By Our reporters
Officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS , and Border patrol appear to have tightened up security at Seme/Krake Joint Border between Nigerian and Republic of Benin, a neighbouring country in the West African sub-region and other Communities, across the country to checkmate the activities of cross –Border human traffickers and kidnappers. This is because of the activities of Cross –Border human traffickers and kidnappers
A visitor to the Seme/Krake Joint Border and idiroko in Ogun state recently would be surprised at the large array of NIS, Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, and the police on the road. The NIS and the other security agencies operatives have every to populate these major Border routes in the south west, geo-political region to curtail the activities of these criminal elements operating along the Abidjan corridor. The most worrisome is the Idiroko axis in Ogun state, which, going by NIS records, has over 80 unapproved routes that are used by these Criminal elements to carry out their nefarious activities and still escape unhurt.
The tight security at Seme Border, according to a security source, may not be unconnected to a recent security meeting following a signal from the Ghanaian Immigration Authority of an alleged Kidnap case involving a Nigerian in their country. The Seme Heads of security agencies were said to have joined their Colleagues in other land Border areas across the country to embark on a manhunt for an suspected kidnappers of Ghanaian three girls who had gone into hiding with the girls.
The suspected Nigerian kidnapper was said to have kidnapped three girls demanding millions of GhC from their families to facilitate their release. Going by the exchange rate at the nation’s parallel market, a GhC, exchanges for N100.00. The Ghanian police were said to have started the manhunt for thee criminal by mounting road blocks at strategic locations in the when information filtered out about the kidnap incident.
They were said to have equally sent out mesaages to other countries in the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, member countries, including Nigeria, to be on the alert to arrest the alleged kidnapper in order to rescue the girls. The Ghanaian Immigration and police message may have encouraged Muhammed Uba Garba, in his Capacity as Chairman, of the inter-agency security Committee at the Seme Border to rally round the Heads of the other security agencies at the Border to rub minds to ensure that the alleged kidnapper was did not beat the tight security in the area.
The Seme Customs Comptroller’s effort may have paid off as the Cross- Border Kidnapper may have found the Seme route a n go area, thus, forcing him to change direction in order to enter into Nigeria. He got it wrong as the news about him and the three kidnapped Ghanaian girls have gone viral in the social media.
He may have played into the hand of the police at an undisclosed location in the country through his telephone Conversations with suspected friends. The call was said to have been diverted into a wrong number as was usual with the service of the net providers in the country which may have exposed his deals. The alleged curious friends may have suspected something fishy prompting them to post his picture and that of the girls on the social media in order to help the security operatives from Ghana and the ECOWAS countries to track him and rescue the girls .
The Value News learnt that he may have opened up a channel of negotiation with the family of the kidnapped girls from his undisclosed hideout . Unconfirmed report disclosed that he had he revealed his name to the so called friends as ’’ Buba Muhammad’’ , a Fulani Herdsman from Nigeria. He may have claimed to be a fulani Herdsman , from Nigeria, because of the recent kidnap cases that had had been linked to the group in the country.
Indeed, the recent attempted kidnap and killing of Mrs. Funke Olakunri, the daughter of Reuben Fasoranti,, the leader of the Yoruba socio-cultural Organisation, Afenifere ,which many believe had heated up the polity linked to the Fulani Herdsmen in the south west geo-political region may have encouraged t him to claim to be a Fulani herdsman as well.
Note that President Muhammadu Buhari who was rattled by the kidnap cases and killings linked to the Herdsmen, recently met behind closed door with the Service Chiefs including Mohammed Adamu, the Inspector General of Police, IGP, at the Presiendential Villa to rub minds on the security situation of the country and how to curb the activities of the Criminal elements.
The Service Chiefs were said to have briefed the President on their effort to bring the situation under control. The meeting may have prompted Adamu, the IGP and his men to go back to the drawing board to fine-tune their security strategies to stop the criminality in the country, particular, the activities of the kidnappers.
was not surprising why the Nigerian Police had used the pictures of the alleged Fulani Herdsman kidnapper and the three kidnapped Ghanaian girls which had gone viral in the social media to Collaborate with their Ghanaian counterpart to trail him in the country.
The suspected kidnapper may have gone wild and ready to kill the girls when information filtered out that Immigration officials and other security agencies personnel from Ghana and Nigeria , have intensified their manhunt for him forcing to have at the back of his mind that thegame was over.
Aware that his plans to use the three kidnapped girls as a bait to extort money from their Ghanaian parents had failed, he was said to have killed the girls, who were in his Custody before the police could swoop on him in his hideout.
Security analysts believe that he may have desperately killed the girls to facilitate his escape. Unknown to him the Ghanaian and the Nigerian police, Immigration and Customs personnel have been strategically positioned at strategic locations at the Border armed with their pictures for easy identification.
A s a t press time, it could not be ascertained whether it was the Ghanaian police or the Nigerian police that arrested the kidnapper and at what location. Insiders informed the Magazine that when he was taken into the police Custody and Immigration officials invited to interrogate him to ascertain that he was actually a Fulani Herdsman, he could not speak the fulbe, language, the official language of the Fulani tribe all over the world.
The only word of fulbe, he could volunteer, according to security sources was that he knew Fulani town of Jos, plateau state, an indication that he may not have been a Fulani herdsman as he had made people including his police captors and interrogators to believe.
This may have informed the reason why thePolice and the Immigration officials had to take a closer look at his international Passport with registration number, A01091647 which was said to have been seized from him Immigration. The Immigration officials were said to have found that his real name was Samuel Udoetuk, a Nigerian , born on May 1988, in Port Harcourt ,Rivers state.The Nigerian International Passport which he was said to have been , carrying about to carry out his dirty businesses was issued to him in May. 2009 but expired at May, 2014.
The arrest of the alleged Ghanaian girls kidnapper, may have emboldened security agencies personnel , particular, the police and the NIS Border Patrol officials, across the nation’s land Borders to always take a second look at strangers found with kids coming into the country either for a business deal, visit or holidays.
Eyewitness account disclosed that travellers from other member countries of the ECOWAS, who could not properly identify themselves or their business in Nigeria , had been taken to NIS Border Patrol or police station at any Border location for interrogation or forced to return back to their country.
Mohammad Bandede, the Comptroller General, NIS, was said to have mandated the officers at the nation’s land Borders to be more alert to their duties to ensure that the activities of these Cross-Border human traffickers and kidnappers which is giving Nigeria bad name in the comity of nations were stopped.
Abdulrahman Dambazou, a retired Army Lt. General and former Chief of Army Staff, CAS, ANDminister of Interior was said to have been much concerned about the activities of these Cross-Border human traffickers and kidnappers that he gave a marching order to NIS operatives at the Borders to sit up or be fired. But that was how far he could go, before he was dropped by the Katsina state born Nigerian President in this his second term in office.
Security analysts have opined that the arrest of the fake Mohammed , an alleged Fulani, herdsman, was a clear indication that there is no trick these fraudsters would employ to carry out their criminal activities in the country that would not be nipped in the bud by the police and other security agencies operatratives at the nation’s borders.
