The Edo State Police Command has issued a warning about the increasing involvement of local residents in kidnapping cases within the state.
According to the DAILY POST, the State Commissioner of Police, Funsho Adegboye, sounded the alarm during a press conference in Benin City on Tuesday.
While detailing the command’s efforts to combat crime, Adegboye noted that incidents of kidnapping by herdsmen have decreased somewhat.
However, he emphasized that more local residents are now being implicated and arrested for kidnapping.
He stated, “From our recent experiences and the victims we have liberated and debriefed, we have discovered that most of the kidnappers now are not those we usually call herdsmen. The locals are getting seriously involved in kidnapping.”
“Before, if you ask the victims of kidnapping, they will say ‘herdsmen’. The involvement of the so-called herdsmen is now very minimal.
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“Somebody was arrested in Edo north when he was brought here, their group leader and others came here and vouched for him. But, fortunately, an investigation confirmed 100 percent that he kidnapped a woman and collected money. The people were ashamed for vouching for him.
“Also, recently, in Benin City, a 23-year-old man kidnapped a five-year-old girl, kept her in his room for several days, and collected N250,000 ransom from the parents, while the poor girl was in his room.
“We are also carrying out investigations to ascertain if the minor was sexually molested by the man.
“We deployed all our technical arsenal and we were able to get him arrested. He confessed to the heinous crime and he has been charged in court. It was a pathetic situation,” he added.
He explained that the Command’s operatives have been actively moving around to sensitize the public, especially community leaders and youth leaders, on the importance of increased vigilance.
The commissioner emphasized that everyone is a potential suspect and urged the public to remain alert, stressing that one can only trust oneself, not their neighbors.
(Daily Post)
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