Some criminals who have continuously terrorized travelers on some expressways in Rivers State have revealed the original motive behind their activities.
Recall that for some months, reports of abductions have been continuous, and this has made road users become apprehensive of plying some routes in the country.
The kidnappers made the revelation to one of their victims, Mr. Happy who was abducted together with other nine passengers that were traveling to Rivers from Warri in a bus, last Thursday.
Happy stated that when they got to the hideout, their captors informed them that they started kindapping people because the Federal Government halted the amnesty programme which it began during the Umar Musa Yar’Adua/ Goodluck Jonathan regime.
At the time, the Federal government had an agreement to pay a N65,000 stipend to any bandit that gave up their arms. The programme ultimately helped to reduce the number of criminal activities in the region.
However, the criminals were said to have lamented that the current government canceled the programme and in a bid to make ends meet again, they had to resume the criminal act.
Narrating how it all went down, MR. Happy stated, “They came out of the bush and intercepted the bus. They were fully armed and directed every one of us into the bush and kept us there. While they were beating us, they said they kidnapped us because the federal and state government had stopped giving them the amnesty stipends that they received monthly. They said that is why they are kidnapping people and they said they would continue to kidnap people.”
According to Happy, the criminals further boasted that security agencies cannot stop them from carrying out the act.
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