A MAJOR crackdown by State Security Service on kidnappers appears imminent going by feelers in security circle and the Presidency in Abuja.
The Presidency and the SSS are mapping out special operational plans to check the menace which has lately spread to parts of the South-East from the South-South.
A special Task Force comprising crack SSS operatives are to fish out the undesirable elements behind the spate of abduction.
A source told our correspondent that the primary focus of the fresh security plans at the beginning would be the South-East where criminal elements appeared to be on the loose.
They kidnapped some individuals and demanded mouth-watering ransoms.
The latest security move comes amidst the growing concern from the international community on cases of kidnapping in the country
For instance, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office recently updated its travel advice by warning British citizens against travelling to parts of the South-East.
“There is also a risk of politically or financially motivated kidnapping throughout South Eastern Nigeria. On March 17, 2007, two Chinese workers were abducted at Nnewi, Anambra State and on September 9, a dual national was kidnapped in Aba, Abia State.
“There is a general threat from terrorism.
“Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places frequented by expatriates and foreign travellers” the FCO warned on its website (http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travelling-and-living-overseas/travel-advice-by-country/sub-saharan-africa/Nigeria).
Sources in the intelligence circle in Abuja said the government was worried by the increasing spate of kidnapping from the South-South where militants claim to be fighting for a cause, to the South-East where kidnapping was fast-becoming a criminal business.
Sunday Punch gathered that the Presidency had granted the approval to the SSS on its overt and covert methodologies to combat the menace.
Consequently, the agency was planning a public enlightenment programme to sensitise Nigerians, especially in the South-East against kidnapping.
But when contacted at the SSS headquarters in Abuja on Thursday, its Head of Public Affairs, Mr. Ekene Onyeogu, neither denied nor confirmed any issue about efforts being made to tackle the problem.
”I can only tell you that such security challenges are receiving due attention, but I do not have the details that you are requesting,” Onyeogu said.
However, other sources affirmed the SSS‘ preparation for special operations against kidnapping in the South-East.
The plan include arrangements with police and other security agencies towards infiltrating and arresting criminal elements seeking to kidnap people.
The kidnapping of two Asians in Anambra State in March this year, marked the first occurrence of such incidents outside the Niger Delta where scores of foreigners had been kidnapped.
The Asians were members of a team of about 40 foreigners building a car assembly plant in Nnewi.
In January, a local businessman, Chief Pius Ogbuawa, was kidnapped in Nnewi and released after payment of ransom.