THE Rivers state government is to parade a septuagenarian and others in the state allegedly involved in the rising case of child abduction in the state on Friday at a stakeholders meeting. Governor Rotimi Amaechi made this known yesterday in Port Harcourt at an interdenominational church service to mark this year�s children�s day.
Mr. Amaechi explained that the decision to parade the kidnappers was to demonstrate to the kids who were victims in most cases that government is doing a lot to stamp out the ugly incident of kidnapping and other related criminal activities in the state.
He disclosed that those criminals involved in kidnapping of Children cannot claim to be fighting the Niger Delta cause, rather, according to him; they are using it as an economic means of livelihood.
�There are many criminals who are doing all this in the name of Niger Delta, they are not fighting for anybody, if they are fighting for you, why should they kidnap you�, Gov. Amaechi asked, adding �they are fighting for their stomach�.
The Governor remarked that by Friday when the state would hold its stake holder�s meeting, a 70year old man who connived with his children and three other persons from Oyo state to kidnap a 12-year-old child, whose mother works in an oil company, would be paraded along side others.
The State Chief Executive, urged children present at the Church to convey to their mates that government appreciates all the difficulties they are passing through, for according to him, �when I was your age, I was not afraid of being kidnapped, I walked the streets and played freely�.
�Now children are afraid to do what we did when we were children and the fault is ours, not yours, but please convey this feeling to your friends, brothers and sisters that we are working hard to stem the tide�, the Governor declared.
He decried the poor state of infrastructural facilities in the schools, and the attitude of teachers who are supposed to be role models to the students, emphasizing that the state government has the responsibility to provide a conducive environment for teaching and learning, for them to compete favorably with their counterparts in the country.
Governor Amaechi appealed to the children to be patient with the present administration, which is only seven months old, and assured that the government under his leadership would make the difference in their lives.
It would be recalled that some children recently marched to Government House in Port Harcourt to protest the rising case of child kidnap in the state. Within the last three months no fewer than ten children have been abducted for pecuniary reasons in the state.