of law and order, kidnapping, you have not passed. Because of the second one, you have not passed.
"Our mandate is to secure life and property. Can we say that this state command has achieved our mandate? I am here to assess and evaluate your performance as regards prevention of crime. If things are as they are, I don't think I would have sent 200 PMF to you. This is not yet over. So we will look at various strategies, evaluate them and re-strategise. I must tell you that we have problems. "
Threatening to withhold the promotion of officers from ASP to DSP until physical proof of performance was noticed, he added: "I expect you to perform the most basic demands of honourr and dignity. You are expected to be role models. Your promotion is out but I will withhold it until I see fantastic performance from DSPs. I want to see that you supervise your subordinates."
On the kidnapped journalists, Onovo reiterated his earlier ultimatum of 24 hours, adding that the force was interested in ensuring that the victims come out alive. He stressed that the media is blowing the issue of insecurity in Aba, Abia State out of proportion.
Earlier in his speech, Okorie had itemised the assistance of the Imo State Government to the command, adding that the families of five officers from the command who died recently were given compensation. He noted that the state government had donated about 20 Hilux vans to the command to assist it.
In a short speech he delivered to the Upper House of the National Assembly which resolved yesterday to hold a stakeholders summit on the menace of kidnapping, Senate President David Mark said:
"I think unemployment, just using it as an excuse is hardly any excuse (for kidnapping). It may be the reality but there is no place in the world where everybody is employed by government. There are causes, one of them is the unemployment, but the way in which it is being taken, the South-East where this thing is predominant and South-South, is not the only place where there is unemployment. There is unemployment in every part of this country. It is not the best reason for people to take to armed robbery and kidnapping. The people that are doing it as their own profession now, when will they ever get employed? Because it is almost like a profession now, it is an alternative to government unemployment.
"I also believe that the kidnapping and armed robbery that is going on in this country is doing more harm to this country than malaria and HIV because it is taking us to a level where sooner or later, people will begin to fear coming to Nigeria. It is on the internet on a daily basis and there is no reason why any foreign investor will want to come to the country to risk his life when he cannot be guaranteed safety of life."
Meanwhile, after spending three days in the den of kidnappers without any sign of freedom for the five abducted journalists, the police investigating the crime have now engaged the services of top informants and some suspected kidnappers who are already in detention to reveal some clues about the hideouts of kidnappers within the South East and neighbouring states.
The new approach has been used overtime by the police and it yielded positive results that led to the arrest of no fewer than 55 suspected kidnappers in the eastern states early in the year, said a top shot in the force.
The Guardian learnt that the new method was adopted at the meeting held on Tuesday by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ogbonna Onovo with some traditional rulers, other stakeholders and members of the police community relations committee of all the states in the eastern region.
"Any information given to us that will enable the release of this journalists will be treated in confidentiality and the person who provides the information will be highly rewarded not only by the Inspector General of Police, but it will extend to the federal level under the leadership of our President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan who also has a great interest to ensure that the abducted journalists regain their freedom and reunite immediately with members of their family," the police source added.
He revealed hat the Police High Command is employing any available means to hasten the freedom of the journalists. To this end, it has invited senior investigators attached to the International Police Organisation (Interpol) and other foreign experts to assist in the on-going operation.
The police have also begun to liaise with telecommunications firms to use their facilities to track the area where the journalists are being kept. This, it was said, can be done with sophisticated tracking machines used by other communications giants in the United States and other parts of Europe to expose crime and other vices.
"We lack most of the equipment here so I think this must be the major reason that the top hierarchy of the force decided to move urgently to engage experts from other parts of the world. What we are trying to do is to ensure they come out from the kidnappers' den unhurt. We don't want to even harm the suspects either," said the officer.
Another officer who is currently on the crack team investigating the incident disclosed that the kidnappers have not shifted ground on the ransom of N250 million placed on the journalists. But he was quick to add that with the involvement of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and other top officers, the process will soon yield fruit as the top officers are experienced and are capable of handling the situation.
The source pleaded with the members of the Nigerian Union of Journalists to exercise patience as the victims will be released unhurt.
"It is only a matter of time. We don't need to be in hurry but our discussion will continue as usual. The kidnappers opened discussions two days ago and the Inspector General of Police on Tuesday gave them strict warning to release the victims or face the wrath of the law.
The police boss gave the 24 hour ultimatum to the suspected kidnappers during his visit to the Abia State Governor, Mr Theodore Orji where the issue of how to reduce the high rate of crime in the state was discussed at length.
The police boss later proceeded to the neighbouring states of Akwa-Ibom, Imo, Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu to harmonise the security institution and re-strategise on how to make the zone crime free.
The Inspector General is currently working towards achieving his three point agenda of bringing crime to its lowest level across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
As at yesterday, he was still in Abia State where the Zone 9 Command is located to monitor operations.
Meanwhile, well-wishers and other professional bodies have continued to show solidarity to the five journalists who were abducted last Sunday by gunmen along the dreaded Aba-Ikop Epene Road. The five victims of the kidnappers were on their way back to Lagos after attending the three-day Executive Council meeting of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) held in Uyo, the Akwa-Ibom State capital.
Source: The Guardian, 15th July 2010.
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Oritsejafor Urges FG To Focus On Security
Written by Jacob
President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor has condemned the recent abduction of four Nigerian journalists at Umua-foukwu Junction in Abia State, saying it portends a wrong signal for Nigeria, especially as it has "moved from children to old women, pastors, bishops and now journalists," hence it must be quickly nipped in the bud.
