A traditional ruler from Adamawa State, the Sarkin Tilijo Michika, under Mubi Emirate, Sarkin Suleiman Ibrahim Ahijo has revealed that his saving grace was that he disguised himself while travelling from North East to the Federal Capital, Abuja.
The traditional ruler who said he had the blessing of HRH, Sir Isa Ahmadu, the Emir of Mubi Emirate Council and his District head, HRH Zira Audu Marye to speak, disclosed at a Security Dialogue Stakeholder Session on Community-based Solutions to Addressing Kidnapping on Wednesday
The dialogue is organized by the Nigerian Government, through the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), and Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), working in collaboration with the UK National Crime Agency (NCA) via Decy-4 Technologies Limited, to create and implement a communications strategy on Anti-kidnapping in the country.
Sarkin Sulaiman said, “I want to thank Almighty Allah for saving me from kidnappers after spending two days with them when I was kidnapped.
“if not for God how will I have
being here celebrating my birthday which happened to be today, having been a victim of kidnappers. So I find it necessary to say a little about my experience and the security challenges we have in the Country.
“I was kidnapped in North Central between Kaduna and Nasarawa on my way to Abuja from Adamawa. There were so many of us who were kidnapped and we were divided into groups and priced as a commodity depending on our appearance, the clothes you are putting on and the gadgets you have, such as Phones that we were holding.
“The group that took me said I should call my family to bring ransom of N20 million. Luckily, I disguised during the journey and didn’t wear my traditional regalia. I told them I was a driver to one of the vehicles, and also a boy to the main driver. I told them I am the one responsible for my family and that apart from driving, I am also a painter”.
“They said if I don’t do what they ask me to do they will deal with me. I then told them that if they wanted to kill me, they use a gun to shoot me to make it fast instead of using a knife which would be painful and take time to die. They then asked if I was the one to tell them how to kill me”.
“They named me Baba Painter and after some time they reduced my ransom to N10 million. It is really good to disguise when travelling. I told them my family could not get that kind of money and that I could try for N1 million. When I called my people about the situation, they made a mistake and sent it without delay. The kidnappers now said, no way, my family have money, that I must bring another N1 million. Eventually, I got another N200,000 before I was freed from captivity.
“Today, as we speak, in Isa LGA Sokoto State farmers can’t access their farms without paying dues to criminals. Today in Dansadau (Zamfara) you can’t celebrate the naming ceremony of a newborn without approval from criminals.
Today Traditional rulers are targets of criminals.
“But as traditional leaders, we are supposed to be the closest to the Government and the Nigerian People. However, we have been dumped aside. It is agreed that we play very critical roles in our communities. We settle cases and other issues.
“In every community, I can tell you that we settle between 850 and 890 Disputes monthly. We are coordinators of Customary law. We are organizers of communal labours, festivals and Promoters of socio-economic activities
“However, we are constitutionally handicapped. No constitutional responsibilities (power), No salaries. 89% of traditional rulers are volunteers (Ward Heads), without salaries. We also suffer intimidation from the political class (even when they know they are wrong)
On the ways by which kidnapping menace can be brought to a stop, Sarkin Sulaiman said, “There should be a law enabling the creation of traditional institution as the fourth arm of Government.
“The law should ensure the merging of the traditional institution with the Judiciary with the return of customary and area Courts under traditional institution.
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Also, there should be a salary review and enhancement for traditional rulers because everybody in the community comes to the traditional leader for food, sickness, and every problem.
Furthermore, “All vigilante and hunters groups should be made to work only in particular areas and under the supervision of a ward head (its original concept) for monitoring and supervision to ensure they don’t deviate into something else
He said, this way, “All uncultivated land will be managed in a manner where criminals cannot use such spaces for hideouts and kidnapping.
“Traditional leaders should also be allowed to ask questions about any suspected persons or movement within their community
” There should be open communication lines with other security agencies to properly. This will lead to reducing the gap between urban and rural communities (in terms of
people orientation to ensure an awareness).
Emphasizing that an” institution that settles 85% of disputes cannot be said to be asking of too much in terms of remuneration, Sarkin Sulaiman said, “Therefore I would like the traditional leaders here to appreciate Gombe
State Governor Muhammed Inuwa Yahya for reviewing the salaries of traditional Leaders.
“He increased salaries for Ward Heads to Level 4, Village Heads to Level 8 and District Heads to Level 12, after understanding the selfless services of the traditional institution which he said is true as the traditional leaders do not only farm for their family but for
their communities. Hence there is hardly any such thing as banditry and kidnapping in that area.
Other stakeholders that participated in the dialogue as part of the strategy of engaging across several sectors to understand the root causes of kidnapping and to provide sustainable solutions which will support the efforts of security agencies and policymakers were the media, academia and CSOs.