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Okpebholo declares total war on crime, to set special court as police parade Kidnap suspects, others
Okpebholo declares total war on crime, to set special court as police parade Kidnap suspects, others
From Tony Osauzo and Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, yesterday, issued a stern warning to kidnappers, cultists, and criminal elements operating within the state, declaring that anyone involved in kidnapping will face the full weight of the law, including possible execution by hanging once a new legislation is enacted to set up special court to carry out speedy trial of suspects.
The governor gave the warning while inspecting some of the suspected kidnappers being paraded, including those that abducted a housewife at the Vegetable Market, off airport Road in Benin City by the Edo State Commissioner of Police, Monday Agbonika at the Police Command Headquarters in Benin.
“We are proposing a special court to try kidnappers and cultists so that in a matter of weeks, they will be done with it and I will hesitate to sign the death warrant of any convict and such person will be paraded so that the people will see them and this I will not have any regret about, please don’t take my simplicity for granted.
“And I will sign it, the execution by hanging. I will take you to the roundabout, that is Ring Road roundabout so that the whole Edo people will see you. And this, I will not have any regret about it”, Okpebholo said.
The governor praised the swift response of security agencies, revealing that the suspects were apprehended within 24 hours after he personally contacted the Commissioner of Police regarding a kidnapping incident in the state.
According to him, the Commissioner of Police, who was in Abuja at the time, immediately returned to Benin City to coordinate operations that led to the arrest of the suspects.
“Before you know it, within 24 hours, those guys had been caught,” he said while displaying money allegedly linked to the criminal operation.
Okpebholo disclosed that during the operation an exchange involving gunfire occurred, leading to the death of one suspect while another was arrested and two others are at large.
Commending the efforts of the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services (DSS), he dismissed claims that the government is not doing enough to combat insecurity.
“The police are working. The DSS are working. When people say the President is not doing anything, I wonder why they say so. The President is funding these agencies, and that is why we are getting results today,” he stated.
He maintained that kidnappers would find no safe haven in Edo State, noting that security forces have recorded significant successes in arresting criminal suspects across the state.
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