Police to Tackle Kidnapping of Traditional Rulers

IG threatens to bring perpetrators to book shortly

Moved by the recent rise in cases of kidnapping of traditional rulers in the country, Inspector-General of Police, IG Solomon Arase, has called for more proactive approach by the Police and vigilance on the part of the populace in fighting the menace.

Arase expressed this at an anti-kidnap training for police officers organised by the United Kingdom National Crime Agency, on Monday in Abuja.

The Police boss threatened to deal decisively with anyone caught in the dastard act and promised to bring to book the criminals in no time.

No fewer than five traditional rulers had been abducted across the country in recent times.

About three weeks ago, the Obi of Ubulu-Uku in Delta, 54-year-old Akaeze Ofulue, was kidnapped in his neighbourhood while returning from a journey.

After several days of search for him, his decomposing body was discovered in a bush by members of a search group.

Another monarch, the OdionOlogbo of Olomoro, in Isoko South Local Government Area of Delta, was also abducted in his palace last Friday by unknown gunmen.

Arase regretted that kidnapping had become a crime that Nigeria had tried to check over time.

He said: “Kidnapping has become one crime that we have been trying to handle in this country. Initially, it was armed robbery; some time, it dovetailed into youth restiveness in the Niger Delta.”

He recalled that when abduction of people started in the Niger Delta, it was more of an economic issue where foreigners working for oil companies were held for ransom.

Continuing, he said: “Along the line, we discovered that the trend started moving into other geopolitical areas where they started targeting traditional rulers.”

The IG noted that the police had been trying to discourage victims from paying ransom to the kidnappers for their freedom, pointing out that it was believed that such measure would help in checking the menace.

“Our strategic response has always been to discourage the payment of ransom, and doing that, we thought it will discourage the people from carrying on their criminal activities,” he said.

He disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari had tried to reach out to international groups and countries to build capacity of officers to combat the crime.

The police boss urged participants at the session to reproduce whatever they would learn from the exercise wherever they would be deployed.

In his remark, leader of the team from the United Kingdom National Crime Agency, Mr. John Branney said that the training would be based on the UN Counter Kidnap manual.

He explained that the manual was a generic document put together by UN experts based on global experiences.

“We are here to share our experiences with the Nigeria police force; they can learn from us and we can learn from them,” he said.

Branney said Nigeria had unique problems which required application of generic tactics to combat.

“I expect the police officers to be in a far better position to take back some of our own knowledge and experiences to train their own officers. The training is