Kidnappings: Ensure no ransom is paid to bandits – Tinubu task security agencies

President Bola Tinubu has directed the country’s security services to ensure the safe return of all kidnapped victims in various parts of the country, as well as to ensure that no ransom is paid to do this.

Alhaji Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation, announced this to journalists at the State House in Abuja following the week’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Tinubu.

President Tinubu had previously responded to numerous reports of abduction in Borno and Kaduna states by instructing security and intelligence agencies to ensure the victims’ immediate release, while also assuring victims’ families of prompt action to release their loved ones.

However, kidnappings, particularly in the country’s northwest, have increased in recent days, as have ransom demands.

A group of kidnappers kidnapped 16 people in the Gonin-Gora region of Kaduna metropolis, Kaduna State, and wanted N40 trillion, eleven Hilux Toyota trucks, and 150 motorcycles for their release.

Also, criminals in Sokoto State kidnapped 15 Qur’anic students and recently made contact with their families, demanding N20 million in ransom before they were released.

On Monday, bandits reportedly abducted approximately 61 residents in Buda village, Kajuru Local Government Area, Kaduna State.

However, while communicating the president’s command to security agencies during the FEC meeting, Alhaji Idris stated that Tinubu was adamant about his no-ransom-payment stance, even though he had instructed them to ensure that all victims were rescued without any reason.

He said: “You’re also asking about the apparent surge in this kidnapping across the country. Now it is true that some of these are happening, we have seen what has happened in Kaduna, in Borno, and then in Sokoto.

“Of course, the government is watching that very closely and not just watching, but also ensuring that security agencies are taking proactive steps to ensure that this is halted significantly.

“Now, like I said, Mr. President has said that is an unacceptable situation and the government will not condone abductions or kidnappings or any kind of criminality in that direction.

“We’re seeing this happening and the government is taking very proactive steps, first to mitigate that, and also to stop the spread of this apparently.

“We are seeing that the more the security agencies are also hitting these targets or criminals, the more they are pushed to also getting some soft targets. But the government is not taking any excuses.

“The President has directed that security agencies must, as a matter of urgency, ensure that these children and all those who have been kidnapped are brought back in safety and also in the process to ensure that not a dime is paid for ransom.

“So it’s important to underscore that no dime, government is not paying anybody any dime and the government is optimistic that these children and other people that have been abducted will be brought back to their families in safety.”