Why security agents negotiate with terrorists, kidnappers for release of hostages – IGP

The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, on Thursday explained why security agencies sometimes negotiate with terrorists to secure the release of hostages in the country.

Alkali spoke during a media briefing coordinated by the Presidential Media Team in Abuja.

Alkali’s position was at variance with the Amended Terrorism Act (2013) recently passed by the National Assembly.

The Act which prohibited the payment of ransoms to kidnappers was meant to complement the effort of the Federal Government in the fight against terrorism in the country.

However, Alkali insisted that the fight against terrorism and kidnapping required a multilayered approach and must be handled carefully.

Read also:IGP releases emergency numbers, puts combatant officers on standby over terror alert

He said: “You see, the issue of kidnapping is an issue that borders almost all the security agents, including the military, it is a crime that once it is committed, you have to thread very softly and with all sense of professionalism.

“If you do not rescue the person, safely, unhurt, you have not achieved anything and once somebody is in the captivity of an armed person, then you need to do a lot of things, it is not all about guns and other things.

“There are a lot of other things that can be done. We were able to rescue the whole of Forestry students in Kaduna through negotiation. We were able to rescue many others, which I can give you an example, for those that we are in contact with, there are things that we are doing, it is a new crime and requires new ways of approaching it and new ways of dousing it.

“Clearly it is under study. For instance, the issue of training negotiators and so forth were not an issue before, but now we are looking into it and we are putting our personnel to undergo such training and courses. So, we will not say hope is lost. We are still on it.”

By Abdulkabeer Ambali

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