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A’ Ibom plans anti-kidnapping law

By Chukwudi Akasike, Uyo

The Akwa Ibom Government has said that it will soon present an Anti-Abduction Bill to the state House of Assembly to curtail the spate of kidnapping in the state.

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The government explained that the effort was geared towards curbing the ugly trend, which had been upsetting the peaceful nature of the state.

Deputy Governor of the state, Mr. Patrick Ekpotu, who disclosed this in Uyo on Wednesday, pointed out that though the Joint Task Force had promised adequate security to expatriates, he lamented that the kidnappers had resorted to abducting their friends and relatives.

He noted that the situation was disturbing and vowed that those caught in the act of kidnapping would be treated like armed robbers.

According to him, the anti-kidnapping law will make life difficult for those who think kidnapping is a business, saying that the government target is to wipe out such crimes in the state.

Speaking on the issue of the rehabilitation of Bakassi returnees, Ekpotu noted that the state government was making serious arrangements to register all the affected persons.

He said the exercise would allow the government to know the exact number of returnees to be catered for.

He said, “It is very important that we register the returnees as this will help the government to ascertain the number of the displaced indigenes of Bakassi.

“We are doing this (registration of Bakassi returnees) because it may be difficult for us to know the amount needed to rehabilitate them if we do not get the exact number of returnees in the state.”

Ekpotu disclosed that the government had given some relief materials to the returnees and stated that more needed to be done to make them comfortable.

He urged the Federal Government to work out the possibility of establishing a permanent rehabilitation camp for the returnees as done in other states of the federation.