… Sets up committee on Ibadan explosion
By Egena Sunday Ode
The Federal Government has urged Nigerians not to be lured into making donations for the purpose of funding ransom for kidnappers as that would further embolden them.
Minister of Defence, Abubakar Badaru gave this admonition on Wednesday while fielding questions from newsmen at a briefing on the outcome of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting.
Recall that a former minister had offered to raise N50 million of the initial N60 million that the kidnappers had asked for as ransom, but the abductors went ahead to, not only jack up their demand to N100 million, but eventually killed the victims for whom the money was being raised.
According to Badaru, painful as it may seem, Nigerians should desist from paying ransom to kidnappers as doing so would be going against an existing law of the land that prohibits same.
Specifically, the Defence Minister advised Nigerians to avoid using public platforms to raise funds for ransom as that would suggest to the kidnappers that their nefarious activities had the endorsement of the public.
He said: “On crowdfunding, we all know there’s an existing law against payment of ransom. So, it is very sad for people to go over the internet, radio asking for donations to pay ransom. This will only worsen the situation, it will not help the situation at all as you have seen. Initially, they asked for N60 million and now because of this funding and I learnt somebody has raised N50 million already through friends and media, they jacked up the ransom.
“We believe we have to stop, as painful as it is, we have to stop responding to payment of ransom. If we stop, overtime the kidnapping will not be profitable and they will stop.
“It is not easy though but that is the law that we know. So we want to call on the people to manage the kidnapping situation intelligently and very quietly, because talking too much about it, most especially raising funds through the public media, is not productive at all and should be discontinued.”
The minister also disclosed that President Tinubu had summoned all service chiefs to a meeting on Tuesday and handed them a marching order to arrest the deteriorating security situation the FCT.
According to him, the abductions happened in the suburbs bordering Kaduna and Niger states as a result of military operations currently going on the North west and north central.
“The bandits are fleeing and they are getting shelters around these areas and the security agencies are working very hard to push them out, block the movement and finish this thing once and for all.
“The president has given us the marching order and all the support that we need and what the security agencies need to end this thing,” the minister explained.
On the explosion in Ibadan, Badaru said a committee had already been raised to investigate the incident with a view to determining whether the law on explosives had been broken.
There are suggestions that the explosion resulted from explosives being used by illegal miners in the area. Another account said it was caused by gas.
Badaru explained: “So our team is there trying to find out what is the course.
“We have seen that report but the council, to be proactive, has already set up a committee to look into how the control of explosives law is broken, if indeed there are explosives around the area where this incidents happened.
“That was why the committee was set to look at the laws, to see where the chain is broken and to see how it can be fixed. And firther more information if this is happening rampantly around the country.
“You all know that there’s strict law on the movement, storage and ownership of explosives and that is being monitored and if there’s any break down, we will find out and deal with it.”