According to him, "The root course of the problem is poverty, unemployment and dissatisfaction, hence the need for this administration to urgently tackle the perennial problems responsible for this dastardly acts.
"Much as I believe that the act of kidnapping is wrong and condemnable, it should jolt out leaders to palliative actions that would alleviate the suffering of the masses. The Bible says that the heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked. If the atmosphere for wickedness is created, it becomes easy for men to be wicked and if the atmosphere is good, it becomes easy for men to do well."
Oritsejafor admitted that although President Jonathan inherited a lot of problems from past administrations and has a short time within this administration to tackle such problems, he is one man that with a good heart and is ready to serve Nigeria.
"My candid advise is that President Jonathan focus on the problem of security and tackle it. If there is no security, there can't be investment; there can't be peace or stability, hence everything comes to a standstill. In providing adequate security, government will have to create jobs as well as give opportunity for education and employment."
The cleric also warned that "God will hold all Nigerian leaders, both past and present for the ills befalling this country, hence the need for them to repent and do what is right."
Source: Leadership, 15th July 2010.
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Senate seeks state of emergency in S'South, S'East
By Oluwole Josiah and Chukwudi Akasike
over the rising spate of kidnapping and armed robbery in the South-East and South-South and called for a state of emergency in the two geopolitical zones.
It made the call against the backdrop of the kidnapping of four journalists and their driver in Abia State on Sunday.
The journalists – Mr. Wahab Oba, Mr. Sylva Okereke, Mr. Sola Oyeyipo and Mr. Adolphus Okonkwo — were returning from the Nigerian Union of Journalists National Executive Committee meeting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, when they were kidnapped along with their driver, Mr. Azeez Abdulrauf, in Umuafor Ukwu, Obingwa Local Government Area.
Considering a motion by Senator Anthony Manzo and 18 others on the state of insecurity in the country, the Senate decried the rising rate of assassinations and kidnapping in the South-South and the South-East.
It charged the security agencies to fish out those behind the kidnapping of the journalists and their driver.
The President of the Senate, Mr. David Mark, while summing up the debates on the motion, said that the situation had turned Nigeria into a jungle that required an emergency attention.
Mark said,"Since the Federal Government has recently declared a state of emergency in the power sector, we should declare a state of emergency in all these areas where we have armed robbery and kidnapping."
He, however, clarified that there were misconceptions on the declaration of a state of emergency, saying that it did not necessarily mean that the governors of the states concerned should be removed.
The President of the Senate also noted that security agencies had been treating kidnappers with kid gloves even when the situation demanded a hard stance.
Mark said, "Those who are involved must be handled in such a way that they will never contemplate it in their lives again, because at the moment they are being handled with kid gloves. People are not serious about the way they are being handled.
"Presently, it is simply a jungle environment and the rule must change to conform with those who operate in the jungle and I believe that the security agencies should be able to do that."
He also flayed the argument that unemployment had significantly contributed to the rising crime level in the two zones, saying that it (unemployment) also existed in other parts of the country where kidnapping is not rampant.
Mark said, "It may be the reality, but there is no where in the world where everybody is employed by the government. There are causes; one of them is unemployment; but the way in which it (kidnapping) is being taking in the South-East and the South-South cannot be justified. "
He said that the police commissioners in states where kidnapping was high should consider themselves to have failed.
Mark said, "There is no reason why a commissioner of police should be sitting on his seat if there is kidnapping on a daily basis in his or her state. It means he or she has failed. The commissioners of police in the states should be told in very clear terms that they failed to handle the situation.
"None of us here can go and do their jobs for them ; that is what they are paid to do. With the way we are going now, all these excuses in my view are not tenable. Really they have failed us.
"If a man fails, he should not remain in his seat for us to be getting excuses from him. I also believe that, at every level, everybody must be involved; the federal, state and local governments."
He noted that policemen at roadblocks were poorly equipped to deal with armed robbers and kidnappers.
According to Mark, kidnapping and armed robberies could be worse than malaria and HIV/AIDS, if left unchecked.
The Deputy President of the Senate, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, suggested that the police should be decentralised to make way for local police outfits.
"We must go back to the old days when each locality had its kind of police. We must have state and local police," he said.
The Deputy Leader of the Senate, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN), said the situation in the country was becoming worrisome, adding that kidnappers were part of the community and so should be fished out.
He also warned that politicians should exercise restraint in the manner they conducted themselves.
Senator Olorunibe Mamora, while making his contribution, said unemployment must be tackled as a measure to addressing the problems.
He also suggested that Nigeria should return to community policing and state police.
In taking the prayers of the motion, the Senate resolved to urge the security services to fish out the people behind the recent kidnapping of the journalists and bring them to justice.
It also resolved to condemn in strong terms, the perennial and escalating state of insecurity across the country. It made an additional prayer to hold a summit on national security under the office of the President of the Senate to fashion out ways of dealing with the problems of kidnapping in the country.
Source: Punch, 15th July 2010.
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Kidnapped Journalists: Interpol Arrive Abia State
Written by Iyobosa Uwugiaren, Abuja and Kenny Odunukan, Lagos
Senior officials of International Police
Organisation (INTERPOL) have arrived the country on the invitation of the Federal Government to help track down the kidnappers of four journalists and a driver who were seized on Sunday by unknown gunmen.
