The Inspector General of Police, Ogbonna Onovo, has given the abductors of the five journalists kidnapped in Obingwa area of Abia State last Sunday, 24 hours to release them unconditionally or face the wrath of the law enforcement agents in the country.
Mr Onovo, who met with Theodore Orji, the governor of Abia State, in Umuahia on Tuesday, as part of his evaluation of security measures already put in place in the South East, warned that innocent people in the state might be affected when the police onslaught against the criminals would start.
“You cannot make an omelette without breaking an egg”, he said.
He said the kidnappers had gone too far this time with the abduction of innocent journalists, which he said would not be accepted, adding that they should not see the gradual process of tackling the kidnapping menace in the country, particularly in the South East, as a sign of weakness.
He said the kidnappers had dared the federal government with their continued hold on the abducted journalists, telling them to face the reality and surrender themselves or have themselves to blame. “Since these criminal elements have dared the might of the police and the might of the federal government, it has come to a point where we have to pay them in their own coins.” The Inspector General asked the traditional rulers and indigenes of Ngwaland, the area where the incident happened, and the entire people of the state to warn their siblings and surrender all criminal elements in their communities to law enforcement agents for prosecution.
A call for understanding
He appealed to all citizens of the South East to bear with them when the police start the other aspects of the operation, adding that it has come to a point where the police would start hitting the kidnappers hard.
Mr Onovo commended the governor for the efforts he has made to assist the police in the state to combat criminality and urged him not to relent until the hoodlums were eradicated.
The governor, who lamented the sudden introduction of kidnapping to the country, added that it was going to take some time to tackle. He also said the menace is a technology-driven crime, adding that it would also need technology to tackle it.
Mr Orji described kidnapping as embarrassing to the state government.
Mr Onovo was accompanied by the Assistant Inspector General Zone 9, the police commissioners of Imo, Abia, Anambra and Enugu States.