‘Why kidnapping may persist in Lagos, Ogun’

A senior police officer has said that kidnapping incidents may continue in parts of Lagos  and Ogun states unless a sustained clearing of the creeks is ensured .

The officer, who pleaded anonymity while speaking with Sunday Tribune, said the situation would remain due to the agitations of the Niger-Delta.

The top police boss also stated that the desire of milltants to become independent and form smaller groups led to the rampant kidnapping incidents in different parts of the state.

“What we are witnessing now is the side effect of the Niger Delta agitation. They did not return the arms and ammunition to their masters,” the police chief said.

He added: “Now, many of them want independence. They are breaking into different groups. So, you have a lot of them in different places doing the same job.

“They have found their way into the creeks of Ogun and Lagos states with the hope of breaking pipelines. That was what they were doing initially.

“But now the government has tackled bunkering and they need to sustain themselves. Bank and other forms of robbery is a great risk in Lagos. That is why they have  resorted to targeting the riverine communities.

“The leader of the major robbery gangs in the whole of the country, TK, was recently killed during a gun battle with the police and members of his gang have switched to kidnapping. Initially, what they do is target a rich personality or their relatives but they don’t do that again. What they do is that they go to riverine schools and communities and kidnap many people so as to collect the ransom in bulk.”

On what the police in Lagos State had been doing to curb the activities of the milltants, the police chief said that the state police commissioner, Fatai Owoseni, has deployed policemen to the area .

“The best way  to effectively tackle them is through intelligence operation, sound anti-kidnapping team, increase in patrol along the creeks, motivational packages for the officers and synergy between the police and the riverine communities.

“Most importantly, the creeks should be cleared and that is not the duty of the police. It is the duty of the military. That is where they (kidnappers) hide,” he added.