In a message, one of the abducted journalists, who is also Chairman of Lagos State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Alhaji Wahab Alabi Oba, said they were alright but desired freedom.
LEADERSHIP gathered that the Interpol officials immediately on arrival headed straight to Umuahia, the Abia State capital, and held a crucial meeting with senior officials of the NUJ and the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ogbonna Onovo, for several hours.
The Interpol was created in 1923. It facilitates cross-border police co-operation, supports and assists all organisations, authorities and services whose mission is to prevent or combat international crime.
The National Secretary of NUJ, Mr. Shu'aibu Usman Leman, who confirmed the arrival of the Interpol officials yesterday, said, "The Nigeria Police is cooperating with the Interpol and its experts to crack open the case. Keep praying."
However, he said that yesterday morning when the kidnappers spoke with the National President of NUJ, Malam Muhammad Garba, they insisted on the N250 million ransom they demanded on Sunday.
"We are having a problem; as at the time we spoke with the kidnappers this morning, they are still insisting on the N250 million ransom. We told them their demand is unrealistic; that we don't have that kind of money; for us that is a near stalemate", he said.
Meanwhile, a security source told LEADERSHIP last night that the leaders of Umuafo-Ukwu community in Obingwa Local Government Area, where the journalists are said to be held, are not cooperating with the security operatives and the police on the issue.
"We believe the community leaders are aware of where the journalists are being held; they are not cooperating with us; they are not giving us any useful information; it is very frustrating", the security source added.
"Every Okada rider (commercial cyclist) is an informant; every telephone call operator in that community is an informant; as you are moving they are giving the kidnappers information; we also believe the community leaders are also involved in this notorious business of kidnapping."
The inspector-general of police had told the kidnappers involved in the notorious kidnapping business on Tuesday to get ready for war with his men. The police boss relocated to Abia State on Tuesday on the directive of President Goodluck Jonathan, who was said to have told him not to return to Abuja until the affected journalists and the driver were freed.
Four journalists, the chairman of the Lagos State council of the NUJ, Alhaji Wahab Alabi Oba, the assistant secretary of the council, Mr. Sylvester Okereke, the secretary of Zone 'G' of NUJ, Mr. Adolphus Okonkwo, a Lagos-based journalist, Mr. Shola Oyeyepo, and the driver attached to the council, Mr. Yekini Azazi, were kidnapped in Ukpakiri, Abia State, by unknown gunmen on their way back home from the meeting of National Executive Committee (NEC) of NUJ in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. The gunmen demanded N250 million ransom.
Onovo, who arrived Umuahia Tuesday, had ordered the Abia and Akwa Ibom commands to fish out the abductors of the journalists in the area. Onovo, who gave the order during a courtesy visit on Gov. Theodore Orji, said the kidnappers went too far to abduct the journalists, whom he described as watch-dogs of the society. He said: "I want to sound a note of warning that the gradual approach of the police in tackling the crime should not be taken as a sign of weakness.
"We are only responding to the ideals of a democratic dispensation. "Since they decided to dare us we are out to fight them measure for measure.
"They said that you cannot make an omelet without breaking the egg. The civilian populace where the operation would be carried out would suffer inconveniences," he said. "I want to appeal to the people to bear with the police."
He urged the kidnappers to face the reality by surrendering the journalists, their arms and themselves. While urging the support of the people and government of the state in the operation code-named, "Ihe (Light)," he advised the people of Ngwaland to warn their siblings to surrender now to avoid blame.
Onovo said he was in Abia to evaluate the operations of the 10,000 policemen deployed to the South-East and expressed regret that most of the crime was centred in Aba. He, however, said that since the police men came, kidnapping had declined, noting that the abduction of the journalists was one of the isolated cases the police would tackle to achieve freedom. He noted that kidnapping had affected the economic well-being of the states where the crime was more pronounced.
Responding, Orji expressed regret that the crime, which he said was technologically driven, had become the order of the day and noted that nobody was happy about it. "Since it is new, it is going to take time to fight," he said, pointing out that "the crime is embarrassing, Abia is inconvenienced and Nigerian government too.
"They have halted us, we have to retaliate to make this place free," he said, and appealed to the kidnappers to release the journalists now. He gave the IGP the assurance that the administration would continue to assist the police in fighting crime because "security is a corporate job, which everyone has to be involved in."
Oba, who urged Nigerians to keep praying for their safe return, yesterday, spoke with the National President of the NUJ, Mr. Mohammed Garba, from where he is being held along with four others at about 9am when he told Garba that he and others were in good condition.
Source: Leadership, 15th July 2010.
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Isreali security experts to rescue kidnapped journalists
By Anayo Okoli
Umuahia – AS the 24 hour ultimatum issued by the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ogbonna Onovo to the hoodlums who kidnapped four journalists last Sunday in Obingwa area of Abia state, expired without the abducted journalists being freed, Governor Theodore Orji has hired Israeli security experts who are assisting the police to track down the kidnappers and rescue their victims.
The Israelis were seen with Onovo when they visited Umuahia and Aba, Tuesday, in preparation for the operation to rescue the kidnapped journalists. Onovo met and consulted with Governor Orji, Aba business community and the over 800 traditional rulers in the state, including those from Obingwa council, seen as haven for crimes, especially kidnapping.
The police said they would embark on house to house, community to community search for criminals and weapons in Ngwa land and other communities in the state.
Meanwhile, the leadership of NUJ has been communicating with the abductors who insisted on N250 million ransom for the release of the journalists.
