Kidnapping for money is an evil that came to the South East, for whatever reasons, about  seven years ago. Ndigbo fought it ruthlessly; houses belonging to kidnappers were simply bulldozed, and culprits were promptly prosecuted.

The incidence reduced considerably in the last three years, but seems to have refused to go completely. The perpetrators of this crime appear to have resumed with increasing vengeance in Imo State where three persons have been kidnapped within the last 14 days. First it was Chidi Opara of NUJ Owerri, then a driver with Vanguard Newspapers, and just few days ago, the wife of  a senior staff of the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri,   fell victim to the dare devils.

There was a time, even school headmasters, pastors, and people of other walks of life were kidnapped, but , as it stands today, any person can be a victim any day, any time in the South East, and Imo in particular. Without sounding alarmist, we in Imo are in a desperate situation, and all hands must be on deck to send this crime and the criminals packing from our state.

One wonders who the culprits in this new wave of kidnapping could be. Could it be that politicians are once again using kidnapping to settle scores after the March and April elections ? Or is it that people are going back to the crime to maintain their greedy habits?  Could it be that we all were distracted by elections and politics, that these criminals started feeling that it could be business as usual once again?

Whatever the reasons for the return of this ugly phenomenon, Ndigbo must not sit and watch it grow, more so in Imo State where the people feel that for once they are seeing what dividends of democracy looks like, while hoping for more from their Governor and his political party in his second tenure.The fight against this crime should never be politicised as we expect the administration of Rochas Okorocha to deploy every available means to crush kidnapping in the state.

With the dwindling fortunes of the nation, due to continued downward slide in international oil prices, there is need for Imolites to resolve totally to say no to the crime of kidnapping. Kidnapping is a threat to the security of lives and property; it discourages investors, be they local or foreign, and kills the necessary trust between the well-to-do of society on the one hand, and the poor on the other. The youth suffer more from the scourge of kidnapping because they are easily perceived as suspects by their likely mentors and helpers in society. Kidnapping is an enemy of Imo State because we need all the jobs that can be created by investors and high economic activities, which the crime of kidnapping will undermine immensely. Every Imolite should therefore hate kidnappers, their supporters, and connivers.

Kidnappers are not from the moon, they belong to villages, communities and local government areas. They have wives, husbands, relations, families and acquaintances. They belong to clubs and social societies, and people talk, work, eat, wine, and dine with them.

With the benefit of dealing with kidnappers these seven years, government should have been able to come up with information on the behavioural pattern of the criminals specialising in kidnapping. The fight against kidnapping should not only end with the destruction of property identified to be remotely or closely associated with the crime, it should also be backed up with massive mobilisation of the productive youth against it.

Traditional rulers and community leaders should be empowered and encouraged to profile houses or premises used by kidnappers and also persons who are predisposed to committing such a crime. The Police in the state should be encouraged to work in collaboration with the Imo branch of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC and local vigilante in communities to keep a record or profile of deviants who are and could be prone to the crime of kidnapping.

People resist profiling for all kinds of reasons, including fear of exposure, but it goes to the very root of crime prevention.

Our law enforcers and government need to go beyond our current practice of reported crime, apprehension, arrest and investigation, to crime prevention through profiling and dealing with people who fall within the given profile with a view to deterring them from the crime and re-integrating them into normal society. All uncompleted buildings and premises, including empty ones, in all communities should be monitored and profiled.

Imo is the only APC state in the South East, and this ought to make the fight against kidnapping easier given the expected support from the Federal Government. It behoves on our Governor to attract the necessary support and goodies from the Federal Government for breaking away from the traditional position of Ndigbo in the South East to vote the APC during the last elections. Imo contributed in no small way to the victory in the March 28 election that took the APC to Aso Rock.

Security is one of the cardinal programmes of the new APC government of Muhammadu Buhari, MB and should involve the fight against kidnapping in the South East, especially in Imo State. Kidnapping which has become a serious scourge in the South East deserves to be urgently addressed by the Buhari government just as it tackles other security challenges like the Boko Haram in the North East, Fulani herdsmen in the North Central, and militancy in the Niger Delta states of Nigeria.

Living in fear is the same for all victims of these evils. People live in fear in all these areas as a result of the evils that pervade the respective zones, and they expect deliverance from their leaders, both at the state and federal levels.

Kidnapping must not be allowed to fester or take root in Imo. This is why we in the state are saying a big and emphatic NO to kidnapping in all its ramification.

Mr  Clement Udegbe, a legal practitioner, wrote from Lagos