The Federal Government has issued a warning, stating that using social media to openly crowdfund in order to raise money for abduction victims is not only against the law but but counter productive.
Minister of Defence, Abubakar Badaru, gave the warning on Wednesday while answering questions from State House Correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The Minister’s remarks followed the most recent horrific abduction events that have occurred in the outskirts of Abuja. In these incidents, the abductors of seven residents have raised their demands for ransom from N60 million to N100 million per victim after concerned citizens began using the social media to crowdsourced to cover the initial demand.
Out of the 10 persons abducted, three of them have been killed as a result in delay of payment of the ransom by the families of the victims who were kidnapped from an estate in Sagwari Layout, Dutse, Abuja, on January 7, 2024.
The matter quickly took a different turn when the former minister of communications and digital economy, Isa Ali Pantami, declared his support for the crowdfunding initiative after an unidentified friend of his gave N50 million to help fulfil the ransom target.
This increased anxiety on the social media, with many expressing concern that the crowdfunding strategy would set precedent for similar cases in the future.
According to Badaru, while the incident is unfortunate, the crowdfunding strategy should be stopped as it emboldens the kidnappers and worsens the security situation.
Tension grips Bokkos as two killed in fresh Plateau attack
He explained that the recent upsurge of abductions in the suburbs of Abuja is because of the onslaught on kidnappers and bandits in the neighbouring North-central and Northwestern States.
Badaru who said President Bola Tinubu has given them matching orders to arrest the security situation, assured residents and all Nigerians that the security agencies are determined and working towards blocking off the criminals and ending their menace.
According to Badaru: “In FCT, these kidnappings happen around the suburbs, and around locations that are bordering Kaduna and Niger States. And this is as a result of the current operations going on in the northwest and some parts of northcentral.
“The bandits are fleeing and they are getting shelters around these areas and the security agencies are working very hard to push them out, block their movements and finish this thing once and for all.
“The president has given us the marching order and all the support that we need and what the security agencies need to end this thing.
“On crowd-funding, we all know there’s an existing law against payment of ransom. So, it is very sad for people to go over the internet, radio asking for donations to pay ransom. This will only worsen the situation, it will not help the situation at all as you have seen.
“Initially, they asked for N60 million and now because of this funding and I learnt somebody has raised N50 million already through friends and media, they jacked up the ransom.
“We believe we have to stop it, as painful as it is. We have to stop responding to payment of ransom. If we stop, over time, the kidnapping will not be profitable and they will stop.
“It is not easy though but that is the law that you are know. So we want to call on the people to manage the kidnapping situation intelligently and very quietly, because talking too much about it, most especially raising funds through the public media is not productive at all and should be discontinued.”
Comments