The Commissioner of Police in Delta State, Mr Ikechukwu Aduba, has advised monarchs to engage palace guards to fortify their palaces.

Aduba gave the advice when he paraded 25 suspected kidnapers and armed robbers in Asaba, saying that the suspects were arrested last week.

He said that the kidnap of Mrs Kamene Okonjo, had further reinforced the need for the monarchs to make use of their guards.

Aduba decried the situation where monarch palaces were easily accessed by just anybody, saying: “it is risky, the palace should be fortified and the job of the police is to complement the security.

“If you have a palace, you are supposed to have your guards and not to rely solely on police security.

“Palace guards are very necessary. Security is everybody’s business and if you talk about the vigilance group they are under the monarchs,’’ he said.

He said that while the command might not be able to provide security to all palaces, any monarch that felt threatened, should call the police for assistance.

Aduba said that “the state remains one of the safest in terms of security’’, adding that there was really no country that was crime-free.

He said that the command was working hard to synergise with other security agencies to rid the state of criminals and called on investors to come in and invest in the state.

The commissioner commended the vigilance groups in the state and the security agencies for their synergy and the successes they recorded.

Aduba, however, stressed the need for the people to “watch their backs”, adding that there was no kidnapping without an insider.

He said that the suspected kidnappers confessed that they wanted to use dynamite recovered from them, to blow up the Otorogu gas plant.

Aduba added that another suspect confessed plotting to kidnap the Managing Director of the company.

He said that items recovered from the suspects include, cars, guns, cash, plasma television, live cartridges among others.