President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday said ransom payments would continue to prosper kidnapping.
He said: “The time has come to reverse, completely, the grim and heartbreaking incidents of kidnapping”.
Buhari, in a statement by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, urged the police and the military to go after kidnappers and bring them to justice.
He expressed “overwhelming joy” over the release of abducted schoolgirls of Zamfara State, saying “I join the families and people of Zamfara State in welcoming and celebrating the release of these traumatized female students.”
Buhari, who said he was excited that their ordeal came to a happy end without any incident, noted that “being held in captivity is an agonizing experience not only for the victims, but also their families and all of us.”
He called for greater vigilance by the people so that human intelligence could be collected early enough to nip the bandits’ plans in the bud, while celebrating the release of the students.
Meanwhile the Senate President Ahmad Lawan says kidnapping is now becoming an industry, urging the new service chiefs to take the fight to bandits and other criminals terrorizing Nigerians.
According to Dailytrust, Mr Lawal described a situation where bandits attack schools and kidnap hundreds of students as unacceptable.
He spoke during the confirmation of the nominations of Maj. Gen. Lucky lrabor as Chief of Defence Staff, Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru as Chief of Army Staff, Rear Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo as Chief of Naval Staff and Air Vice Marshal Isiaka O. Amao as Chief of Air Staff.
Lawan said: “A situation whereby a group of people will go to a school and take over 300 students away on motorcycles is not accepted.
“Kidnapping without a trace is not acceptable. Something has to be done because apparently, this is becoming an industry. Some people are benefiting from this and we’ve to unravel who these people are, and fight bandits and insurgents until we rescue our country.”