Ozekhome made the call on
Thursday while recounting his ordeal to newsmen at his residence in
Lagos, after he was released by his abductors on Thursday morning.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ozekhome was abducted on Aug.23 at Ehor near Benin City in Edo.
Ozekhome said his son,
Ilugbeka, and a lawyer in his chambers, Mr Dominic Ezerioha, were also
abducted by the same kidnappers on Sept. 6, while negotiating for his
release.
According to him, the kidnappers eventually released him and 12 others about 7 a.m. on Thursday.
The lawyer, however, said he was not aware if any ransom was paid to secure their freedom.
He said the security situation in the country was a national calamity which demanded urgent attention.
Ozekhome described his abductors as ”angry and desperate well-read graduates” who had a network of cells across the country.
He said during his interactions with them, they told him that they were pushed into kidnapping due to unemployment and poverty.
The human rights lawyer said he
fell sick twice during his three-week ordeal, adding that his abductors
brought a doctor who treated him for malaria and typhoid.
“As a matter of extreme
urgency, I want the Federal Government to immediately grant amnesty to
all kidnappers and institute an amnesty programme for all kidnappers.
“They told me that if they are given assurance that they will not be killed, they are ready to agree to the deal.”
He urged the government to declare a national state of emergency on youth unemployment and infrastructure decay.
Ozekhome appealed to the
government not to neglect the families of the four policemen who were
killed while trying to rescue him from his abductors.
“It was this morning that I was briefed that those gallant officers died while trying to rescue us from our abductors.
”Let me hereby call upon the
Federal Government to set up a special foundation to cater for the
welfare of the wives and children of these officers.”
He also urged the National Assembly to allow for state police in the ongoing amendment of the 1999 Constitution.
Ozekhome also called for the convocation of a national conference to address some of the problems bedevilling the country.
“As Nigerians, we need to sit down and renegotiate our existence as a country.
“We need to practice true federalism. We need to retool Nigeria.”
Ozekhome said the government should also tackle the problem of corruption in the country.
The human rights activist,
while thanking Nigerians for their concern during his ordeal, debunked
insinuations that his abduction was politically motivated.
“We were never profiled or targeted. It could have happened to anybody,” he said
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Thank God you ve been released sir. Nigerian youths must be given priority now. Emeka
ReplyDeleteEverything govt how many people have you help on your own personaly most of you are just storing money like bags of gari and u can not carry all the money to heaven....as an individual if we can be helping our brothers this poverty we reduce but we all depend on govt is too bad in naija
ReplyDeleteHow many people have you help personaly as a SAN everytin govt most of you will just be storing money like bags of rice most of u can not even dash out 20 naira talkless of giving scholarship until we started to be practicing such act i mean helping each other this country can good if we depend only on Gov we are joking......most of all this kignaper guys no amount of work u can offer them that can earn them big money like that kinaping work...which salary they want to colect that they see 1M in 2 month to three months
ReplyDeleteAm a mother with 2 unemployed graduates and my prayer every day is that they do not chose to be evil. But d country gets tougher. Govt won't provide jobs, won't allow d masses peace! For heaven's sake what value does d new driving licence and d new vehicle licence add to our life. It is not possible to log in on line. This legalised corruption of civil servants and workers of Govt is d main problem. The rich getting richer and d poor getting poorer. Dear Lord Jesus, pls let d wealth of this nation and other nations flow to us all in Jesus name Ameeen!!!
ReplyDeleteYess I believe granting amnesty to these kidnapers, will definitly solve the problem of kidnaping in the country. We ve money in this country but some greedy politicians and leaders just want all 4 themselves, forgeting the young and old graduates who suffer and struggle to go to school only to finally graduate with no job. Its frustrating, and u know what frustration can do to the mind. Pls FG should do something 4 the youths of this country. At least they can be paying every citizen in Nigeria certain amount of money monthly. They can do it cos Nigeria is blessed.
ReplyDeletePls anon 5:54am if u don't know how to comment, just shut ur trap. From ur comment, I think u are a born crimina. If u enjoy stealin, most ppl don't. What's wrong with govt helping the youths or masses? That's y they are there so they should make good use of the office and power to help the ppl cos the ppl voted them into most of those offices.
ReplyDeleteThe SAN is sufFering from Stocholm syndrome, else he would not have mde these appeals.
ReplyDeleteIt is a shame that amnesty has become common language for criminals, someone kidnapes you, you come and say amnesty. boko haram kills innocent people, we say amnesty. All of us who have no jobs and are leaving from hand to mouth should go out and commit crime. Anarchy ! Anarchy ! Is coming o o o!
ReplyDeleteGood talk my bros. Any difficult situation that comes out now,all people suggest as solution is amnesty. As far as I'm concerned, that's weakness. If we can no longer run this country why not divide into smaller governable units or better still call for re-colonisation.
DeleteStockholm syndrome, or capture–bonding,
ReplyDeleteis a psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward their captors, sometimes to the point of defending them. These feelings are generally considered irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims, who essentially mistake a lack of abuse from their captors for an act of kindness.[1][2] The FBI's Hostage Barricade Database System shows that roughly 27% of victims show evidence of Stockholm syndrome.[3]
Stockholm syndrome can be seen as a form of traumatic bonding, which does not necessarily require a hostage scenario, but which describes “strong emotional ties that develop between two persons where one person intermittently harasses, beats, threatens, abuses, or intimidates the other.”[4] One commonly used hypothesis to explain the effect of Stockholm syndrome is based on Freudian theory. It suggests that the bonding is the individual’s response to trauma in becoming a victim. Identifying with the aggressor is one way that the ego defends itself. When a victim believes the same values as the aggressor, they cease to be a threat.[5]
mumu 7:55 stay there dey look until govt go give you job....u go routy for house....u dont know the meaning of entrepreneur waite for govt.....mumu na this kind of people we go rub u go say bcs govt no provide job thats why u dey rub.....
ReplyDelete