Right group alleges police involvement in kidnappings

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has called for comprehensive investigation into allegations of police involvement in kidnappings in Anambra State.

In a statement, issued during the weekend by the National Coordinator Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA claimed that the Anambra State Police command demanded between N500, 000 to N1 million from family members of kidnapped victims for rescue even after payment of ransom made to the criminals.

HURIWA stated that the solution to kidnapping lay in making the business less profitable to both “evil doers and rogue elements within the security establishment… who capitalize on the hysteria and apprehension of family members to extort huge payments.”

While calling for the adoption of community policing, HURIWA urged President Goodluck Jonathan and the National Security Adviser to sanitise the police in the country and eradicate all rogue elements, particularly in the South-east where the widening of kidnapping frontiers “has defied all effort by the current Anambra State Government to contain the menace, including the demolition of housing assets owned by suspected kidnappers.”

Force Public Relations Officer Emmanuel Ojukwu, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, yesterday described the allegations as unsubstantiated.

He challenged HURIWA to produce evidence to back its assertions, adding: “If they can adduce evidence, it will be treated in line with the law and our regulations.”