By Kingsley Omonobi
Ahead of the 2011 elections, Internal Affairs Minister, Capt. Emmanuel Ihenacho (rtd) has said kidnapping and hostage taking, may become the preferred tactic of those he described as political terrorists.

He said “hostage taking and political kidnapping, a tool used by fundamentalist groups, has degenerated into means of currying financial incentives and achieving political ambitions.”

Ihenacho gave the warning just as Police Affairs Minister, Adamu Maina Waziri tried to absolve politicians from the menace called kidnapping, insisting that the code of conduct of politicians did not encourage kidnapping as a tool to achieving power, adding that kidnapping is criminality ‘simplicita’.

Inspector-General of Police, Ogbonna Onovo, on his part, said there was need for more stiffer penalty for kidnappers, explaining that the 10-year imprisonment punishment stipulated for such offenders as contained in Section 315 of the Criminal Code was not enough deterrent.

Both ministers and the Inspector General of Police, spoke at a one-day workshop on ‘Kidnapping as a threat to national security’ organised by the Alumni Association of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos, in Abuja.

Said Ihenacho: “In Nigeria, kidnapping started as a major political weapon of militias in the Niger Delta region. However, in recent years, this phenomenon has also spread to other parts of the nation, as unemployed youths and young university graduates have adopted this method for improving their financial status. Kidnapper now carry heavier weapons than the security agencies, which amplifies that it has become a very formidable force that government must contend with.”

Biometric security technology

The minister stated, however that “due to the increase in kidnapping in recent times, the Federal Government and other stakeholders have begun to embrace biometric security technology. It will check the wave of abduction in the country, a development which has further exacerbated the already precarious security situation in the country.”

National interests are being threatened

To Adamu Waziri, “It is in our national interest to deliberate on the problem of kidnapping because our national interests are being threatened by kidnapping. For many months, banks in Aba were closed because the economy was hijacked. If this is allowed to continue, our march to democracy will be stalled.

“We also have to collectively identify, isolate and eliminate the underlying causes of kidnapping. We need to assure our citizenry that if we cannot completely eliminate, we can reduce it.”

10-yr imprisonment inadequate

Emphasizing on the offence of kidnapping and why it is prevalent, Onovo said, while 10 years imprisonment was inadequate, there was need for an enhanced judiciary process like the setting up of special courts to fast track the process of getting kidnappers tried and punished.