The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Wing has raised fresh alarm over the increasing rate of kidnapping of Igbo traders travelling to Kaduna State and other northern parts of the country in luxury buses, especially at night.
To this end, the Igbo youths have urged the Federal and Kaduna State Governments to stem the worsening security challenge on major roads in Kaduna State, adding that there is need for the authorities to restrategise on security within major roads and forest areas in northern states.
Addressing newsmen in Enugu on Sunday, the National Youth Leader of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Arthur Obiora, who decried the insecurity being faced by Nigerians especially Igbo traders commuting from the north to the east, noted that recently, kidnap gangs on roads in Kaduna State have made the popular long luxury buses (over 60 passengers) their main target.
Obiora further noted that despite the security men on the roads, the kidnap syndicate still operate free and successfully; thus, moving hundreds of people at a time from these buses to the bush and god-knows-where.
His words: “On Jan. 14, kidnappers in military camouflage uniforms within Kaduna-Kachi axis by NNPC Road forcefully stopped a fully loaded luxury bus belonging to Ezenwata Transport and they used the same bus to stop the ongoing luxury bus from GUO Transport and some other smaller vehicles.
“These passengers numbering over 120 people, who are mostly Igbo traders, were abducted and taken into the bush. The incident was reported to the police and the police know about it.
“The owner of the Ezenwata Transport luxury had to retrieve the luxury bus, which was coming from Kano to Onitsha and parked it at the nearest police station to the scene of the incident due to the personal belongings and goods of the traders still in that bus.
“But, till today, no one has heard any development concerning those incidents and a large number of the individuals abducted in that particular incident.
Another similar incident happened on Monday, Jan. 27; within the same NNPC road, a few kilometres away from the point of the former incident; kidnappers abducted passengers in three luxury buses and few small vehicles coming from Sokoto and heading to Onitsha.
This time around it was GUO Transport, Ezenwata Transport and Young Shall Grow Transport luxury buses that were under the Luxury Buses Owners Association.
This second abduction involved over 200 people mostly Igbo traders and as I speak to you, we have not heard anything about them also.
It is clear we cannot continue to forge ahead as a nation when some criminals are already deploying tactics to eliminate Igbo traders or inflict fear in our people in order to bring to an end to the age-long beneficial trade between northern traders and their counterparts from the East,’’ he said.
On the missing hundreds of people so far, Obiora said that it is high time that the security service chiefs were sacked, adding, “how can one explain that these abductors move hundreds of people at the same time without a security trace on them”
Either they have run out of ideas or they are incompetent or they are already compromised, and I cannot see a country where kidnappers abduct hundreds of people and move around freely within the same country. We are seriously confused on all that is currently happening in the country security-wise and we appeal for answers and solutions,’’ he concluded.