Nigeria Content Online

The
Inspector General of Police, Ogbonna Onovo, has given the abductors of
the five journalists kidnapped in Obingwa area of Abia State last
Sunday, 24 hours to release them unconditionally or face the wrath of
the law enforcement agents in the country.

Mr Onovo, who met
with Theodore Orji, the governor of Abia State, in Umuahia on Tuesday,
as part of his evaluation of security measures already put in place in
the South East, warned that innocent people in the state might be
affected when the police onslaught against the criminals would start.

“You cannot make an omelette without breaking an egg”, he said.

He said the
kidnappers had gone too far this time with the abduction of innocent
journalists, which he said would not be accepted, adding that they
should not see the gradual process of tackling the kidnapping menace in
the country, particularly in the South East, as a sign of weakness.

He said the
kidnappers had dared the federal government with their continued hold
on the abducted journalists, telling them to face the reality and
surrender themselves or have themselves to blame. “Since these criminal
elements have dared the might of the police and the might of the
federal government, it has come to a point where we have to pay them in
their own coins.” The Inspector General asked the traditional rulers
and indigenes of Ngwaland, the area where the incident happened, and
the entire people of the state to warn their siblings and surrender all
criminal elements in their communities to law enforcement agents for
prosecution.

A call for understanding

He appealed to all
citizens of the South East to bear with them when the police start the
other aspects of the operation, adding that it has come to a point
where the police would start hitting the kidnappers hard.

Mr Onovo commended
the governor for the efforts he has made to assist the police in the
state to combat criminality and urged him not to relent until the
hoodlums were eradicated.

The governor, who
lamented the sudden introduction of kidnapping to the country, added
that it was going to take some time to tackle. He also said the menace
is a technology-driven crime, adding that it would also need technology
to tackle it.

Mr Orji described kidnapping as embarrassing to the state government.

Mr Onovo was
accompanied by the Assistant Inspector General Zone 9, the police
commissioners of Imo, Abia, Anambra and Enugu States.