Onovo who addressed the royal fathers Tuesday evening, after addressing Aba business community, lamented the bad image the menace of kidnapping has brought to Ndigbo. Even his job, he lamented, may as well be threatened because this atrocity is being committed by youths from his geo-political zone.
Though he admitted that some of his men are involved in the evil crime of kidnapping , he assured that they were being taking care of. He wondered why Ndigbo would only be leaders in evil acts that fetch money, saying that it is against the hard working spirit which Ndigbo are known for.
"On our part, we have a problem because some of our men have hands in them (crimes). We have to put our house in order too. We are already taking care of them. A lot of our men are in Abia not to work any more but to trade, make money", Onovo lamented.
Onovo who spoke in Igbo language, called on the royal fathers to be of assistance on the planned operation to flush out kidnappers in the state, particularly in Ngwa land. He also said he came to Abia specifically because of the "embarrassment" the kidnappers are causing the Federal Government.
Onovo further said that South East leaders, especially himself and the Governors have become objects of mockery by their colleagues from other zones, who always embarrassed them each time they met, asking them mockingly, about kidnapping and at times making caricature of them by calling them kidnappers. Onovo particularly lamented his own experience where he said that he is now regarded as "a doctor that could not cure himself " because this evil in being committed in his area.
"I came from Abuja because of what is happening in our land. It is embarrassing. I don't know when Ndigbo joined in leading bad life. Our youths are now committing all manner of evils just to make money. Ndigbo are killing Ndigbo in Igboland. They kidnap anybody at sight-old, young even royal fathers. It is a big problem. Are Ndigbo the only people who are facing hardship? Why are our youths in the forefront of these evils?
"When drug was in vogue, it was Igbos. In 419, it was our people. Robbery, our people also lead. Must we be first only in evil things? Our royal fathers, please you have to find solution to this, even if it means calling on our forefathers to intervene like what happened in Benin where the Oba said enough was enough. Ndigbo are noted for their hard work, not crime. But the quest and love for money have changed this virtue for bad. We recognize their wealth without minding how it came. We need you to give us information about these people."
Source: Vanguard, 14th July 2010.
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Falana alleges connivance
Olayinka Oyebode
Activist lawyer and former President of West African Bar Association (WABA) Mr. Femi Falana yesterday flayed the government and the police over the travails of the kidnapped journalists.
Falana told The Nation on telephone that the rising criminality among youths is as a result of the government's failure to put in place an effective social security.
The fiery lawyer, who faulted the posturing of the Inspector General of Police, Ogbonna Onovo, over the kidnap, called for an overhauling of the Police.
He said: "I am joining the families of the kidnapped journalists and their colleagues in demanding for their release. However, the government should stop provoking Nigerians by displaying official hypocrisy on the matter.
"The impression should not be created that this is the first case of kidnapping or hostage taking in the country. The statement credited to the police headquarters that the kidnapped journalists are safe has demonstrated connivance between the police authorities and the kidnappers.
"The Inspector General of Police should tell Nigerians what has happened to all the alleged kidnappers who have been paraded before the press in the last one year. The Police should tell Nigerians which court has tried anyone of them.
"The legislators, particularly those in the National Assembly, who are shedding crocodile tears should be ashamed of themselves, having provoked the youths of this country to high level of criminality because, in the midst of increasing poverty in the land, they (lawmakers) have allocated to themselves in the last four years N700 billion to take care of 469 members out of the country's 150 million population. Yet, they, like Oliver twist, are asking for more.
"These funds are enough to set up an effective social security in the country that will take care of the disenchanted youths who have taken to criminality.
"Besides that, government must overhaul the Police authorities."
Source: The Nation, 14th July 2010.
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Kidnapping: Senate president advocates jungle justice
Augustine Ehikioya, Abuja
Senate President, Senator David Mark Wednesday urged security agencies to employ jungle justice in the fight against kidnapping.
Mark also advocated change of rule and operation of the security agencies saying that the situation has changed to a jungle environment and such should be applied.
He said just like in the power sector, there was need to declare a State of Emergency against kidnapping and armed robbery in the country.
Mark made the calls while contributing to the motion entitled: 'The Rising Wave of Insecurity in Nigeria' sponsored by Senator Anthony Manzo and 18 others.
He also advocates for the removal of any State's Commissioner of Police where kidnapping has become the order of the day.
Mark said: "The issue is, I think there are immediate causes and we should find immediate solution. Personally in the situation of jungle environment where we want to apply rule of law could be very difficult indeed at times. Those who are involved must be handled in such a way that they will never contemplate it in life again. Because at the moment, they are being handle with kid gloves."
"People are not serious about the way when they are arrested the way they are being handled. Presently, it is simply a jungle environment and rule must change to conform to those who operate in jungle environment and I believe that the security agencies should be able to do that."
"All those who are involved, who are connected, if you are the one sponsoring them or providing them information must be treated as kidnappers and treated in the same way because there are lots of people who are involved in this whole business. People, who give them arms, supply them information, people who go and protect them when they do something, who tell the police that they should please pipe down and temper justice with mercy. Anybody who is connected in any way at all, they must be treated like one of them."
Pushing for declaration of State of Emergency, Mark said: "The way I see it, if we can declare a state of emergency on power we should declare a state of emergency on kidnapping. And one thing that is going on, because the Federal Government has really declare a state of emergency to get power back, we should declare a state of emergency in all this areas where we have armed robbery and kidnapping and because I think we have a misconception on the issue of state of emergency, it does not mean you will remove the governor, and then take over no. It is part of our Constitution. If we can declare a state of emergency on power, we should do it for kidnapping and then armed robbery..."
