Nigeria declares state of emergency in N. state over kidnapping
Xinhua, April 5, 2016 Adjust font size:
Nigerian police on Tuesday declared a state of emergency to stem rising cases of kidnapping in northern Kaduna state.
A special team of anti-kidnap squad has been formed to track and dislodge the criminal gangs, Zubairu Abubakar, state police spokesperson told Xinhua in Kaduna.
He said the declaration of the state of emergency was on the orders of the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase.
Several people in towns and villages have been kidnapped for ransom by criminals in the last three months across the 23 local government areas of the state.
In some of the recent high profile kidnapping cases, a Colonel in the Nigerian Army was reportedly killed by his abductors hours after he was held on March 25.
A former executive director of the state-run oil company Mansur Ahmed regained his freedom after he was abducted recently in Kaduna.
The spokesman said the police had made several arrests and commenced prosecution of some of the suspected kidnappers.
According to him, 13 suspects have been charged to court while 15 others are under investigation. Endit