The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has said kidnapping must be curtailed.
He spoke yesterday when he visited the home of Donu Kogbara, the kidnapped Vanguard columnist who was released on Saturday by her abductors.
Peterside, who was accompanied on the visit by three former commissioners and seven former elected local government chairmen in Rivers State, met the publisher of Vanguard, Mr. Sam Amuka.
He said he was at Kogbara’s Port Harcourt home to rejoice with her and her family on her release and safe return, thanking God for delivering the columnist from her captors.
The APC chieftain called for a more decisive approach towards tackling kidnapping, adding that security was essential to growth and must be taken seriously.
In a statement by his Special Assistant (Media), Sylvester Asoya, Peterside said: “Security is critical to development, therefore kidnapping and all forms of threat to society’s peaceful existence must be tackled head-on.
“For me, the starting point is the economy. We must rebuild our economy so as to pave way for employment opportunities for every idle hand, not just in the Niger Delta but in every part of the country.
“As a people and government, the security and wellbeing of our people should be the barometer for measuring our success. It is only when we have sufficiently addressed the issue of safety that we can confidently say that we are truly on course.
“For that reason, those in authority, particularly security agencies must redouble their efforts towards tackling crime and its perpetrators. This prevailing climate of fear in some parts of our country must cease.”
The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) yesterday described Kogbara’s release as a welcome development.
In a statement by its President, Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, MOSOP said Kogbara did not deserve the inhuman treatment from the kidnappers, who blindfolded her and kept her in solitary confinement and later handed her over to a fisherman on the high sea, who moved her in a canoe to the waterfront of Borikiri, Port Harcourt.
