There is apprehension among Abia State residents following the spate of kidnapping across the state in recent weeks.
In the last one month, not less than 10 kidnap cases have been reported to the police with the perpetrators extorting ransom from relatives of their victims.
Sunday Independent investigations show that kidnap incidents occur daily in the state, with most not reported to law enforcement agencies for fear of retaliation.investigations show that kidnap incidents occur daily in the state, with most not reported to law enforcement agencies for fear of retaliation.
Most of the victims and their relations would, however, prefer to remain anonymous in order not to incur the wrath of the so-called kidnappers while some assume that if they give out certain information concerning their plight, the hoodlums may revisit them.
But, the state government in a terse statement in Umuahia at the weekend warned that it would now meet those behind this ugly development and their collaborators with maximum force to stamp it out.
Part of the statement reads: “The attention of the governor, Theodore Orji, has been drawn to the growing cases of criminal kidnapping of individuals in Abia state. Consequently, he has assured all Abians and residents of the state that he has got reports from security agencies assuring him that they have credible information that would lead to the smashing of the kidnap syndicate in the state.
“Information available to the governor indicates that the syndicates are of two folds: those whose operational base is outside the state; and those whose base is in the state. For the avoidance of doubt, kidnapping for ransom and all such acts with criminal connotation are alien to the culture and tradition of Abia. These criminals are hereby warned to take their crime to somewhere else because the state would no longer accommodate them.”
The governor’s statement was re-emphasised by the police image-maker, Ali Okechukwu, who told the Sunday Independent that the command was battling the ugly trend with all bullets in its arsenal. He regretted that most times, some of the relations of the victims would prefer to succumb to the blackmail of the hoodlums by giving them the ransom they (the criminals) demanded rather than reporting the case to the police for action.
He cited the case of a reverend father in Isiala Ngwa who, according to him, was kidnapped but was freed by the police following thorough investigation and prompt action. Okechukwu stressed that the clergy man on release pleaded that his name and the case should not be mentioned at all.
The police image-maker insisted that the crime was being imported from neighbouring Rivers State into Abia by some gangs, adding that some suspects are being detained by the police in Umuahia in connection with the incident. Orji, in the statement, asked Abians to be vigilant and report any suspected moves to the law enforcement agents around them for further action, adding that government was working vigorously to flush the criminals out of Abia.
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