Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye
Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Ade Ipaye, has said kidnap cases are being exaggerated in the state.
Ipaye, at the May edition of his
ministry’s Monthly Press Briefing on Law and Order, on Thursday, said
“there is a need for caution, but no cause for alarm”.
The Attorney-General said residents of
the state had no reason to fear, as offenders were being arrested and
that some of the suspects were already being charged to court.
Ipaye said, “From investigations conducted so far, it is clear that the problem is considerably exaggerated.
“We’ve noted the increased reporting of
kidnap cases. We reviewed this yesterday (Wednesday) also at the State
Security Council meeting and we came to certain conclusions.
“I’m not saying there is no need for
caution, there is need for caution, we have not reached that stage where
everybody should be panicking about it.
“What we have found is that, in Lagos
State, they are being arrested, and the first of them, will come to
court in a matter of days and I will lead that prosecution myself.”
He encouraged relatives of victims to
report kidnap cases to the police early, while cautioning them against
paying ransom to the criminals.
He said, “We have seen indications that
some are in a hurry, so they quickly make the money available. But this
money is fuelling the crime.
According to Ipaye, the Legal Advisory
Unit in the Directorate of Public Prosecutions had “influx of files from
police in March and April 2013, totalling 243”.
He said out of the 243 files, 115 of
them had been fully resolved and advice issued while others were in
other stages of processing.
He said the state was as of Thursday,
prosecuting 291 cases of armed robbery and 158 cases of murder and 29
cases of manslaughter amongst other offences.
PUNCH
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