Enugu, Kogi Governments Should Collaborate To End Kidnapping — Scholar
To effectively eradicate kidnapping in Enugu-Ezike community through their recent invocation of their deities, the community should work in synergy with their counterparts from Kogi State.
THE WHISTLER reported that the community, on Tuesday, invoked their deities, numbering over forty, as well as their ancestors, against perpetrators of criminal activities in the hitherto tranquil community known for palm wine, tourism and herbal practices.
The community is located in Igboeze North Local Government Area of Enugu State.
According to the address presented during the event that held close to the council headquarters of Ogrute, the community invoked their deities to kill, among others, “Natives and non-natives that intentionally and physically kill innocent indigenes and non-indigenes both home and abroad; kidnappers or those partaking in planning to abduct indigenes and non-indigenes; those poisoning or sending bad charms to indigenes and non-indigenes both home and abroad”, all within the community’s territory.
Other areas are those conspiring or using calls to threaten anyone aimed at extorting money from indigenes and non-indigenes; those using guns or any weapon of threat to collect motorcycles or anything from anybody from Enugu-Ezike; those breaking people’s houses to steal or housing kidnapped victims; those sending someone to kill innocent indigenes and non-indigenes; those arresting or planning to arrest youths who surrendered for total peace; those stopping people from taking corpses from mortuaries, and those frustrating releasing innocent people from detention.
Dr Johnson Okpala, a scholar in African Traditional Religion, champions return to African culture to solve African perculiar problems.
He said, “I commend what the community has done. One wonders if governments are still functioning. The bushes where these kidnappers operate are known. Security operatives reportedly watch while they operate. So, the community is right to resort to self-help through their culture.
“But they should team up with their border communities of Ette and Ọgwụgwụ, both in Kogi State. What they have done won’t affect the criminal elements in Ette and Ọgwụgwụ. Meanwhile, motorists that are abducted in these communities are the same ones that pass through Enugu-Ezike through Kogi on their way to Abuja and other northern states.
“In fact, the real kidnapping base is at Ette and Ogwugwu. Enugu-Ezike is a transit point. However, it has its own internal insecurity challenges because many lives have been lost there, including mysterious killing of vigilante members. But unless Enugu-Ezike and Kogi border communities form a common front, the battle is not yet over.”
Our correspondent reports that a day after the community cast the spells against kidnappers, passengers bound to Abuja were kidnapped on the same axis.
