How police effected Falae’s release –Kolawole, spokesperson

FORCE Public Relations Officer (FPPO), Force Headquarters, Abuja, Mrs. Olabisi Kolawole, an As­sistant Commissioner of Police, has insisted that the family of the former secre­tary to the government of the federation, Chief Olu Falae, was communicating with the Police over his kidnap, but that when it came to paying ransom, the police were not aware. She said the Force was not in the know that the kidnappers demand­ed ransom.

She told Crime Watch Today in Abuja that “the Ni­geria Police is up to the task when it comes to kidnap­ping. The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Solo­mon Arase, with his wealth of experience and profes­sionalism, makes sure that Anti-Kidnap Squad in every state command is working tremendously by rescuing victims and the kidnappers arrested.

“The IGP with senior po­lice officers, including those from Ondo State Police Command combed nooks and crannies of the state be­fore Falae was released and taken to his residence. All through this period, the is­sue of ransom was not men­tioned and the family was si­lent. The IGP has, however, ordered officers and men to go after the kidnappers. I believe we will have a good result at the end of the day

“If you look at police state commands where we have similar incidents, where we have victims kidnapped, the police always rescue the vic­tims without paying any ran­som, yet we still arrest the suspects. If anybody is kid­napped, it is the duty of the victim’s family to report the case to the police and always update the police of every demand by the kidnappers and development until the victim is rescued.

“We have a case when somebody was kidnapped but the victim’s family re­fused to inform the police. They were communicating with the kidnappers and paid the ransom demanded by the kidnappers. Later police got to know that the family of the victim paid ransom to the kidnappers. The family of victim said it was better they paid the ransom than for the victim to die in the hands of kidnappers.

“How can police come in, in such a case after be­ing sidelined by the victim’s family? Policemen are not magicians. What police­men do in a kidnap case is to make sure that the victim is alive and rescued. Police will never encourage the family of the victim to pay ransom.”

Kolawole gave Anambra, Enugu, Imo, Lagos, Abia and Rivers states as classical examples where police res­cued kidnap victims: “These are where we have kidnapg cases and at the end of the day, police rescued the vic­tims. Police are concerned about how to rescue the vic­tim alive and no policeman will ask the victim’s family to pay ransom.

“The police in these state commands I have mentioned recorded successes of how police arrested kidnappers and rescued the victims. Some of the arrested sus­pects have been charged to court.”

She advised members of the public to always involve the police whenever their family member is involved in kidnapping: “It is the duty of police to tell the victim’s family what to do. Both the police and victim’s family should work together until the victim is rescued. If in the process the kidnappers demand a ransom, police will advise the victim’s fam­ily of what to do. We have several success cases to our credit. Members of the pub­lic should have confidence with the police.

“IGP Arase has ordered officers and men to go after the suspected kidnappers of Falae. I believe we will have a good result at the end of the day.”