Help fish out the kidnappers to save my job - Onovo pleads to Abia traditional rulers
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- Category: Society
- Published on Thursday, 15 July 2010 06:31
- Written by The Nation
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What is next for kidnapped journalists now that the 24-hour police deadline for their release has expiration?
A disturbed police chief Ogbonna Onovo met with Abia State traditional rulers whom he urged to cooperate with the police, federal and state governments by supplying information that will aid them to combat kidnapping and other violent crimes.
Onovo said if the kidnap menace continues in Igboland, he will be portrayed as a doctor who cannot cure himself.
The situation, according to him, has brought shame to NdiIgbo.
The police boss spoke in Umuahia, the
He urged them to stop giving titles to people with dubious means of livelihood, adding that such a move would deemphasise the worship of ill-gotten wealth by youths.
He said operatives from
Onovo regretted that his appointment, which was greeted with a wild jubilation among his kinsmen in the South-East, had been rubbished by the spate of crime in the zone.
"I know how happy our people were when I was appointed as Inspector-General of Police (IGP). Will it be our people that will remove me through their deeds?
"We are ridiculed by this act and whatever happens we are not going to keep quiet over this, stringent measures will be adopted on the issue," he said.
Onovo said the South East was noted for hard work and industry, which, he noted, were the hallmarks of an average Igbo man.
He called on the traditional rulers to beckon on their forefathers through libation, so that the criminals would know no peace.
The IGP, who met also with the business community in
"You need to face your challenges head-on instead of running away," he told the businessmen.
He said kidnapping had brought shame to the entire Igbo race, adding that Igbo youths were in the forefront during the era of "419", "OBT", and other fraudulent practices, such as ferrying of hard and fake drugs. Igbo people have been his source of worries, Onovo said.
Onovo lamented that Igbo youths have overtaken other ethnic groups on the crimes chart, adding they are exporting crimes, such as kidnapping, to far away places like
He said the police would start going into individual houses, particularly in Ngwaland communities, such as Obingwa, Osisioma and Ukwa East and West council areas to fish out criminals.
The police boss also said there is a bill in the National Assembly to make kidnapping a capital offence.
Governor Theodore Orji regretted that despite the big money spent on the amnesty progamme for repentant kidnappers by the state, the crime continued.
He called for concerted efforts from all stakeholders to win the war against violent crimes. The state will henceforth match force with force as the last resort, the governor said.
Eze Nzenwata Mbakwe, who is the traditional ruler of Umuosu Ukaiuga Nkwoegwu autonomous community in the Umuahia North Local Government Area, who spoke on behalf of other traditional rulers, said they were ready for other means of stopping kidnapping in their communities.
