A history of armed militancy and kidnapping
Daily Independent
21 August 2011
Like every other bad news emanating from Nigeria, the recent abduction by gunmen of the father of Chelsea’s midfielder and Nigerian International, John Mikel Obi, is bound to further dent Nigeria’s already battered image in the international arena. But the matter goes far beyond the kidnapping of Mr. Michael Obi. What else is new in the hostage taking saga except that this violent culture has now been entrenched in our society as government and the security agencies become helpless and overwhelmed? If it wasn’t for Mikel Obi, the soccer sensation, no one would have bothered any longer as the kidnap of innocent Nigerians has now become a recurring decimal with ubiquity and constancy. No day passes by without two or three Nigerians being captured and held hostage by miscreants who have now seen in this wicked and dangerous trade a very lucrative source of amassing wealth or simply making ends meet.
It is regrettable that this absurdity which started in the oil-rich Niger Delta region by militant youths or armed gangs has suddenly become a national pastime ...
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Besides setting up a Special Presidential Squad to combat kidnapping in the country, all policemen attached to politicians should be withdrawn without further delay so that they can adequately secure the people of this country. Government should see job creation for the nation’s teeming youth as a national emergency. The number of unemployed young people is very high. There is no questioning the axiom that an idle mind is a handy workshop for the devil. The Government must not only be focused; it must be seen to be focused on the protection of lives and property of Nigerians.We must however emphasise that not even a kobo should be paid to secure the release of Mikel Obi’s father or else a dangerous precedent would have been set.
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