Anti-kidnap efforts in Kaduna

The latest spate of kidnappings in Kaduna State has prompted the Kaduna State Police Command to establish a special anti-kidnap squad to track down and dislodge criminal gangs behind the odious crime. The Command’s spokesman DSP Zubairu Abubakar announced this measure in Kaduna recently.  It would be recalled that many people in towns and villages […]

The latest spate of kidnappings in Kaduna State has prompted the Kaduna State Police Command to establish a special anti-kidnap squad to track down and dislodge criminal gangs behind the odious crime. The Command’s spokesman DSP Zubairu Abubakar announced this measure in Kaduna recently.  It would be recalled that many people in towns and villages in Kaduna State were kidnapped for ransom in the last three months. Some of the most high profile kidnap cases include the one in which an Army Colonel, Samaila Inusa, was abducted in Kaduna and was subsequently killed. His remains were found dumped in a bush two days later.
Similarly, Rev. Iliya Anthony, Vice President of the United Church of Christ in Nigeria, died in the hands of his abductors recently. The cleric was kidnapped along with the Church’s President Rev. Emmanuel Dziggau and Rev. Yakubu Dzarma. The other two clerics were later released. Also, former Executive Director of NNPC and now a Director in Dangote Group Engr. Mansur Ahmed was kidnapped along the Kaduna-Abuja highway. He was released the next day. In yet another botched kidnap case in Kaduna, Economic Adviser to the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua, Alhaji Tanimu Yakubu narrowly escaped when suspected kidnappers pounced on him within Kaduna township and tried to force him into a car. Yakubu escaped with two deep cuts to his head and nose, which were caused by sharp metal objects which the kidnappers used to hit him during his struggle to escape.
Apart from these high profile incidents, there were many more reported cases of kidnap in Kaduna State. Victims told stories of how whole gangs of kidnappers in military style uniforms laid siege on the Kaduna to Abuja highway, stopped vehicles and abducted many people, whom they took to well appointed camps in the bush. DSP Zubairu said the Kaduna State Police Command has arrested some suspected kidnappers, some of whom are being prosecuted. Kaduna State Police Commissioner Umar Shehu also paraded 15 suspected kidnapers, saying they included the gang that kidnapped Engr. Mansur Ahmed. Some of the suspects have confessed to being members of kidnapping gangs terrorizing commuters on the Kaduna-Abuja highway.
As part of measures to stem the spate of kidnappings in Kaduna, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Solomon Arase directed the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 7, Bala Nasarawa to relocate to Kaduna in order to coordinate security operations there. The AIG was mandated to halt incessant kidnappings and other forms of crime especially in Jere and Kagarko LGAs of the state. While emphasizing on the need to re-strategize against the high rate of crimes, IGP Arase also ordered the redeployment of policemen who have served up to six years in the state.
We urge the anti-kidnap squad to make optimum use of modern technology in its search for suspected criminal gangs. The squad is equally urged to evolve new intelligence gathering and crime fighting techniques to tackle the current wave of kidnappings in Kaduna State. Using the information extracted from the suspects currently under investigation or prosecution, the anti-kidnap squad is also implored to find and destroy all the camps used by suspected kidnappers to perpetrate their nefarious activities.
States that share borders with Kaduna State should be on the alert to avert the possibility of hoodlums fleeing into their territory as a result of intense security operations in Kaduna State. No effort should be spared to ensure that this terrible scourge called kidnap for ransom which in recent years has become an epidemic in many states should be crushed once and for all so that citizens can again face the challenges of life with more peace of mind.