The Police in Edo State, South-South, Nigeria has raised the alarm over the alleged involvement of more local residents in cases of kidnapping in the State.
This was contained in a press release by the Edo State Commissioner of Police, Funsho Adegboye, on Tuesday in Benin City.
Addressing journalists on the activities of the Command in combating crime in the State, Adegboye, stated that cases of kidnapping by herdsmen have somewhat reduced.
The Commissioner, however, added that more locals are now being involved in kidnapping in the State. He said those involved are being arrested for kidnapping.
Adegboye said, “From our recent experiences and from the victims we have liberated and debriefed, we have discovered that most of the kidnappers now are not those we usually call herdsmen. The locals are getting seriously involved in kidnapping.
“Before, if you ask the victims of kidnapping, they will say ‘herdsmen’. The involvement of the so-called herdsmen is now very minimal.
“Somebody was arrested in Edo North. When he was brought here, their group leader and others came here and vouched for him. But, fortunately, an investigation confirmed 100 percent that he kidnapped a woman and collected money. The people were ashamed for vouching for him.
“Also, recently, in Benin City, a 23-year-old man kidnapped a five-year-old girl. He kept her in his room for several days. He collected N250,000 ransom from the parents, while the poor girl was in his room.
“We are also carrying out investigations to ascertain if the minor was sexually molested by the man.
“We deployed all our technical arsenal and we were able to get him arrested. He confessed to the heinous crime and he has been charged in court. It was a pathetic situation,” the Commissioner added.
Adegboye, however, explained that the operatives of the Command have been moving around to sensitize members of the public. Especially the leaders and the youth leaders on the need to be more vigilant.
The Commissioner pointed that in this case, everybody is a suspect. He, therefore, appealed to members of the public to always be vigilant.
According to him, you can only believe in yourself and not your next-door neighbours.
source: Daily Post
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