FCT KIDNAPPINGS: POLICE MUST AVOID MEDIA PROPAGANDA: HURIWA

… proposes a national death penalty punishment in all states of Nigeria and FCT for kidnappers and terrorists

Oru Leonard 

The very ugly and bad news that bandits have killed one of the seven persons abducted from Kuduru community in the federal capital territory (FCT), is a reminder that the rush by the police to often parade suspects before the press for propaganda purposes rather than embark on thorough, comprehensive and all-embracing law enforcement actions, is definitely a very wrong strategy, according to the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA).

HURIWA is also proposing to the National Assembly to amend the counter terrorism legislation to prescribe the death penalty by hanging for kidnappers and terrorists just as the Rights group said all the sections of Nigeria must wage determined war against terrorists and kidnappers by adopting swift death sentences for these people that have subjected Nigerians to callous ordeals in the forests.

HURIWA recalled that the bandits stormed the area and abducted the victims on December 28, 2023 just as a community source revealed to the media that the victim, Olayinka Ogunyemi, was killed after members of the families of the hostages failed to pay the N290 million demanded.

Quoting the media, HURIWA stated that the source said the bandits called on Friday to break the news of the execution of Ogunyemi, a civil engineer.

According to the community source: “The bandits called us yesterday that they have killed engineer Olayinka Ogunyemi.
“The bandits threatened to kill the remaining captives if N230 million is not made available as ransom. Those still in captivity include one and half year-old boy, two siblings, a pregnant woman and two men.

“N23 million has been paid, food sent and other items they demanded but none of our people has been released.

“We are appealing to the federal government, the police and the army to step up efforts to rescue our people because their abductors said Nigeria has offended them and they would retaliate,” the source concluded.

Reacting to the sad news of the killing of the abducted Abuja resident, the prominent civil rights advocacy group: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) through a media statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, decried the excessive penchant for hasty media propaganda by the police instead of consolidating on the job of making sure that all loose ends that give way to the heightened state of insecurity are tied and for the cops to meticulously, diligently arrest, investigate and present to the office of the prosecutor for the diligent and efficient prosecution in the court of law of these terrorists, the police prefers hurried media propaganda to market what they erroneously perceive as milestones or policing masterstrokes.

HURIWA said that what demonstrates the futility of this stale policing tactics of often rushing to the media for propaganda purposes, is that the more the police parade those they termed as ‘notorious’ kidnappers before the press, the very notorious armed terrorists and kidnapping masterminds are busy in the deep forests executing their hostages or collecting heavy ransom before releasing their hostages who are never traced by the law enforcement agents.

HURIWA expressed consternation and worry that the state of insecurity in Abuja has not abated just as the Rights group asked the Nigeria Police Force to change their strategies from that of hurried media propaganda to that of diligent policing which should be focused towards arresting the right suspects, carrying out thoroughbred investigations to build up formidable body of evidence that would be so watertight that the suspected terrorists through their lawyers wouldn’t be able to defeat the cases of the state against them and so qualitative convictions and the harshest punishment can be meted out to the suspects after which the police can then showcase their achievements if necessary rather than jumping the gun and parading suspects at the middle of investigative activities and by so doing, muddle up and expose the police’s weaknesses to the suspects and the lawyers lining up to defend them.

HURIWA has also expressed surprise that till date, the law enforcement agencies are still incapable of tracking telephone conversations of terrorists who embark on extensive negotiations with relatives of their victims for ransom payments, when in actual fact, the DSS, the police and other law enforcement agents have a way of tracking down perceived political adversaries of the powers-that-be through their telephones as was the case when the former Senate Minority leader Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe was arrested from a barbing saloon in Abuja by the DSS through a trail of his telephone conversations.

The Rights group has condemned the killing of the Abuja victim of kidnapping Engineer Olayinka Ogunyemi and is urging the police and all other law enforcement agencies including the military and the Department of State Services, to jointly work together to wipe out the terrorists and kidnappers so Nigerians can once more sleep with their two eyes closed just as the Rights group said food insecurity will worsen if the security agencies are not able to crush terrorists and kidnappers who are the greatest threats to national security, food security and human security in Nigeria.