Kaduna State Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Joseph Hayab, has called for a stop to the paying of ransom to secure the release of abducted persons.
Rev. Hayab said paying ransom will further serve to equip and encourage the bandits and said people should protect themselves while communities should mobilise and defend themselves against bandits
He said, “From now henceforth, people should protect themselves and we must not give kidnappers any money.
“Communities must defend themselves against these bandits terrorising them and stop giving them money because the more we give them money, the more we are encouraging them to continue to perpetrate this evil.
“Nigerians should not continue to be impoverished by the nefarious activities of bandits, all hands must be on deck to uproot such evil from the society,” Hayab said.
Hayab, who was involved in the negotiations for the release of the six school girls abducted in Kaduna said he has learnt many lessons in the process.
“We are just enriching the kidnappers and encouraging them to continue with this evil over and over again.”
He said further that CAN will not support the payment of ransom to kidnappers and will continue to call on the authorities to live up to their responsibility of protecting lives and property of citizens.
“We in CAN will continue to shout and call on government to be responsible to security matters, we will not support giving kidnappers money”.
He said schools must take adequate security measures to protect staff and students.
