Nigeria Police Arrest 487 kidnap Suspects, Rescue 350 Victims in Four Months

The Nigeria Police says it arrested 487 kidnap suspects and rescued 350 victims in the last four months of 2016.

The Nigeria Police Spokesman, Mr. Don Awunah stated this yesterday in an interview in Abuja.

He added: “It is appreciated that there is relative increase in kidnapping but we are on top of the job. Kidnapping is apparently gaining some currency nationwide. There used to be isolated cases around the Niger Delta, which started with hostage taking.

“But because it looks lucrative, a lot of criminals are abandoning other forms of their criminal enterprise for kidnapping. However, we are 95 per cent of clearance rate. The ability of the police to apprehend and charge suspects to court, as well as rescue victims have improved.

“From June till date, we have arrested 487 kidnap for ransom suspects nationwide and rescued about 350 persons. We are doing a lot in this respect. The Inspector general has reorganised the anti-kidnapping unit and increased the tactical platform to assist in solving issues of kidnapping.

“We advise persons who are victims of kidnapping to trust the police. Take the police into confidence and exercise considerable caution in payment of ransom.

“There must be community engagements. These kidnappers live in a community; they take their victims to forests owned by people.”

“People should not look aside. We are all vulnerable. It is only by collaborative efforts that issues of kidnapping can be solved. The police have been dealing decisively with kidnapping but the gains cannot be huge if we don’t have the people’s support.

Hampering on quest for visibility policing, Idris said the service has put modalities in place to ensure safety of lives and property as the yuletide draws closer.

“Most of the tactical teams, commanders, CPs and zonal commands received specific instructions to emplacement crime reduction strategies so that Nigerians can sleep with their eyes closed. We appreciate that most times, there’s increase in crime during ember months because many people want to celebrate the end of the year in a special way. So, we do special operations too. We do operation plan to detail the things that need to be done,” he said 

Culled from: The Nation Newspaper