Kidnapped Isheri landlords are safe, police insist
Timely information crucial to tackling kidnapping, says Ambode
Speaker, Taraba State of Assembly, Abel Peter Diah
A driver attached to the speaker of Taraba State House of Assembly was yesterday stabbed with a knife by a kidnapper, who attempted to take away a daughter of the lawmaker at his house in Jalingo, the state capital.
According to one of the drivers attached to the speaker, who was in the house at the time of the incident, the kidnapper came with a lady, who stayed close to the gate of the house, which is located at the Legislative Quarters in Jalingo around 6:00a.m.
The driver said the kidnapper alerted his colleague that something was wrong with the vehicle that he was conveying Oga’s daughter to school.
“When he stopped and bent down to check, he came with a knife and stabbed him while the lady, who was standing beside the road headed to the car where the daughter was sitting.
“The driver struggled with him and when the little girl saw what was going on, she quickly opened the car door and ran into the house to alert the security men, who immediately responded and arrested the situation.”
As at the time of the report, the attacked driver was on admission at Jalingo Specialist Hospital while the police apprehended the attempted kidnapper and took him to Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Jalingo.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, David Minssal, confirmed the incident but said the command was still investigating it .
Meanwhile, as the kidnapped Isheri North Estate landlords spend their fifth day in captivity, the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 2 command, Lagos, Abdulmajid Ali yesterday reassured families and friends of the four victims that they were still safe.
Ali who spoke with The Guardian in his office at Onikan, Lagos, gave some insight into their findings and noted that the police was in full control of the situation.
According to the police boss, who supervises Ogun and Lagos commands: “We almost got a breakthrough on Tuesday, but we are not sleeping on the matter. I can assure you that the victims are still alive and they are safe.”
He urged residents to be security conscious within their environment.
“I would urge people to be more security conscious. Be watchful and always alert security personnel when you suspect any strange movement within your environment,” he advised.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, yesterday urged royal fathers, traditional chiefs, Community Development Associations (CDAs), market men and women and other stakeholders in communities across the state to cultivate the habit of timely reportage of suspicious movement around them to security agencies to nip in the bud any potential security threats in their neigbourhood.
The governor, who spoke through his representatives in 20 different locations during the ongoing commissioning of 114 roads newly constructed in all the 20 Local Councils and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the state, said there was great need for community leaders to assist security agencies to address the menace of cultism, kidnapping, and vandalism by providing timely information.
Speaking through the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Lola Akande at the commissioning of some of the newly built roads in Egbe-Idimu LCDA, Ambode said the 114 roads initiative was in fulfillment of the social pact he signed with the people during the electioneering and his inaugural speech of running a system in which the “greatest good shall reach the greater majority of the people.”
Source: theguardian