Source: The Nation, 14th July 2010.
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Kidnapping: A diary of shame
EDITOR
On January 27, 2007, the Anambra State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Dr. Ego Cordelia Uzoezie and her graduate son, Kenechukwu, were abducted by hoodlums at Nsugbe, near Nwafor Orizu College of Education, when she was coming back from the school. The kidnappers demanded N50 million ransom.
• On January 27, 2007, an Nnewi business mogul, Chief Pius Ogbuawa, was kidnapped and N20 million demanded as ransom.
• On April 26, 2008, 73-year-old traditional ruler of Abagana in Njikoka Council, Patrick Mbamalu Okeke, was kidnapped.
• On June 8, 2008 in Benin City, Bob Izua, the Managing Director of Bob Izua Motors, was kidnapped. He was later released after a ransom of N5 million was paid.
• On August 25, 2008, Kelechi Nwankpa, the chairman of Obingwa Council in Abia State, was kidnapped on his way to his office from his village. His driver was shot dead and he was released three days after the state government paid N10 million as ransom.
• On November 15, 2008, Honourable Joseph Dimobi, representing Aniocha II Constituency in the Anambra State House of Assembly, was kidnapped and N30 million ransom demanded for his release.
• On November 21, 2008, the traditional ruler of Mgboko Ngwa Amaise Autonomous Community and the chairman of Obingwa Traditional Rulers Council, HRH Eze Eberechi Dick, was kidnapped. He was kidnapped in his Amaise village. He was released after seven days and after a N10 million ransom was paid.
• On August 16, 2009, unknown gunmen kidnapped movie star Peter Edochie in Onitsha, the commercial nerve centre of Anambra State. Edochie, who hit the limelight as Okonkwo in the television adaptation of Chinua Achebe's book, "Things Fall Apart" was kidnapped after his bodyguards were over-powered.
• Wife of multi-millionaire transport mogul, Igwe (Dr.) James Mamah of Ifesinachi Transport, was abducted by two unknown gunmen on August 20, 2009 hours after Nollywood star actor, Chief Pete Edochie was released by kidnappers. Mrs. Grace Mamah was abducted at a private National College of Education located at the Barracks area of the university town, Nsukka.
• Also, Nkem Owoh, Nigerian popular actor and comedian, Osuofia, was kidnapped along Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of N15 million from the family.
• In September 2009, the Secretary to the Kaduna State Government (SSG) Mr. Waje Yayok, was kidnapped in his country home. His kidnappers asked for N40 million as ransom for his release. It was the highest profile kidnap case in the state.
• On October 28, 2009, Pa Simeon Soludo, 78, father of former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, who was at that time the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was kidnapped in his home in Isuofia. They demanded a ransom N5 billion ransom to cover "political expenses" arising from the PDP primaries.
• Chairman of Enyimba Football Club, Mr. Anyasi Agwu, was also kidnapped.
• Honourable Joe Dimobi (Aniocha 11 Constituency in the Anambra State House of Assembly) was kidnapped.
• On May 26, 2010 in Benin City, medical doctors took to the streets, and marched to the palace of the Oba of Benin, Erediauwa Palace, following the trend where doctors had become primary target of kidnappers. Five doctors were kidnapped in the space of one week in Benin. Prominent among the kidnapped doctors is Dr. Osaro Osifo who was abducted by gunmen in May 2010.
• On June 13, 2010, a traditional ruler of the Umebulu community in Rivers State, Eze Sunday Njoku, was kidnapped while he was in the church.
Source: The Guardian, 14th July 2010.
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Onovo To Kidnappers: Get Ready For War
Written by Iyobosa Uwugiaren and Chizoba Igbeche, Abuja
Relocates to Abia State> 'Journalists may be released today'
Inspector-General of Police, Ogbonna Onovo, has told the evil men involved in kidnapping business to prepare for war with the Nigeria Police Force.Less than 24 hours after President Goodluck Jonathan directed the IGP and other security agencies to smoke out kidnappers of four journalists, the police boss and senior officers of State Security Services (SSS) yesterday relocated to Abia State.LEADERSHIP gathered last night that Onovo and other senior security officers of SSS met with the National President of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Malam Mohammed Garba, and its National Secretary, Mr. Shau'ibu Leman, in Umuahia, the state capital of Abia State yesterday, over what they are doing to effect the release of the affected Journalists.Four Journalists: the chairman of the Lagos State council of the NUJ, Alhaji Wahab Alabi Oba, the assistant secretary of the council, Mr. Sylvester Okereke, the secretary of Zone 'G' of NUJ, Mr. Adolphus Okonkwo; a Lagos-based Jounalist, Mr. Shola Oyeyepo, and the driver attached to the council, Mr. Yekini Azazi, were kidnapped in Ukpakiri, Abia State, by unknown gunmen on their way back home from the meeting of National Executive Committee (NEC) of NUJ in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.The gunmen have demanded N250 million from the NUJ as ransom. However, during negotiation on Monday with the leadership of NUJ, they came down to N150 million.But talking to LEADDERSHIP yesterday on the update of the matter, the national secretary of NUJ said, "We have lost contact with the kidnappers; their telephone lines are no longer going through."A senior security officer told LEADERSHIP that the kidnappers may have switched off their telephone lines because of heavy security presence in Abia State.Meanwhile, Onovo, who was in Umuahia yesterday ordered the Abia and Akwa Ibom commands to fish out the abductors of the journalists in the area. Onovo, who gave the order during a courtesy visit on Gov. Theodore Orji, said the kidnappers went too far to abduct the journalists, whom he described as watch-dogs of the society. He said: "I want to sound a note of warning that the gradual approach of the police in tackling the crime should not be taken as a sign of weakness. "We are only responding to the ideals of a democratic dispensation.""Since they decided to dare us we are out to fight them measure for measure." "They said that you cannot make an omelete without