Onovo Decries Spate Of Criminality In S’East

The Inspector General of Police, Mr Ogbonna Onovo, has decried the spate of criminality in the South Eastern states of the country, especially the ever-rising kidnapping trend.

Onovo made the declaration on Friday in Abakaliki when he paid a courtesy call on Governor Martin Elechi of Ebonyi, as part of his visit to police command in the state.

“As someone who comes from this part of the country, I feel embarrassed and embittered that our youths have desecrated the land by holding their own people in captivity for ransom.

“I am touring the police commands in the zone to assess the performance of police personnel and re-strategise in order to bring the situation under control in the people’s interest,” he said.

He noted that the kidnapping trend in the society was on the increase because it was technology-driven and called on all Nigerians to join hands with the government in tackling the crime.

“We will continue to appeal to the communication network providers to ensure the registration of the sim cards they offer to the public to assist us in tracking down these hoodlums wherever they may be,” he said.

He called on the people to stop paying ransom to the kidnappers whenever their loved ones were kidnapped because “it commercialises the act and encourages the hoodlums to perpetrate their heinous acts.”

“It is absurd for someone to offer as much as N10million as ransom to a hoodlum for an act which is perpetrated with a sim card that costs N200.

“We also appeal to the banks to use special chips on the currencies given to kidnappers to enable us identify them for investigative purposes,” he said.

In his response, Governor Elechi commended Onovo for his giant strides in office, especially the proactive measures he took in resolving the protracted Ezza/ Ezillo communal crises in the state.

The governor noted that since the law of death penalty for kidnapping was enacted in the state, the trend had become non-existent, as the police had also been more equipped to tackle the act and other violent crimes.

“Kidnapping has become an embarrassment to the Igbo race as our business entrepreneurs now relocate to other parts of the country to establish their enterprises, a situation which reduces business investments in our areas,” he said.

He expressed happiness that Onovo who was his student as a teacher, had risen to the pinnacle of his carreer as a police officer.