During a recent interview on AIT, Senator Victor Umeh has exposed the alarming trend of prominent individuals acting as negotiators and financiers for criminal groups, particularly in the North West and other regions of Nigeria.
According to Umeh, “Like in Zamfara and other parts of the North West, kidnapping is the order of the day in parts of the South East and the South-South. People have turned kidnapping into a profitable business. When they kidnap, they demand ransom, and they are settled.
The lawmaker, while discussing the appearance of service chiefs before the House of Assembly. He highlighted the issue of kidnapping and its connection to high-profile figures.
Umeh stated that kidnapping has become a lucrative business, with criminals demanding ransoms and receiving settlements.
He further revealed that some prominent individuals have become intermediaries with bandits, a practice that the senator described as an aberration.
“Some prominent people have also become negotiators with bandits in the north-west, and we felt this was an aberration. What are you doing with bandits that makes you their negotiator and money receiver? These are the things we pointed out, and the security chiefs will deal with them. They are doing a lot of work distilling the different types of infractions that we have and the reasons for them.
You can watch the interview here