breaking the egg. The civilian populace where the operation would be carried out would suffer inconveniences," he said. "I want to appeal to the people to bear with the police," he said, and urged the kidnappers to face the reality by surrendering the journalists, their arms and themselves. While urging the support of the people and government of the state in the operation code-named, "Ihe (Light)," he advised the people of Ngwaland to warn their siblings to surrender now to avoid blame. Onovo said that he was in Abia to evaluate the operations of the 10,000 policemen deployed to the South-East and expressed regret that most of the crime was centred in Aba. He, however, said that since the men came kidnapping declined, noting that the abduction of the journalists was one of the isolated cases the police would tackle to achieve freedom. He noted that kidnapping had affected the economic well-being of the states, where the crime was pronounced. Responding, Orji expressed regret that the crime, which, he said, was technologically driven had become the order of the day and noted that nobody was happy about it. "Since it is new, it is going to take time to fight," he said, pointing out that "the crime is embarrassing, Abia is inconvenienced and Nigerian government too''. "They have halted us, we have to retaliate to make this place free," he said, and appealed to the kidnappers to release the journalists now. He gave the IGP the assurance that the administration would continue to assist the police in fighting crime because "security is a corporate job, which everyone has to be involved".Meanwhile, the stage might be set for celebration as the leadership of NUJ in Lagos yesterday expressed optimism that the abducted journalists may be released any moment from now, after positive negotiations have been reached with the kidnappers.The NUJ national president, represented by the deputy national president of NUJ, Mr Ritimi Obamuwagun, made this known yesterday during a press briefing at the Ladi Lawal Press Centre, Lagos.He assured the victims' wives of the safety of their loved ones whom he said were in high spirit as at the time the kidnappers spoke with Garba in the early hours of yesterday.Garba said that the delay for their release was due to certain processes which must be fulfilled in order to get the captives out alive, adding that the leadership of the union is currently in Abia State to dialogue with the state governor on how the captives will be released from their abductors.The union said they had spoken with the captives on phone through their captors, stressing that they were all hale and hearty, appealing to the abductors to in the name of God release their colleagues.He continued: "The leadership of NUJ is on top of the situation. We are collaborating with Abia State government. We are hopeful and very sure that within the next few hours, they will be released. We are on top of the situation."Meanwhile, the Nigeria Customs Service has paid a solidarity visit to the Lagos NUJ chapter to assure its support to the union.The Comptroller General of Customs, Abdullahi Dikko Inde, whose delegation was led by Comptroller, Federal Operations Unit, Zone A, Lagos, Mr Emma Kane, expressed deep regrets over the unfortunate development, saying journalists could be the target of kidnappers.Kane said journalists are the wheel of progress and development and are ready to channel the grievances of the kidnappers to the appropriate authorities in order to find lasting solution.The Customs who appealed to the abductors to release the kidnapped journalists for the sake of humanity while pledging every support possible to the union, said the alarming rate of kidnapping in the country may scare away foreign investors. Similarly, the Action Congress (AC) has described the abduction as a sad commentary on the nation's security system.In a statement issued by its Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in Abuja on Tuesday, AC described the action as unacceptable.It urged the abductors to release the journalists, saying journalists were good natured people, who the profession had empowered to move across communities unhindered."This precedence is dangerous for democracy and good governance; their jobs will now be hindered by the fear of abductors."It is sad that journalists are already confronted with enough professional hazards and it will be unfair to be exposed to kidnappers,'' It said.The party called on the security agencies to act swiftly to trace and arrest those behind the abduction of the journalists to serve as a deterrent to those who might wish to target media workers.
Source: Leadership, 14th July 2010.
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Kidnappings: No responsible govt 'll allow it –Mark
From AMOS DUNIA, Abuja
The Senate President, Senator David mark on Monday condemned the spate of kidnappings and abduction of Nigerians in recent times, saying that no responsible government will allow such to continue. The Senate president, therefore, tasked security operatives in the country to rise to the challenge and save the citizens of avoidable hostility in the hands of criminals.
"Enough of this embarrassment. We cannot continue to allow this to happen. Criminality of any form is condemnable. It cannot be our way of life. As it is now, everybody is a potential victim. The earlier we tackle the matter headlong and put it to an end, the better for all of us," Senator Mark stressed.
Senator Mark, who was reacting to the kidnapping of five journalists in Abia State at the weekend, urged all Nigerians to rise to the occasion and curb the menace just as he appealed to the kidnappers to release forthwith the abducted journalists unconditionally.
According to Senator Mark, "our security operatives must stand up and be counted as responsible and responsive agencies of government. Security agencies should comb all nook and cranny of this country and locate the hideouts of the kidnappers and bring them to book."
The Senate president also called on communities, particularly traditional rulers, to join the fight against kidnapping, saying that; "these people live in our midst. They live in our communities and all of us cannot continue to feign ignorance about the activities of criminals in our midst. Community leaders must take responsibility for this abnormality."
