Ogun State governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun has declared that his administration would deploy all tactics available in its arsenal to flush out criminals, particularly kidnappers out of the state.
Abiodun made the declaration yesterday when he received in his office, officers and men of the State Police Command who rescued a Nigerian and three Indian nationals kidnapped at Ilisan Remo, along the Sagamu-Ore-Benin Expressway last week.
Emphasising that Ogun State is “a no-go area” for criminally minded persons, the governor said that the death of the criminals involved in the kidnapping of the Nigerian and Indian nationals last week is a clear signal that his state was just beginning the war against crimes and criminalities.
Acknowledging the gallantry displayed by the police operatives at rescuing the kidnapped victims, the governor disclosed that his administration has put in place measures that would make the state too hot for criminals to operate.
“Sometimes last week, it was reported that over 20 people were kidnapped in this particular instance that we are describing. Of course, the police immediately clarified that it was only four and not 20 as widely circulated and sensationalized.
“A few days afterwards, through various creative and ingenious means, men of the State Police Command were able to bring the kidnappers to book. In the course of tracking and arresting, all of them were neutralized.
“I want to sound a note of warning to criminals that Ogun State is a no-go area. I want to assure them that we are just beginning, and this is a sample of what the State Police Command has in stock for criminals.
“If you test our will, we will come after you, we will smoke you out, we will find you, and we will neutralize you.”
Commending the state Police Command for the string of successes recorded since the beginning of this year, Abiodun noted that their performance would give investors and residents, the confidence needed to live and invest in the state.
“As the industrial capital of Nigeria, we take serious offence at any attempt to breach the peace and security that we enjoy as a state. To this extent, we have continued to give the needed support to all our law enforcement architecture, appreciating the fact that any disruption of peace will affect the investors’ confidence and the ease of doing business in our state.
“I am glad that our support for the police is manifesting in different ways positively. I want to thank the Commissioner of Police for doing a very good job by motivating his men, very good job at collaborating and cooperating with all other law enforcement agencies in the State, including the Department of State Service (DSS), the Army and all others,” he added.
Earlier, the commissioner of police, Abiodun Alamutu, narrated that operatives of the command’s Anti-kidnapping Squad, under the command of an officer who was recently transfer to the state from Oyo State, experienced a fierce gun battle with the kidnapping gang.
Alamutu said items recovered from the scene of the crime include five AK-47 rifles, 109 rounds of 7.62mm ammunitions, eight AK 47 magazines, and two cell phones.
