It’s barely a month that we all condemned the habitual kidnapping in our community, the last of which was heard was the case of a monarch in Igboora, whose wife and daughter were bundled away by an unknown group of bandits who have been terrorising the region for the past two years.
Few days ago, the disheartening news broke of a farmer who was kidnapped in one of the communities. Kidnappings in Ibarapa land has now gotten to a stage where we the question is now, “Who is next?”
Kidnapping in Ibarapa has evolved over time under two main categories; the type that kidnap for ransoms and the kidnap for rituals. Of course, neither is meaningful nor preferable as both tends to kill you either psychologically (due to excessive debt of ransoms) or physically (the real death for rituals). Hence, they are both murders in all contexts and as such, anyone caught in the act should be charged on an attempt to murder or murder charges as the case may be.
The kidnap cases are predominantly common in Igboora and within the stretch of two years, the kidnappers have looted through ransom system the striving citizens both the well to do and those who fed from hand to mouth. They have also claimed many lives within the same period.
I have not chosen to write this to highlight the stories we already know, but to suggest solutions to check the perpetrators of this evil acts. When would we be able to live without fear of being carted away like luggage, and without trace in our relatively small communities?
What We Need To Curb This Rising Menace
• Security agencies’ revitalisation: The Criminal Investigation Department of the Nigeria Police Force seems to have been ousted out of the police structure. This is a time we need a very swift police response to emergency calls with adequate tracking ability that can guarantee the arrest of these evil doers. To be candid, we do appreciate their efforts in the past to arrest some of such incidents. Success is only achieved when the cause which we seek is achieved without a stone left unturned; but here, there are hundreds of such stones are presently left unturned.
• Community Security Outfits to the frontline: The vigilante groups are closer to their immediate communities and probably are sources of first-hand information as regards the circumstances involved. They should be charged towards taking action and rendering support to the police.
• The Monarchs, Religious Leaders, and Chieftains to the commanding room: we need a body to constantly charge the government into action and at the same time support the security outfits in achieving the feats of arresting these hoodlums.
• A push for the Death Penalty Bill: just like I mentioned earlier, the end result of this kidnap saga is death to the victims, either psychological or actual death. And of course, the harbingers of the death needs to be tried and convicted if caught to serve as warning to those who are still hatching plans to bring tears to the eye of our people.
Imagine ransoms worth millions of naira being forced out from someone who sweat rigorously to maintain at most a meal daily! What more can result into lustful wishes of suicide?
Now, many state assemblies have either successfully passed the bill that metes out the death penalty to kidnappers. For example, he bill has passed beyond the second reading in Nasarawa and Osun States, among other states. Hence the Oyo State House of Assembly should rise to the call and ensure such bill is passed and perpetrators brought to justice, because this is indispensable to deter these criminals.
Engr David Olusegun Okanlawon is the founder of Olusegun Okanlawon Foundation
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