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From Tony Osauzo and Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, yesterday, issued a stern warning to kidnappers, cultists, and criminal elements operating within the state, declaring that anyone involved in kidnapping will face the full weight of the law, including possible execution by hanging once a new legislation is enacted to set up special court to carry out speedy trial of suspects.
The governor gave the warning while inspecting some of the suspected kidnappers being paraded, including those that abducted a housewife at the Vegetable Market, off airport Road in Benin City by the Edo State Commissioner of Police, Monday Agbonika at the Police Command Headquarters in Benin.
“We are proposing a special court to try kidnappers and cultists so that in a matter of weeks, they will be done with it and I will hesitate to sign the death warrant of any convict and such person will be paraded so that the people will see them and this I will not have any regret about, please don’t take my simplicity for granted.
“And I will sign it, the execution by hanging. I will take you to the roundabout, that is Ring Road roundabout so that the whole Edo people will see you. And this, I will not have any regret about it”, Okpebholo said.
The governor praised the swift response of security agencies, revealing that the suspects were apprehended within 24 hours after he personally contacted the Commissioner of Police regarding a kidnapping incident in the state.
According to him, the Commissioner of Police, who was in Abuja at the time, immediately returned to Benin City to coordinate operations that led to the arrest of the suspects.
“Before you know it, within 24 hours, those guys had been caught,” he said while displaying money allegedly linked to the criminal operation.
Okpebholo disclosed that during the operation an exchange involving gunfire occurred, leading to the death of one suspect while another was arrested and two others are at large.
Commending the efforts of the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services (DSS), he dismissed claims that the government is not doing enough to combat insecurity.
“The police are working. The DSS are working. When people say the President is not doing anything, I wonder why they say so. The President is funding these agencies, and that is why we are getting results today,” he stated.
He maintained that kidnappers would find no safe haven in Edo State, noting that security forces have recorded significant successes in arresting criminal suspects across the state.
“There will be no crime committed in this state where the offender will not be arrested. Whoever is supporting these criminals should stop because we are ready for them. We are not joking, and we are not sleeping,” he warned.
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He further warned young people to stay away from cultism and kidnapping, stressing that crime ultimately destroys lives rather than improving them.
“It is cheaper for you to maintain your standard of living than to go into kidnapping. When you kidnap, whatever you had before, you will lose it, and at the same time, you may lose your life,” he said.
The governor reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to ensuring the safety of lives and property across Edo State and vowed to sustain the crackdown on criminal activities.
He later rewarded the Special Security Squad that arrested the kidnappers of the housewife with N10 million. The housewife has since been rescued.
On his part, the Commissioner of Police, Monday Agbonika, commended the officers and men of the command and other security agencies for their timely responses that have led to the successes being recorded.
“And I must also commend, finally, the executive governor of Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo who has been very courageous in the fight against kidnapping and the fight against courtism in the state.
“I think what we are doing here, the kind of synergy we have between the police and the military and other agencies, including the informal policing sectors, I think it’s something that is worth emulating by other commands.
“We are working here so very well that you can’t even tell one agency from the other.
“The DSS, it gives us information as I tell you, and whenever we need backup, we also get area backup with support of the Inspector General Police.
“So these are all the issues and the supports that we have been getting that has made it possible for us to record the successes of our credit”, Agbonika said.
He cautioned against the spread of fake news which led to the panic relating to the alleged invasion of schools by suspected kidnappers,saying such acts and self kidnapping which he said was becoming an issue in the state have legal implications.
“Let me use this opportunity to warn the public that we have been having very serious concerns about fake news. Just this morning, there were information that some schools were being attacked in different parts of the state and when we conducted our enquiries, we found out that they were all fake news even though before then proactively we have deployed men to those areas and that was why we were able to find out very quickly that the information was not correct. It got to a point that parents were going to withdraw their children from these schools, people must desist from this.
“The issue of self-kidnapping is also rearing its ugly head in the state and I want to warn members of the public that these are crimes that are punishable by the law, they must cross check their information before they repost because these information will not go viral if they are not reposted by others”, Agbonika stated.
