Stop paying ransom to kidnappers, Lagos CP tells Nigerians

Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fayode Adegoke, has urged Nigerians to stop paying ransom to kidnappers.

The commissioner said the payment of ransom to kidnappers by families of those kidnapped should be stopped, noting that “it is not acceptable. The payment of ransom is making the nefarious business of kidnapping thrive.”

He said this while speaking on TVC’s Your View programme on Wednesday.

Recently, the state’s Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Philip Aiypii, alongside some other party chieftains was abducted by some yet-to-identified gunmen along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

Also, in December 2023, the family of a 13-year-old schoolgirl, Miracle Adereti, called on the police to locate the whereabouts of their daughter, who was kidnapped by an unknown gang in the Ikotun area of Lagos State.

In mid-December, 2023, a popular car dealer known as Ejike Conversion was reported to have been abducted in the Ladipo Spare Parts Market.

However, speaking on payment of ransom, the Lagos CP said, “The issue of ransom is not good. People should stop paying ransom. It is not acceptable. And it is because ransom is being paid, that is why kidnappers are becoming emboldened.”

When asked about recent kidnap cases in the state and how kidnap cases can be reported, Adegoke stated, “I don’t want to believe all these stories of kidnapping because the one in Gbagada, the one in Ago Okota, were not reported. The only case of kidnap we got was the one in Idimu and we have taken necessary action. They are coming from neighbouring states and we have taken care of that.”

PUNCH