Insecurity: ‘Kidnapping for ransom shows FG helpless’

A Retired Assistant Inspector General of Police, Ambrose Aisabor said the huge ransom being demanded by terrorists to free kidnapped victims of the Kaduna Train Attack is a reflection of the helplessness of the government to free those in captivity. 

He said the terrorists resorted to ransom demands after the Federal Government failed to accede to a prisoner swap demand by the terrorists who eventually launched a successful attack on Kuje Correctional Facility to free their members. 

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In a chat with our correspondent, the security expert stated that the terrorists would now be more emboldened with the huge ransom being paid to them and have more access to cash to buy more sophisticated arms and weapons to continue their onslaught against the state. 

He said: “This will tell you that the situation the Federal Government is in now is that of helplessness. They don’t have the wherewithal to fight these terrorists. The intelligence system of the terrorists is better than that of the Federal Government. You can see this from the way they are attacking. 

“You can imagine N800m for seven people and one man last time paid N100m. 

“The situation has gone beyond them and that is why I suggested that they should now seek foreign assistance immediately. 

Meanwhile, the Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately resign if he believes he is too weak or tired to take charge of protecting citizens’ lives and property as he was elected to do. 

The executive director of the centre, Dr Ibrahim Zikirullahi, made the call on Monday in Abuja. 

“The best option is for him (President Buhari) to resign as president rather than subject the country to its current travails, where it is sliding towards the status of a failed state where impunity reigns and people are at the mercy of bandits and insurgents,” Zikirullahi said. 

He noted that one worrisome aspect of the country’s insecurity was the emerging pattern of religious leaders and clerics being targeted for attacks, kidnapping, or killing.