Nigeria Content Online

Alao Akala, the
Governor of Oyo State, on Wednesday, advocated for community policing
as an efficient means to curbing the incidence of kidnapping
experienced in some parts of the country.

Mr. Akala, who
spoke to correspondents at the Murtala Mohammed Airport 2 (MMA2),
Lagos, on his way from Abuja, stated that with the system security
operatives will get to know the culprits perpetuating the heinous
crime, adding that state governments should employ the services of
community policing. “They (state governments involved) should just try
to make sure that they get to know themselves very well and they should
involve community policing. Community policing is very important for
with it you will be able to identify when who is doing what,” he said.

The governor, an
ex-police officer, said that the kidnap of one of his aides gave him
insight on how to handle the culprits, adding that though he paid the
kidnappers, he would have caught the perpetrators if there was
community policing. “Okay I got this experience from my own adviser
that was kidnapped, because I paid out something for it,” he said. When
asked how much he paid, Mr. Akala said “N6 million.”

Why the kidnappers escaped

“I wouldn’t have
paid with my experience as a police officer, but the person they used
her account, the woman was begging me that if I don’t allow them to
cash that money they will kill her; that is why I now did it, because I
would have gotten them,” he said.

The governor said
that the kidnappers used another victim’s account to get the funds,
otherwise they would have been trapped. “But they were, you know they
used another kidnapped woman’s account to collect that money from me.
So from my experience I know that when you have this community
policing, it will be very effective and you will be able to capture all
of them,” he said.

The governor, however, insisted that kidnappers cannot thrive in his
state, as he promised residents of Oyo State that his government is
doing everything possible to ensure top security of lives and
properties. “It is a pity that this is happening in our country; it
will never spread to my state because we know ourselves,” he said,
adding “before you can kidnap you must know the terrain of where you
want to kidnap very well. It is not possible for them to kidnap in my
state because we don’t have kidnappers in our state.”