20100717
allafrica

Abuja And Okon Bassey in Uyo — President Goodluck Jonathan confirmed yesterday that security agencies have arrested one of the persons believed to have been involved in the abduction of four Lagos based journalists in Abia State on Sunday last week.



Jonathan, who made the disclosure on the arrest while speaking on the spate of kidnapping in the country during a banquet and town hall meeting organised by the state government in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, condemned the alleged involvement of community leaders and prominent persons in the kidnap business.

According to him, "Government will not hesitate to unleash the full force of the law against perpetrators and sponsors of the crime.

"I commend the security agencies that apprehended one of these criminals yesterday (Thursday)," he said. He uncovered government's plan to acquire modern ICT devices to track the whereabouts of abductors and their captives.

The four abducted journalists are Wahab Oba, Sylvester Okereke, Adolphus Okonkwo and Shola Oyeyepo. They were kidnapped along with their driver, Yekini Aziz, at Umuafor Ukwu, Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State, on Sunday on their way back to Lagos after an NUJ National Executive Council meeting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

The abductors, who initially demanded N250 million-ransom for their release, have reportedly reduced the huge sum to N30 million. The ransom has not been paid.

Showing great concern for the growing menace of kidnapping in the country, the president said the nation has allowed kidnapping to degenerate to an extremely embarrassing level, promising that the Federal Executive Council is set to deal with the matter squarely.

The president, who is in Akwa Ibom on two-day visit, stated: "We are looking into various options. We may also go to the National Assembly to review the laws relating to kidnapping.

"Government is not happy as sometimes, very important persons are involved," said Jonathan.

He also informed the gathering that internal security agencies are being strengthened and supported to enable them cope adequately with the menace.

"Violent crimes like the recent kidnapping in some parts of the country have no place in Nigeria which this administration is committed to building.

"Therefore, we will not hesitate to exert the full weight or force of the law against the perpetrators or the sponsors of the heinous crime no matter who may be involved.

"Some communities in the country have taken kidnapping as a trade. There are some well-placed persons in the society that are involved in the act," he warned.

On the electricity situation in the country, the president said he could not predict when steady power supply would be achieved in the country.However, he said if generation rises to at least 4,000 megawatts, power supply would improve.

"It is not good to make those promises again on when Nigeria will have steady power supply. Even if I were a native doctor, I cannot venture into that," the president said while responding to questions raised during the town hall meeting.

Continuing he said, "We cannot even say next year. What I can promise you is that we are taking it (power) very seriously everyday.

"We will continue to make progress. We will continue to improve until we get stable power supply for domestic and industrial use."

On the state of the nation's refineries, the president said government was no longer interested in building refineries, but would encourage the private sector to venture into the construction and ownership of new refining plants.

Jonathan said what was actually restricting the establishment of new refineries in the country was the pricing of petroleum products "which government would soon sort out for once."

The president acknowledged that one of the greatest problems the country contends with is lack of planning, pointing out that "we prepare our budget without proper planning and struggle to undertake many things with little resources."

He continued: "When the federal government sends a budget to the National Assembly, the members will try to put little things into it.

"This is the greatest problem we are having as a nation. We prepare our budget without proper planning. We struggle with little resources to do so many things, and this is one of the greatest problems that hinder project performance."

He appealed to members of the National Assembly to relate closely with respective departments of government in drawing up their budgets.

"I will use this opportunity to plead with them. If they are interested in any project, they should approach the ministry or department of government managing the project so that they can work together in planning the project."