By Oluwafemi Popoola
In the face of the alarming rise of insecurity and kidnapping in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and across the country, esteemed journalist and ‘Inside Sources’ host, Laolu Akande, has called on President Bola Tinubu to take decisive action and declare war against criminal acts that continue to plague the nation.
Akande also expressed sadness over the devastating explosion that occurred on Tuesday night in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital while condoled with the people.
He said, “I want to condole with the people of Ibadan, Oyo State which is where I come from. On the explosion that occurred earlier this week. We hope that this kind of situation will be avoided in the future. And we send our prayers to all the families and people involved,” Akande concluded.
Speaking as the host of his TV show on Channels TV, “Inside Sources,” on Friday, January 19, 2024, Akande, gave his ‘take’ in the “My Take” segment while addressing the state of the nation, with his charismatic charm, expressed deep concern for the safety and well-being of Nigerians, emphasizing the urgent need for a robust response regarding the acts of criminality that have been ravaging the entire country.
During the programme, Akande highlighted the recent surge in criminal activities, particularly in the nation’s capital and the seat of national government, Abuja, where there are reports of an increasing number of kidnappings, which have left families devastated and communities living in fear.
Akande firmly stated that it was time for President Tinubu to rise to the occasion and demonstrate strong leadership by declaring war against this menace.
He wondered how kidnappers would raid an entire community, kidnapped a whole family and kill their firstborn, as they felt the father kept late in paying the ransom demanded, saying, “We have gotten to the situation where people are now meeting the dastardly demands of criminals just so they can sustain their security. This sounds more like a jungle and this is not a jungle.”
“Here is my take for the week. In the FCT earlier recently, there is this story about kidnappers who went into an estate and abducted a family. They later released the father to go fend for ransom. But perhaps because they thought he was delaying, they killed the first daughter of the family. This is so heart-wrenching,” Akande lamented.
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For the rising cases of kidnapping and general insecurity, Akande said, “It turns out now that people are coming together online to crowdsource funding for the ransom. If this doesn’t break your heart, I don’t know what else will break your heart.”
“We have gotten to the situation where people are now meeting the dastardly demands of criminals just so they can sustain their security. This sounds more like a jungle and this is not a jungle,” Akande said.
He added, “The time has come to have a special intervention force to deal with this situation. Time has come to have a standard operating procedure where there will be a short response time from the security agencies.”
Akande, who also called for the effective funding of police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), charged the Inspector General of Police and NECDC Commandant to rise to the situation and everyone is involved in the security architecture of this country.
“Time has come to ensure by all means that there is effective funding of the Police and NSCDC especially to deal with what is becoming a troubling phenomenon in our country.”
Expressing his trust in the President, he said, “We trust and believe that Mr President and his aides, the Inspector General of the police and the Commandant General of NSCDC will rise to the situation and everyone that is involved in the security architecture of this country.”
“We cannot afford to have a situation where this kind of criminality is been encouraged by people who have no other choice but to raise ransome online,” Akande stated.
Reacting to the comments made the former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Pantami, where he was reported to have said he was frustrated that Nigerian security agencies are not using the National Identification Number (NIN) and Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) linkage policy to track terrorists in the country, Akande said, “the former minister for communication and digital economics, Prof Isa Pantami has actually claimed that security agencies are not using the technology that is linked to the NIN to track the criminals. How is this possible? He questioned.
“We hope the security agencies have an explanation for this kind of situation and we are trusting and believing the federal government that all of these sad stories will soon become a thing of the past,” Akande concluded.
