Huge ransom cash keeps kidnappers in their risky business, writes OGOCHUKWU IKEJE
On Monday Federal Capital Territory (FCT) police announced the capture of 25 suspected kidnapers. It was good news, not just because of the large number of suspects arrested but also because the capital city authorities and their security chiefs have been trying every strategy in the book to put bandits out of business in the territory. The capture of the 25 suspects perhaps points to security operatives’ hard work.
Deputy police public relations officer Mariam Yusuf, an assistant superintendent of police, said in a statement, “In its effort to get rid of crime and criminality as well as reassure residents of safety, the FCT Police Command has continued with the Joint Counter Kidnapping Operation along Kuje, Abaji, Kwali and Rubochi axis. The Joint Operation comprising the Police and other security agencies…has successfully arrested over 25 suspects in the last couple of days who are currently being investigated.”
Time to clink wineglasses?
No. The arrest of the 25 suspects also points to something quite frightening. If such a large number of ‘felons’ can be captured “in the last couple of days”, as the ASP put it, who can tell how many more violent criminals are out there, unmindful of the onslaught against them.
The answer was not long in coming. At midnight on Sunday, just hours before the announcement of the capture of the 25, two persons were reportedly abducted in the Kuje area of the same FCT. One of the abductees was, wait for it, a police inspector, whose brother was earlier kidnapped, according to reports.
If Abuja security chiefs were in the mood for some celebration after the arrest of the 25, some independent experts in the field were not. On the same day as the capture was announced, the experts gathered in the same capital city to sound their alarm.
Read Also: Police arrest 2 suspected kidnappers in Kebbi
Something has to be done, they said, adding that security policy should be reformed urgently.
“Kidnapping is becoming a career in Nigeria,” one of them said. “It is becoming a career because of state failure.”
Indeed, kidnappers seem to have found something more than mere career; they have hit a gold mine and are unwilling to leave site.
Ask governors of Niger Delta states in the days of the militancy. Ask Katsina State Governor Aminu Masari or his counterparts in the Northwest, who have done everything imaginable to stop kidnapping and banditry. They first talked tough. It did not work. They pleaded, saying enough was enough. The criminals couldn’t care less. Then they hit upon the idea of amnesty. If they drop their weapons, they would be forgiven and compensated. The hoodlums looked away and continued their business. The governors kept at it, and finally, the abductors, especially in Katsina, started releasing their captives.
Who knows what they are getting in return. Who knows how long their good behaviour will last.
One thing is sure: they have gold in their hands. Even at the risk of capture, kidnappers are willing to do anything and suffer anything to lay their hands on millions of ransom cash.
Leave a Reply