#TrackNigeria: Mr Celestine Ezema, a retired Police Officer, has urged Nigerians to give maximum cooperation to security agencies in the country in order to end Boko Haram, armed robbery, banditry, kidnappings and other violent crimes.
Ezema, who retired as a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) said in Nsukka on Friday that security agencies work with relevant information to enable them to fight crime and arrest perpetrators.
“Security agents are not spirits to know what happen everywhere but relivant information and tips help them to fight crime and make arrests.
“I believe the increase in insecurity in the country is because people in the affected areas are not providing adequate information to security agencies, like in the North East where Boko Haram insurgents operate.
“Some of the residents live in the same place with these criminals but they will not inform security agencies,” he said.
He said the worst part of it was that some residents provided information to the hoodlums on any plan by security agencies to raid their hideouts.
He said that was why the criminals equipped themselves to confront security agencies during such raids.
“All these uncooperative attitude of some Nigerians constitute a setback in efforts of security agencies to end insecurity in the country.
“To end insecurity all hands must be on deck and every Nigerian must see security as everybody’s business and not business for security agencies alone,” he said.
Ezema said while kidnapping had become a hot cake for criminals was the willingness of many Nigerians to pay ransom as soon as their parents, children, family members or relations were kidnapped.
He posited that many did such against the advice of police not to do so.
“It’s worrisome that when somebody is kidnapped even before the matter is reported to police the family members of the person involved have started negotiating with abductors on millions of naria to be paid as ransom.
“This is why as soon as these hoodlums kidnapped anybody their first phone call to family of the victim would be demanding millions of naria to be paid as ransom.
“If people will obey the advice of police not to pay ransom to kidnappers, very soon kidnapping will stop since it will no longer be a lucrative business to criminals.
“If kidnapping is no longer lucrative business because people are no longer paying ransom these criminals will look for legitimate work to do to earn a living,” he said (NAN)
