Nigeria Content Online

More than 600
kidnap suspects arrested by the police in various parts of the
south-east are being detained in different police cells in the zone.

The Inspector
General of Police, Ogbonna Onovo, said early this month during an
interactive session with traditional rulers and union leaders at the
Women’s Development Centre, Awka, as part of his tour of the states of
the south-east.

He expressed worry
over the increasing crime rate in the region, adding that he was deeply
disappointed with the activities of those he called his brothers, which
had brought shame to him and the nation. He then called for a special
court to try the suspects.

A visibly worried
Onovo, whose 24-hour deadline to the kidnappers of four journalists in
Abia State ended yesterday, recalled that kidnapping was only known
about 500 years ago during the slave trade era, but said that it was
regrettable that the ugly trend had resurfaced in Nigeria, especially
in the south-east zone.

“The Igbo people
were known as being very industrious all over the world, but today the
people are fast drifting as the arrow heads to kidnapping, fraud,
‘419’, drug and human trafficking.

“Does it mean that
contemporary Igbo people cannot provide leadership as Dr. Nnamdi
Azikiwe and Dr. Michael Okpara did? Why have we lost all the virtues we
are known for?” The police boss asked.

He revealed that
the greatest problems facing him as the nation’s police chief comes
from the south east, his region of origin. “Our children have done
unimaginable things. They have kidnapped priests in the church; they
have kidnapped lawyers, doctors, professionals, and others. They don’t
discriminate in their choice of victims. This is self-annihilation,”
Mr. Onovo warned.

Beyond the use of force

Mr. Onovo also
recalled the way groups like the Movement for the Actualisation of a
Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) had attempted to scuttle the last
national census exercise in the zone, pointing out that such action was
self-destructive, even as he condemned the attitude of institutions in
the zone which tended to honour rogues and dubious characters.

“The Movement for
the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) would not
allow the Igbo population to be properly determined during the 2006
census exercise and today, we are worst for it”, Mr. Onovo said.

He also explained
that the issue of fighting crime had grown beyond what the police could
handle with force, as doing so might endanger the lives of innocent
citizens, but assured that the police were working hard to arrest the
situation.

Part of such
efforts, he said, included the current registration of SIM cards which,
he explained, would help the law enforcement agencies to track
criminals.

Earlier, the state
governor, Peter Obi, represented by his deputy, Emeka Sibeudu, called
for fresh action against the criminals, since according to him, all the
previous efforts seemed futile. “It is our most profound position that
we draw a fresh plan and new strategies for killing of the evil of
kidnapping and violent robbery in our state,” Mr. Obi said.

Also, the Speaker
of the Anambra State House of Assembly, Anayo Nebe, said that the
topical issue in the zone was insecurity of lives and property, and
much had been done in the state to curb the problem with the passage of
a security trust fund bill; yet, the problem persist.

He argued that
whatever achievements the IG had recorded in the other parts of the
country would “pale into insignificance and nothingness” if kidnapping
and other violent crimes persisted in his zone.

Some of the traditional rulers and town union leaders present
alleged that some of the police personnel in the state were aiding and
abetting criminals. They claimed that many of the suspects arrested by
the police through information are usually released after a few days.
Others called on the National Assembly to enact a law prescribing death
penalty for anyone found guilty of kidnapping.