In Kogi, rise of kidnapping

Mrs. Phylis Sortor, a 75-year-old American missionary, was in her office at her school at Emiworo community in Ajaokuta Local Government Area of Kogi State when gunmen scaled the seven-meter fence of the school and kidnapped her at gunpoint.
Mrs. Sortor operates a primary and secondary school known as Hope Academy, which is meant for the less privileged in the area. Some children of nomadic Fulani are also in a boarding house in the school.
Daily Trust Saturday gathered that the abductors, after scaling the fence, started shooting sporadically while asking for the office of the proprietress of the school. When they saw her, they whisked her away to their hideout, where she spent several weeks before regaining freedom.  
Being an American, her case attracted international attention as the kidnappers demanded N150 million as ransom. But N5 million was said to have exchanged hands before she was released after the International Police (Interpol) waded in.
A lot of people are known to have suffered the same fate since kidnapping found its way to the state in 2010. It is said that the kidnappers do everything within their means to achieve their aim, including terrifying their victims and even killing anybody who dares stand in their way.
Other recent victims are the High Court judge of Kogi State, Justice Samuel Obayomi and the Commissioner for Land and Urban Development, Stephen Mayaki. They were all abducted at gunpoint. Obayomi’s orderly was killed during the operation on May 25 in Adavi Local Government Area.
The judge was on the way to the office when the gunmen blocked his vehicle, killed his orderly and took him to an unknown destination. In the same vein, the commissioner was abducted in a farm where he had gone to settle a land dispute. However, nobody was killed during the operation.
Findings by Daily Trust Saturday revealed that at least 20 people have been so far kidnapped in the state. Between March and May, 2015, about 14 people were kidnapped, out of which nine are foreigners. It was also revealed that various amounts of ransom were paid to secure the freedom of the victims. However, the state government, family members of the victims and the police have continued to deny the payment of ransom.  
Indigenes and other residents of the state who spoke to our reporter agreed that the state was only known for political violence and thuggery, as well as other forms of crime, but not kidnapping, which was only heard of in Edo, Anambra, Ondo, Enugu and other states. They wondered why it has now become rampant.
It was further gathered that kidnapping made its way into Kogi State in 2010 when two local government chairmen were abducted during a meeting at Optimum Hotel, Kabba, Kabba Local Government Area. The kidnapped chairmen were Ernest Abbah of Igalamela/Odolu and Kayode Obaro of Yagba West Local Government. Their wives were made to replace them at the kidnappers’ den so they could look for money to pay for ransom.
At the end, a N5million ransom was said to have been paid. After that incident, kidnapping is known to have spread like wildfire in the state as the youth now see it as a money-spinning business.
Commenting on the ugly development, a public commentator, Idris Miliki wondered why nobody is doing anything to stop the trend, which is killing the economy of the state, among other ugly influences.
Miliki blamed the continued cases of kidnapping on ransom payment, which according to him, encourages the criminals to dare security agencies.
However, after the travails of the chairmen, cases of kidnapping were not heard of until 2013 when the younger brother of the former governor Prince Abubakar Audu was kidnapped at his Aloma home in Ofu Local Government Area. He was released after two weeks in captivity. The suspects were arrested through their bank account where an initial payment of N30, 000 for the upkeep of the victim was made.
The kidnappers struck again on April 2014 with the abduction of the two sons of the then-speaker of Kogi State House of Assembly, Honourable Momoh-Jimoh Lawal. Hafiz and Oyiza Lawal were abducted at their family residence in Okene and a N200 million ransom initially demanded.
A reliable source told our reporter that an undisclosed amount of ransom was paid to secure the release of the children after being held for almost two months.
 Shortly after that, the wife and daughter of the chairman of Adavi Local Government, Salihu Adaviruku, were also kidnapped. The woman and her daughter spent over three weeks in captivity before they were released after an undisclosed ransom was paid.
 As if that was not enough, sometime in May 2014, Hajiya Hawawu Bello, mother of the managing director and chief executive officer of Fair Plus Transport Company, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, was kidnapped at her Nagazi Uvete resident in Adavi Local Government.
After this, the kidnappers beamed their searchlight on higher institutions of learning as the rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Idah, Mathew Akpata, was kidnapped. But luck smiled on him when the vehicle in which his abductors were conveying him to their hideout got involved in an accident and he was abandoned in the boot of the car. He was found inside the boot by sympathizers who came to rescue accident victims.
Also, registrar of the institution, Abu Kazim, was abducted from his house. He was released after several days in captivity. That was after the payment of an undisclosed ransom.
The dust raised by the kidnap of Mrs. Sortor had hardly settled when two Chinese nationals working in a construction company in Lokoja were kidnapped at Zango-Daji community in Adavi Local Government Area in March 2015.
While battling to secure the release of the expatriates, three other Chinese nationals in another construction company in the state were also kidnapped at Crusher area of Lokoja Local Government Area. Two police officers were killed in the process.
Two days after that incident, two other Chinese nationals working in Dangote Cement Company were kidnapped at Obajana community in Kabba Local Government Area. In April 27, another Chinese national, Yang Zhengming, working in West African Ceramic Company in Ajaokuta, was also kidnapped.
Speaking to journalists after his arrest, one of the suspects who abducted Zhengming revealed that his share of the ransom was N1.8 million.
Still in April 2015, a retired headmistress was kidnapped in Adavi Local Government Area while going for morning devotion.
Curiously, all the kidnap victims regained freedom except Justice Samuel Obayomi who is still in captivity since May 25. And the police seem not to have any clue about his whereabouts. It is believed that he is alive.
More worrisome is the way and manner police fall prey to the kidnappers. Between January and June, this year, at least 12 policemen are said to have been killed while several others sustained various degrees of injury.
Apparently dissatisfied with the bad image the trend is giving the state, Governor Idris Wada recently  announced a reward of N5 million for anyone who can volunteer useful information that would lead to the arrest of kidnappers in Kogi State.
The governor, who made the announcement during a working visit to the state police command in Lokoja, also gave N2.4 million to the family of the deceased police officer.
“The state will not pay ransom in the name of abduction. This is totally unacceptable. My administration will no longer tolerate this evil. We will support the police to get rid of this evil. To strengthen the police, government has donated five Hilux vehicles to aid their operation.
The commissioner of Police, Kogi State command, Samuel Ogunjemilusi, while parading the suspected kidnapper of Yang Zhengming, blamed the increasing incidents on the payment of ransom.
“The reason for the increase in kidnapping is that families of victims do not want the police to be fully involved in negotiation with the kidnappers. This is, however, because they are afraid that the kidnappers would harm the victims. They will only report the matter to the police and by the time the kidnappers contact them for ransom, they will not inform the police of it. It is only when the ransom have been paid that the police are involved. So because of the payment of ransom, the youth now see it as a lucrative business,” he said.
He called on the people to always inform the police whenever their relatives are kidnapped and allow them to be in charge of the negotiation as this will enable them stamp out the trend.
The commissioner added that there would no longer be a hiding place for kidnappers in the state as the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Solomon Arase has deployed 350 officers and 32 vehicles to the state to assist the command in their efforts.
When Daily Trust visited the police command to ascertain their efforts at tackling the menace, the public relations officer, Sola Collins Adebayo, said the commissioner would address the press at the appropriate time.
But a source close to the police said they had made a breakthrough as many of the kingpins have been arrested.
Unfortunately, since kidnapping began to worsen in the state, various commissioners of police had promised to stamp out the scourge, but left without doing anything tangible. Only time will tell if Ogunjemilusi would make a difference. There is apprehension in the state as a month hardly ends without an incident of kidnapping.