Kidnapping: We won’t negotiate with criminals – Obaseki

From Usman A. Bello, Benin

Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki has said that his administration will not be forced into negotiating with criminal elements.

A statement signed by is media aide, Crusoe Osagie, said law and order, as well as the liberty of law-abiding residents of the state are not for sale.

He said efforts are on to arrest the orchestrators of the recent violence, bring them to justice and restore sustainable peace in the state.

“The state will never return to the old order. The oppressive actions of different groups who had been fattened over the years by extorting honest and hard-working people in the name of revenue collection have been curbed. No matter the amount of push back from perpetrators, they remain dislodged and would not have any reason to harass honest traders, citizens, and other residents,” he said.

He lamented that the perpetrators of criminal activities had lived on the proceeds of crime, oppression, and extortion so much so that they have forgotten how to earn a living through honest means.

The governor added that the state government intends to teach them how to do honest work and earn a living in the process, as it is opening up various sectors of the economy to ensure that jobs are available to both the skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled.

“We are also building vocational and technical training institutions where these people will be trained for free in order to reintegrate them into the society where people live on the fruit of their daily labour in legitimate enterprises,” he said.