Kidnapping: Lagos police chief warns on domestic staff

The Lagos State Security Council Wednesday met under the chairmanship of Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) with the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Umaru Manko urging continued vigilance and great caution especially while recruiting domestic staff such as cooks and drivers, to stave off the prospect of being harmed or set up for kidnap by such staff.

Mr Manko who spoke to State House Correspondents at the Lagos House, Marina after the meeting said residents must also be cautious while discussing their businesses or talking to their business partners because what the Police and security agencies have discovered is that most of the kidnapping businesses are organized by such people, including relations.

“We have had these things whereby relatives of these victims organized these crimes trying to make money out of it. So people must be wary of their business environment, and partners and domestic staffs even their relations”, he explained.

Assuring that Lagos State is safe, the Police Commissioner said kidnapping has become attractive to criminals as an easy way of making money, after the state security curtailed robbery.

The Police Commissioner urged all Lagosians to ensure that once a victim is kidnapped, the family should let the Police or security agencies know adding that the families should desist from rushing to pay ransom on the victims.

Ransom payment, he said, encourages the crime.

“We have noticed that in cases where we have quick information, victims of kidnappings are rescued without the family paying anything. Of recent, the 16 year old boy who was picked up from American International School was rescued in Ilaro without the family paying anything. We want the citizens to know that the security agents here have the capability to checkmate these crimes; we should not fall by paying ransom”, he said.

On what should be the first step by the families of kidnap victims, the Police Commissioner said they should get to the security agencies as soon as possible, he said the numbers of security chiefs have been made public and should be called in addition to 767 and 112 numbers, adding that immediately the number s are called the security agencies will know how to fashion out the modalities about going after the criminals.

The Police Commissioner said cultism has been linked to substance abuse and that it has come to the attention of security agencies that drugs are sold in many places including motor parks, adding that security agencies will crackdown on the sellers.

He warned the drug peddlers to pack their things and leave because of the dangerous effect of the drugs adding that it has been discovered people involved in all forms of violent crimes and cultism often do so under the influence of drugs, stressing that government will no longer tolerate it.

Mr Manko added that government will also take seriously the offences of people who still violate the restrictions of commercial motorcyclists on certain routes, adding that this represents a warning to them to know that the state government would no longer tolerate such violations of the law.

The Commander of 9th Brigade Ikeja Cantonment, Brigadier General Adeniyi Oyebode who also addressed newsmen said the Nigerian Army recently put out a leaflet which contains important contact information by which the public can send text messages on security breaches anywhere within the state.

Those present at the briefing include the State Director of the State Security Service, Mr Ben Achu Olayi, Commander 9 Brigade Ikeja Cantonment, Brigadier General Adeniyi Oyebode, Commanding Officer NNS Beecroft Apapa, Navy Commodore Odogwu Ezekobe, and Commander 435 Base Services Group, Ikeja, Air Commodore Sunday Wukangha and Special Adviser to the Governor on Security, Major Tunde Panox (rtd).