By: Oby Edward
Rt Hon Monday Igbuya, former Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, has given two major reasons why Sapele community and environs are presently under siege by kidnappers.
Igbuya who recalled the harrowing experience he experienced in the hands of kidnappers in 2009, said that one of the reasons is due to the fact that Police and other sister security agencies have been caught off guard because they shifted from pure security duties to chasing of Yahoo and the second reason is the collusion by some natives with kidnappers.
Igbuya, who is Delta State Representative, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Rt. Hon. Monday Igbuya stated this in a Media chat some Journalists.
His words, “the worsening cases of insecurity in Sapele and its environs is becoming very worrisome and it is getting out of hand and if urgent steps are not taken to arrest the development, it will affect the social economic development of the town.
“So, I am calling on the Nigerian Police and other sister security agencies to up their games and stop this dangerous drift, because no one or nowhere is safe as it is today in Sapele, people are being kidnapped at will in their homes, along the streets and even public places unchallenged.
“You can imagine, a young man who came for the preparation of his father-in-law’s burial was kidnapped in front of the inlaw’s house in the Ghana-Ogberekoko area, and in the past four days, nothing has been heard about his whereabouts.
“Yesterday I also heard that they almost kidnapped someone in front of Foodland in Okpe road in broad daylight, but he was lucky to have escaped, it’s now everyday thing in Sapele and its environs.
“The situation”, he emphasized, “is getting out of hand, the security agencies should rather focus their attention on more critical issues than chasing Yahoo boys in town, they should up their games and change the dynamics.
“In past one, or two years, the town has been relatively peaceful and there was a huge improvement in terms of security, but the situation is becoming very alarming now. You know I was a victim of kidnapping in 2009 and the experience is horrifying.
“No community can experience meaningful development without a peaceful environment. So, I also appealed to our youths to shun crime and take up lawful means of livelihood, crime doesn’t pay.
“I also called on residents of Sapele to be more vigilant, this is not about herdsmen, this is the case of our people being involved in the kidnapping scheme, so we have to be very careful now”, he stated.
Source: The Nation
