Kidnapping in Rivers State is now punishable with imprisonment for life without the option of a fine, following the signing into law yesterday of the bill prohibiting kidnapping in the state.
The state governor, Chibuike Amaechi said at the signing of the bill that kidnapping has been a source of bad image to the state. He said the law would impact positively on people’s lives.
“This is a law that everybody has been expecting; we shall without delay begin its implementation,” he said.
Kidnapping for ransom has been a thriving business in the oil rich Niger Delta states, as children, women and staff of oil companies are taken hostage and released after payment of ransom.
Since the beginning of 2006, more than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped in the region. Most of them are released unharmed, often after a ransom is paid.
Amaechi during the recently concluded South-south Economic Summit in Calabar, had taken a hard line stance on any person involved in criminality in the name of militancy.
He was clear on the difference between an ideological struggle as against injustice and outright criminality.
“My view as a Niger Delta man is that these boys who call themselves militants are not ideological; they do not represent the views of the South-south. They are pursuing their own selfish goals.”
The governor expressed regrets that the people of the core Niger Delta were suffering in the midst of plenty but said that it was wrong for the people to kill themselves instead of seeking for ways to get out of the misery.
“That we are suffering under the big nation called Nigeria is not in doubt. If our people are suffering in the big nation called Nigeria, the big people in Nigeria are marginalising us, and at the same time misappropriating our resources, should we also kill ourselves?” he queried.
Amaechi continued: “They are kidnapping our people. They are driving away investors and economic goods from the Niger Delta. They are growing poverty instead of growing the economy of the country. There are those you don’t negotiate with and these people fall into this category.
“You don’t negotiate with criminals. If you negotiate with those who kidnap, you might as well negotiate with armed robbers because they commit the same crime.”
May92009