Source: Sun, 12th July 2010.
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Abduction of 4 journalists: It's sad, unacceptable –FG
...IGP orders deployment of special rescue team
...NGE, Bankole, SNG, Oni, CPC, others react
From DESMOND MGBOH, Kano
The Federal Government has described the abduction of four journalists as a challenge to security agencies to reinforce ongoing security operations in Abia State. Mr. Wahab Oba, chairman of Lagos State council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and three other journalists, were kidnapped on the Aba-Ikot Ekpene Road, on Sunday.
The others are Mr Adolphus Okonkwo, Zonal Secretary of the NUJ for Zone G, Sylvester Okere, Secretary of the Lagos State Council of the union, Mr Sola Oyeyipo and the driver.
Prof. Dora Akunyili, Minister of Information and Communications said in a statement yesterday that government finds the development ugly, disturbing, sad and clearly unacceptable.
According to the statement; "the Federal Government wishes to reassure all Nigerians of adequate and radical response in the search for sustainable solution to this new wave of crime. "In this direction, I wish to reaffirm the confidence of the Federal Government on the ability of Nigeria police, and security agencies in the country to free the journalists from their captives within the shortest possible time.
"The police and all security agencies have a responsibility to ensure that the perpetrators of this dastardly act are brought to book.
"The Federal Government charged governments of Abia, Akwa Ibom and neighbouring states, community leaders and well meaning Nigerians to work closely and in partnership with the police and security agencies to fish out the gunmen from their hideouts.
"Finally, government also appeals for calm while efforts are being made to free the journalists. Our hearts go to the NUJ and the affected families," FG said.
Meanwhile, Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Ogbonna Onovo, had ordered the deployment of a crack team of detectives from Imo and Akwa Ibom to assist in efforts to rescue the abducted journalists.
The Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), ACP Emmanuel Ojukwu, said yesterday that the IGP gave the order to the commissioners of police in the two states on Sunday.
Ojukwu said the police were deeply concerned about the abduction of the journalists, who were returning from the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) held in Uyo. The abductors had demanded a ransom of N250 million to ensure their release.
He said the IGP directed that the journalists be rescued unhurt and their abductors "fished out and brought to justice."
On whether the police had established contact with the kidnappers, Ojukwu said: "We are making significant progress to rescue the victims and restore their freedom."
He said efforts aimed at freeing the men and re-uniting them with their families were ongoing and reiterated the directive of the police to the public not to pay ransom for the release of their kidnapped relations.
In the meantime, NUJ has urged journalists to be calm over the abduction of their colleagues.
In a statement in Abuja, the NUJ National Secretary, Mr. Shuaibu Leman, said: "We urge you all to remain calm as the union is on top of the kidnap of our members. We are sure they will soon regain their freedom, keep hoping and praying with us."
Similarly, the NUJ, Akwa Ibom council in a statement signed by its Secretary, Mr. Joseph Effiong, challenged governors of the South East and South South to find lasting solutions to the incidence of kidnapping currently crippling their geopolitical zones.
While strongly condemning abduction of NUJ leaders "and every other act of kidnappings and criminality perpetrated in the South East, South South and any other part of the country, the council said the inability or refusal of the affected states and Federal Government to tackle kidnapping bogey headlong was making nonsense of the nation's re-branding and image laundry exercise.
"We cannot be talking about rebranding and achieving reputable image globally when kidnappers and assassins walk on our streets in broad daylight unmolested despite the proliferation of checkpoints by the police and the military on our deplorable federal and even state roads.
"We believe that the security agencies, especially the Nigeria Police, would live up to their promises to secure the unconditional release of our colleagues, and also make sure that the incidence of kidnapping in the country is brought to an end," the council said.
Speaker, House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, has called on relevant security agencies in the country to join forces with the Nigeria police to smoke out the kidnappers.
In a statement issued in Abuja by his Special Adviser (media), Mr. Ebomhiana Musa, the Speaker urged all well meaning Nigerians to rise in unison and condemn the dastardly act.
He assured Nigerian, especially journalists that their abducted colleagues would soon regain their freedom, given the fact that all relevant government agencies had mobilised towards rescuing them.
The Speaker who expressed concerns that kidnapping had assumed a frightening dimension and national embarrassment, stressed the need to strengthen the relevant anti-terrorism departments of the police and deploy them to the kidnapping prone states of the country.
Meanwhile, the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) has urged the Federal Government to tackle the menace of kidnapping headlong.
It also tasked the Inspector General of Police to bring the menace under control.
"These latest victims of kidnapping show the level of insecurity in Nigeria. We cannot afford to continue to allow these criminals to hold the nation to ransom'' spokesman for the SNG, Mr. Yinka Odumakin said.
Also speaking, a member of the Board of the Nigerian Press Council, Mr. Olisa Egbunike, blamed the government and security services for treating kidnapping with kid gloves.
Egbunike said the continued incidence of kidnapping, especially in the South East, could be blamed on greed as well as absence of job opportunities for the youth.
Egbunike, a former secretary of the NUJ, Lagos council, appealed to the kidnappers to release their victims.
The National Chairman, Citizens Popular Party (CPP), Chief Maxi Okwu, noted that kidnapping had become the biggest criminal activity threatening human existence in the South East.
Okwu also blamed various strata of government for failing in their primary function of providing security for the citizens.
