Recently, the dare devil kidnappers had a successful outing along the Kaduna-Abuja road. These kidnappers stopped motorists, kidnapped their victims and killed those who attempted to escape. According to the villagers who resided around the dangerous road,the kidnappers had four successful operations with many passengers losing their lives and countless victims taken into the kidnappers’ den.
The return of the kidnappers on one of the busiest roads is unfortunate and sad. It has come at a time when people are calling the authorities to bring an end to the abduction of helpless passengers plying the road on daily basis.
The response of government to the rampant kidnappings on the KadunA-Abuja road seems not encouraging. Although, there were deployments of some anti-robbery squads in some strategic locations in times past which allayed fears among the people; their presence however failed to checkmate the activities of kidnappers?
The government should go beyond stationing police officers in every one or two kilometers of the road. Instead, there is the need for the deployment of modern technology such as drone which will monitor the movements of these kidnappers and locate their hideous. The audacity with which these kidnappers carried out their attacks and abducted their victims raised questions whether Nigerians are safe.
If this road that links North-West states to the nation’s seat of power can be frequently attacked by dare devil kidnappers with relatively ease, other roads in the country should become no go areas.
Even with the return of train transportation which proved effective and safe, the kidnappers often attacked train station, scared and whisked away their victims. It seems the kidnappers are prowling everywhere these days. Can we attribute the increase rate of kidnapping activities to the recent end SARS protest that demoralized our men in uniform and kept them off the roads? It appears that some police officers are yet to recover from the aftermath of the bloody #EndSARS protests that rocked the country and therefore refused to report to work.
While the Kaduna-Abuja road was recently deserted by travelers due to the activities of kidnappers; the news of abduction also filttered the air in Katsina and Zaria. The Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic community in Zaria was thrown into confusion and sadness. Kidnappers forcefully entered the staff quarters, fired shot and abducted a lecturer. In ABU community, these kidnappers also struck and kidnapped a lecturer with his wife. Nowadays, this has become the trending news both on the social and traditional media. What is really happening with our intelligence gathering?
The kidnappers who operate along Kaduna-Abuja road are usually being spotted in Gadan Malam mamman and Rijana axis. They have also been operating there for long time. In a saner climes, these areas must have been combed and those making lives difficult arrested. However, the kidnappers are becoming more audacious taking advantages of our fragile security network and operate with little resistance.
It has become imperative for government to strengthen its intelligence gathering, adopt community policing and above all, deploy modern security gadgets such as drone and helicopter for effective policing. Kidnapping is taking a dangerous dimension and government should swiftly move and contain it before it consumes the country.
Ibrahim Mustapha Pambegua writes from Kaduna State
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