The Nigeria Police Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Olumuyiwa Adejobi, has said that paying ransom is a criminal offence in Nigeria.
Adejobi disclosed this while commenting on the recent abduction in Ekiti State during an interview on ChannelsTV’s programme, Politics Today.
Recall that two traditional rulers in Ekiti State were killed by kidnappers along Oke-Ako road in Ikole Local Government Area on Monday while another monarch narrowly escaped from the scene.
Similarly, six schoolchildren, three teachers and a bus driver were kidnapped in Emure-Ekiti, Ekiti State, while being conveyed to Eporo-Ekiti.
Adejobi assured Nigerians that the victims would be rescued unhurt.
His words: “Paying ransom is criminal in Nigeria. But the problem we have in most cases is that families of abducted individuals don’t carry security operatives along. Kidnappers always work on their psyche. They tell them to not tell security operatives; ‘don’t tell the police; if you do we will kill your relations.’
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“We have to understand the dimensions of kidnapping. Kidnappers will take kidnapping as a business. They will kidnap and negotiate and get money. We got to a stage where they kidnapped, collected money and killed the victim.”
