The House of Representatives has called on the Federal government to urgently curb the rapidly escalating kidnapping and insurgency-related activities in Pankshin, Kanke and Kanam Local Government areas of Plateau state.
Consequently, the House directed the Inspector General of the Nigeria Police Force, Kayode Egbetokun, to swiftly deploy the specialist anti-kidnapping squad to the Kanam Local Government Area of Plateau State to immediately begin targeted operations to gather intelligence on the kidnappers and their networks and to dislodge them from the area.
It also asked the Chief of Defence Staff to organise a military presence in the Kanam Local Government Area and its environs as well as other kidnapping hotspots in the country and engage counter-insurgency methods to target these kidnapping networks, especially during this yuletide season to prevent many families across the country from experiencing a dark Christmas.
These resolutions followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance moved by Hon. Yusuf Adamu Gagdi (APC, Plateau) at plenary on Tuesday.
Moving the motion, Gagdi lamented the unfortunate reoccurrence of kidnapping activities in Pankshin, Kanke and particularly Kanam Local Government Area of Plateau State, perpetuated by unknown persons who have recently made the area the focal point of their nefarious activities.
He said since August, unprecedented cases of kidnapping for ransom have victimised various communities in Kanam Local Government Area of Plateau State.
“Many prominent personalities in the area, as well as ordinary citizens, have been victims, including some who were killed even after they and their families had paid significant sums as ransom to secure their freedom.
“Concerned that just in the last three weeks, over thirty people have been kidnapped in the area, with dire implications on rural economic activities and the prospects for sustenance and prosperity. The demand for exorbitant ransoms demanded by these kidnappers has financially devastated many families in the area.
“At the same time, both victims of these kidnappings and their families continue to suffer from the emotional and psychological trauma brought on by their unfortunate and painful experiences,” Gagdi said.
He said that due to the recent increase in mining activities in Kanam and its environs, the area has become attractive to prospectors, traders, and business people of all stripes.
“Regrettably, the increase in commercial activities due to mining has also attracted criminal elements from across the country seeking to exploit the people who live in those areas and those who pass through those areas for one reason or another.
“The Kanam area of Plateau State is home to a large forest reserve area that is quickly becoming a haven and hiding place for these criminal elements to operate from. Particularly, those bandits and Boko haram are displayed in Zamfara, Kebbi, Borno, Yobe, and other northeastern and northeastern states of Nigeria.
“Unless urgent and coordinated action by the security agencies is taken now to curb this escalating menace, Kanam Local Government Area of Plateau State and its environs may shortly become a new and intractable front in our nation’s ongoing fight against insecurity manifested by acts of insurgency, kidnapping and assorted criminal activities,” the chairman House committee on Navy added.
The House, upon the motion’s adoption, urged security agencies and specialised military units to undertake a joint intelligence-led effort to comb the forest reserve areas in the Panksin, Kanke, Kanam, Wase, and Taraba axis to dislodge the camps and premises of these bad actors before they become entrenched and more formidable.
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