BY STEPHEN GBADAMOSI
A kidnap victim, Mayowa Akinroye, has made a passionate appeal to the Federal Government of Nigeria to step up efforts at stopping the trend.
He said the recurring kidnapping activities “by herdsmen,” especially in the South-West region.
He said this development had been on the increase, despite renewed efforts of the security agencies in the country.
“While this has been source of concern in the region, a noted incident is that of a son of a top police officer, Mayowa Akinroye, who was kidnapped by the herdsmen.
“Mayowa , a 21-year-old graduate and son of a top police officer was kidnapped in April this year at Badagry area in Lagos and was released a week later after ransom was paid,” he said in a statement made available to journalists on Friday.
“It was gathered that his father was on the team of officers who arrested some kidnappers in February this year in Ondo State.
“The kidnap of people for ransom has been on the increase in Nigeria in recent times.
“The menace of kidnapping and violence is becoming alarming on a daily basis in Nigeria, which the government appears to be helpless and people live in fear and anguish,” he said.
Speaking with journalists on his experience at the kidnappers’ den, Akinroye expressed concern over the treatment meted out to him by the kidnappers.
According to him, “When I was kidnapped, the terrorists identified me as a son of a top police officer. They warned that they would continue to kidnap me unless my father stopped pursuing their members.
“They described my father as a stubborn officer and they told me to warn him to desist from pursuing them. My father is a disciplined officer and he has vowed that he will not succumb to blackmailing.
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“He insisted that he will continue to pursue the kidnappers and stop their heinous activities.
“I therefore seek more security consciousness and surveillance to nip the clandestine activities of the kidnappers in the bud,” he begged.
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