"It's unacceptable that these criminals have become larger than life and cannot be handled by the nation's security apparatus,'' he said.
The President of the NGE, Mr. Gbenga Adefaye, said kidnapping was unacceptable and should not be tolerated.
Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Segun Oni, had also lent his voice to pleas for the release of the journalists.
Speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Wale Ojo-Lanre, Governor Oni said: "Journalists are too important to the corporate existence of Nigeria and survival of our democracy than to be subjected to harrowing experience like the one the abducted media men are being subjected to."
He said journalists must be allowed all the freedom they needed to perform their social responsibilities, adding that a situation where men of the pen profession, who fought for the independence of Nigeria, were made to perform their duties under an atmosphere of uncertainties was dangerous to the survival of the country.
In her reaction, Mrs. Fatima Abdulkareem, president of the National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to wade into the matter.
"There is need for the president to order every security apparatus to join in the search for the journalists and ensure that they are released unharmed.
Source: Sun, 12th July 2010.
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Akunyili: Journalists' Kidnap, Challenge to National Security
From Paul Obi in Abuja
Following the kidnapped of the Chairman of the Lagos State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Wahab Oba and three others, Minister of Information and Communication, Prof Dora Akunyili, yesterday in Abuja said the incessant cases of kidnapping in the country leading to the ugly incident involving four Nigerian journalists over the weekend is a challenge to national security.
Akunyili in a statement said, "the Federal Government received with sadness the unfortunate news of the kidnap of four Lagos- based journalists by unknown gunmen, the abduction of these four prominent and innocent journalists while on active duty is a challenge to security agencies to reinforce ongoing security operations in the country, the President had recently directed the police and all security agencies to rid the nation especially the South Eastern part of the country of kidnapping."
The minister further observed that,Government finds this ugly development quite disturbing, sad and clearly unacceptable and wishes to reassure all Nigerians of adequate and radical response in the search for sustainable solution to this new wave of crime."
While reaffirming the confidence of the government on security agencies in the country, Akunyili charged security operatives to live up to their task by nipping the menace of kidnapping in the bud.
Source: This Day, 12th July 2010.
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Kidnapping Of Journalists Unacceptable – FG
Senate, Reps, labour kick
Written by Uchenna Awom and Betrand Nwankwo,Abuja
The Federal Government has asked the security agencies in the country to ensure the immediate release of four journalists and their driver who were kidnapped on their way to Lagos from Akwa Ibom State.
The Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili, who stated this in a press conference in Abuja yesterday, described the incident as unacceptable.
She said the government found the development quite disturbing, sad and clearly unacceptable.
According to her, "The federal government has received with sadness the unfortunate news of the kidnap of four Lagos- based journalists and their driver by unknown gunmen at Umuafouka junction in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State while on their way from the National Executive Committee meeting of the NUJ held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
"The abduction of these four prominent and innocent journalists while on active duty is a challenge to security agencies to reinforce ongoing security operations in Abia State.
"Mr. President, Dr. Jonathan, recently directed the police and all security agencies to rid the nation, especially the South-Eastern part of the country, of kidnapping.
"Federal Government wishes to reassure all Nigerians of adequate and radical response in the search for sustainable solution to this new wave of crime; I wish to reaffirm the confidence of the federal government on the ability of the Nigerian police and security agencies in the country to free the journalists from their captivity in the shortest possible time."
She also said, "The police and all security agencies have a responsibility to ensure that the perpetrators of this dastardly act are brought to book."
Akunyili called on the governments of Abia, Akwa Ibom and neighbouring states, community leaders and well-meaning Nigerians to work closely and in partnership with the police and security agencies to fish out these gunmen from their hideout.
Also, President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, yesterday demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the journalists.
He also charged security operatives in the country to rise up to the challenge and save the citizens of this "avoidable hostility in the bands of criminals".
A very distraught Mark, in a statement signed by his chief press secretary, Paul Mumeh, declared, "No responsible government would allow these to continue. We must all rise to the occasion and curb the menace. Our security operatives must stand up and be counted as responsible and responsive agencies of government".
He asked the security agencies to comb all nooks and crannies of this country and locate the hide-out of the kidnappers and bring them to book.
"Enough of this embarrassment. We cannot continue to allow this to happen. Criminality of any form is condemnable. It cannot be our way of life", he said.
However, Mark called on communities, especially traditional rulers, to join the fight against kidnapping.
"These people live in our midst. They live in our communities and all of us cannot continue to feign ignorance about the activities of criminals in our midst. Community leaders must take responsibility for this abnormality.
"As it is now, everybody is a potential victim. The earlier we tackle the matter head-on and put it to an end, the better for all of us."
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole, has also condemned the kidnap and demanded for their immediate release.
Also, labour leaders have condemned the incident, describing the unfortunate incident as a slight on the journalism profession. They urged the government not to relent in the fight against kidnapping in the country.
Mr. Adetunji Adesunkanmi, president, Senior Staff Association of Communications, Transport and Corporation (SSACTAC), told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the kidnap of journalists was a most reprehensible development.
Adesunkanmi said the development showed the level of insecurity in the country, and urged government and security agencies to take necessary measures to reverse the trend.
The Trade Union Congress (TUC) also said in a statement signed by its president, Mr. Peter Esele, and General Secretary, Mr. John Kolawole, that it was sad the rate of kidnapping was on the increase.
It urged government to do everything possible to curb the crime.
Source: Leadership, 12th July 2010.
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