Kidnappers now ask communities for bikes, keke as ransom – Youth Leader

A youth leader in Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Yusuf Yunusa, has lamented growing cases of kidnapping across communities in the council area and in Bwari, a local government area in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja.

Communities in Bwari Local Government Area of the FCT share boundaries with communities in Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria’s North-west.

Mr Yunusa spoke on Tuesday when he appeared as a guest on Morning Brief, a Channels TV’s breakfast programme.

Widespread attacks

The youth leader said residents of the communities in the two council areas daily live in fear, adding that chairpersons of the two local government areas have deserted their communities as a result of frequent attacks by kidnappers and other criminals.

“In Kagarko Local Government Area, as a young man, I have severally contributed money just to be able to rescue some of our people from the hands of kidnappers.

“In several cases, they have asked us to bring bikes, they have asked us to bring Bajaj, which is about a million naira, foodstuffs. They serve us letters. It has gotten to the point where kidnappers will serve communities letters that they are coming,” he said.

Mr Yunusa claimed the Nigerian security agencies have failed to secure the communities, emphasising that when the communities report attacks for assistance, security operatives would only show up after about two days.

The youth leader said it is improper that heads of security agencies provide “heavy security” to politicians and powerful individuals in the country but leave ordinary Nigerians at the mercy of kidnappers and other criminals.

He said it is strange that the federal government had compelled Nigerians to link their mobile numbers to their National Identification Numbers, but has not utilised it in tracking the hoodlums attacking various communities in the country.

“Today, as I speak to you, we can give numbers that the kidnappers (used to) call, yet the government can’t tell us where they are.

“So, if the government feels they have failed woefully (to secure Nigeria), they should allow all of us access to guns,” he stated.

What can be done

Speaking on how to address the growing attacks in the country, Mr Yunusa said the Nigerian government should involve traditional rulers in the recruitment of security personnel.

“If the Nigerian security agencies are serious, I want to highly recommend that in every community, they should return to the traditional rulers and ask for recommendations before recruitment of some of these security personnel.

“We cannot begin to say we are deploying somebody in a community where he has no idea; he has no much interest why he should protect the grandmother in that village; why he should protect his father in that village or his sisters,” he said.

“Now, we must mix up with people who are directly from the community; who understand the need to ensure that their people are alive. We cannot continue to spend money on security without getting results,” Mr Yunusa added.

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Onyekachi Adekoya, a security consultant who also appeared as a guest on the Channels TV’s programme, suggested creation of state police as a panacea to the country’s worsening security challenges.

“If we don’t have state police, there is nothing you can do. Running a professional police structure is how we are harming ourselves.

“Every sensible approach to security must be local. We are improvising and that is not working. So, I am saying that we must have state police, then federal police. For federal police, there now has to become specialised tactical crack unit,” he said.