Why kidnap is big business in Abia

Barrister C. C. Emelogu, a constitutional and human rights lawyer, in this interview with KlinReports, speaks on the crime situation in Abia state, especially, kidnaps and the factors responsible for their upsurge. Excerpts:

Kidnap, armed banditry and robbery have assumed an embarrassing dimension in Abia State. Even some of your colleagues in the Bar have fallen victims. Do you think that this is the making of the Government or a product of the society?
To my mind, I think it is the product of the society-product of the society and deterioration of the world economy. In the first place, you would agree with me that the unemployment rate in Nigeria vis-à-vis Abia state is alarming. About 90 percent of the graduates and other school leavers are unemployed. And that has gone a long way in creating social vices. That is why I said that it is the product of the society. Another problem is the get-rich-syndrome in our society today. The young men, whether graduates or not, want to be billionaires overnight without even working for it. So, a combination of all these escalated the crime rate we are seeing in Abia state today. A lot of prominent personalities have been kidnapped. There are so many of them, uncountable, from various facets – the Civil service, business, legal practice, journalism, medicine and what have you. Kidnap has assumed a proportion that prominent persons in out midst are beginning to think that the escape route is to leave the state for good.

But the state is also accused in this ugly trend?
You see why people are pointing accusing fingers on the state is because it appears the state has kept sealed lips over the development. It is true they make various announcements on the radio, but the menace is beyond radio announcement. Decisive actions ought to have been taken by the state to ensure that this evil is eradicated because it is the duty of the government to protect lives and property.

In fact, in the middle of this kidnapping saga, accusing fingers were, also, pointed in the direction of the police and the state government. Some of those who got in contact with some of the kidnappers said the kidnappers told them police knew what they were doing. And some said the state government knew and so on.

For instance, there is one kidnap incident involving a man of God in one of the prominent churches in this state. The man of God when he was released informed members of his congregation that the day his church went to pay the ransom, the kidnappers told the kidnapped that those coming to pay the ransom would never see any police man on the road from the moment they set out. And that was what exactly happened.

From Aba until they got to the location, they never saw any police man on the road; there was no check-point, but after they dropped the ransom, on their way back all the checkpoints came back to life. When you look at all these, you will begin to suspect that the police might be involved in all this. But in my mind, it may just be a section of the Nigeria police in Abia state that could be working in collaboration with these men to perpetrate the crime because they know that a lot of money is involved.

How do you react to the recent law passed by the state legislature concerning kidnaps?
I commend the state Assembly for the recent law they passed on Kidnapping. And the decisive action of the police as soon as the law was enacted. But then, much more ought to be done. And the police should make sure that innocent persons are not killed in the course of shooting down kidnappers. I’ve seen a situation where somebody was arrested in the midst of people suspected to be kidnappers, and all of them arrested were shot dead. At the end of the day you discover that one or two persons out of those that were shot were innocent. They were victims of circumstances. These are issues the police should properly address. Maybe killing, they should carry out proper investigation to ascertain if the man to be killed is a kidnapper or not.

Does it not mean that you as a lawyer support jungle justice which is what the law seems to be subscribing?
It is true that as a lawyer, we don’t support jungle justice. We still believe in the rule of law. We still believe in the sanctity of the judiciary. But at times certain issues need decisive actions like this kidnap because it has assumed a dangerous dimension. It has also smeared the image of the Ngwa people. Every kidnapping activity in the state now is attributed to the Ngwa ethnic nationality. But you discover that most of these kidnap kingpins are not Ngwa people. Some of them live in this town as non indigenes of the area but collaborated with few disgruntled Ngwa boys to perpetrate these crimes thereby painting a very bad picture of the Ngwa people, which is too bad. What I am saying in essence is that these issues of kidnapping, bank robbery and banditry have assumed a dangerous dimension.
But I wish to commend the police, since December, they have been more serious than before in tackling this menace. It is not that if the police want to tackle it they would not; if police want to eradicate this kidnap trend they will do it because it is a syndicate.
It is group of people forming groups here and there but all of them communicate. One man, a kidnap victim, who secured his release after paying ransom was said to have told his sympathizers that the kidnap gang even issued receipts to people. They issue receipt and say the essence of the receipt is if eventually any of their groups somewhere kidnap you again and you show them this receipt, they will release you. This means that kidnap in the state has become a coordinated activity. That means the kidnap gangs have their branches here and there, but under a particular umbrella. I know that there are some people who are the kingpins. They are the coordinators of these things and until they are smashed nothing good would come out of the fight. So if the police would sustain the present tempo positive result would be recorded.

How do you reconcile jungle justice approach and the rule of law at this period we want to expand our democracy?
Well, in every law there is an exception. An extreme situation needs extreme measure to check them. Judging from the antecedents of the Nigeria Police, don’t you think that the shoot-at-sight order would consume thousands of innocent citizens? That is why I posited that thorough investigations should be carried out first to determine whether the person is culpable or not. In fact, credible and enlightened police personnel should be involved in the process. A lot of intelligence needs to be applied.

How do you rate our police in the area of human rights?
The police are not faring better in terms of human rights. People are killed every day (I mean innocent people) by the police. One day, two men consulted my services, saying the police arrested and linked them with the kidnap of a local government chairman last year. The man sounded convincing that they were not a party to the kidnap but the police insisted.
I was able to secure the release of one whom the parents consulted my services. The police refused to grant the other bail, demanding between N100, 000.00 to N200, 000.00 from the boy’s widow mother. They kept the boy because his widow mother could not meet their demand, but before I got there this January they told me that the boy has been shot. Have you seen that level of wickedness? Because the boy’s widow mother was not able to provide the amount, they shot the boy!