Kidnapping: Uduaghan Wants Special Courts For Suspects •	Parleys Security Agencies, Vigilante
Gov, Uduaghan Briefing the Press

Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan has called for the establishment of special courts to accelerate the trial of kidnap suspects in the state.

Uduaghan said the regular courts were always congested with cases and using them to try kidnap suspects would delay their trial, adding that for punishment to be promptly meted out to those found guilty, special courts should be used to try them.

“I am aware that regular courts cannot try kidnap suspects speedily. This is because of the congestion of cases in these regular courts. So the trail of suspects would continue to be delayed and this definitely will not be good for the present fight against kidnapping in the state. I am appealing to the judiciary to create special courts to enable us win the war against kidnapping.”

He said kidnap cases should be seen as special because of the trauma victims and their families go through and said when suspects are promptly tried it would serve as deterrent and check the rate of the crime.

The governor, who announced the recent arrest of 11 more kidnap suspects in the state, disclosed that the noose was already tightening on kidnappers in the state.

He said his administration has mapped out strategies to always be a step ahead of kidnappers revealed that security operatives have identified some hideouts of kidnappers in the state.

“We are working hard and putting measures in place to reduce kidnapping. We have some cases in Warri, Sapele and environ and since we stepped up strategies on crime control we are making a head way and the arrest made recently is concrete evidence of our success.”

He therefore appealed to Deltans not to rush to pay ransom but should promptly report all such kidnap cases to the police.

Lamenting that people rush to pay ransom because of the anxiety to seek the freedom of their relatives he assured Deltans that once such cases were reported security operatives would swing into action and release victims.

“I will continue to create a safe state and ensure the security of lives and property. Do not therefore rush to pay ransom.”

The governor promised to re enforce security at the various borders of the state to ensure that criminals do not use the state as a base.

The governor who was optimistic at winning the war against kidnappers in the state disclosed that he would provide the logistics required by security operatives to reduce crime drastically in the state.

Parleys Security Agencies, Vigilante Groups

Gov. Uduaghan flanked by headss of the SSS and Police in Delta state during a recent Security Council meeting

Earlier, as part of efforts to rid the state of criminal activities, Delta State governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan charged vigilante groups to assist security agencies in intelligence gathering.

In an interactive session with security operatives at Government House, Asaba, he explained that vigilante groups and communities are closer to the people and they can easily gather information on criminals living among them.

He noted that the interactive session was to brain storm on how to re-organize the vigilante group to make the body more effective and operate in synergy with the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) to achieve result.

The governor, who said his administration would assist the group with logistics and remuneration in order to help fight crime especially armed robbery and kidnapping in the state, observed that the state through its agenda of peace and security is at its best in handling security challenges.

“We have tried as a state to handle the security challenges we had in the past like inter-ethnic crisis but a new dimension has arisen, that is the issue of Kidnapping, we will continue to do our best to curb it but need the co-operation of everybody”.

Governor Uduaghan explained that in the last two weeks the issue of kidnapping and armed robbery  have reduced in the state because of the new strategies  mapped out to reduce crime just as he promised to provide security operatives in the state the needed logistics to ensure a crime free society. “This is why we have to re-organize the vigilante group”.

In a brief remark, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba thanked the governor for his support and promised to dissolve all vigilante groups that were not performing in their communities.

Aduba said security was the business of everybody adding that police cannot succeed without the support of the people.

He said the success recorded so far in arresting kidnapper by the police was as a result of information given to the police by the vigilante groups.

His words “Gone are the days when a person that have given information to security agencies will be implicated. The successes we have recorded so far in arresting kidnappers and armed robbers are from the information given us by the vigilante group”.

He assured Deltans that security agencies in the state would work together to make the state crime free saying I am not competing with anybody but will work with other security outfit to achieve success”.

News Reporter
Blank NEWS Online founding Editor-in-Chief and Publisher, Albert Eruorhe Ograka, is a Graduate of Mass Communication. He also holds a Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) in Journalism from the International Institute of Journalism (IIJ).

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