Abia state is Kidnap capital of the world-Guber candidate-By Chuks Ehirim    Newsdiaryonline  Mon March 14,2011

Abia State has been described as the kidnap capital of the World where human beings have become highly sought after commodity. Making this assertion on Sunday, was the Governorship candidate of the National Conscience Party[NCP], in the state, Rev. Ndukwe Obuba Ndukwe,who spoke during a media interactive session with reporters in Abuja.

According to Ndukwe who described himself as a political activist rather than politician,said ''Abia State today is the kidnap capital of the World where human beings have become commodilities''. He said that to put a stop to this disgracefull tag as leader of kidnappers, his government, if voted in during the April polls, will initiate what he calls  Abia ARMY, an acronym for Abia State Agency for Re-orientation and Mentoring of Youths.

He said that ''as strategic partner for developmental efforts, Abia State Youths would be factored comprehensively into the Economic Development Programme. We have interpreted the compositional data of the distributionof the Youth whichhas enabled us to plan an employment generation scheme by way of Mentoring and re-orientation programmes'' Political pundits have variously blamed the condemnably high rate of kidnapping in Abia and other states in the Southern parts of Nigeria,on the corresponding high rate of unemployment in these areas.

A Senatorial candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change[CPC], Navy Captain Jerry Ogbonna[rtd], once blamed the ban on the importation of second hand clothings as well as stock fish, by the Federal Government,for the increase in kidnapping activities in Aba area of the state.

The retired naval officer had posited in an interview with this reporter, that youths who were traders in Aba suffered terrible set back as a result of the ban and having found no other alternative means of livelyhood, resorted to kidnapping. Apart from curbing the incidence of kidnapping, Rev. Ndukwe said he would also tackle the twin problem  of unemployment in the state head-on, if he is voted in as the next Governor of the state. This he hopes to do through the creation of Abia State Social Security and Pension Administration Commission[ASPAC], which, according to him, is a critical aspect of developmental parameters. ''It was realized that the issueof social security and pension administration was key to socio- economic development and as such we shall establish the Abia State Social Security and Pension Commission which shall pay social security  and pension entiltlements as at when due'' , he said.

He added that ''under our leadership, Abia State will be the first state in Nigeria to introduce social security programme'' He said  his government would strenghten security in the state by abolishing the current security outfit  known by locals as BAKASI which he said has become a source of worry to most Abians.

 ''We are going to abolish BAKASI. We are going to procrbe the law that set it up because the way it operates is very barbaric. BAKASI people treat citizens of Abia as if they are animals. We want to rebrand it'', he said.

Ndukwe who complained that the campaign activities of his party[NCP], are being blacked out by media organizations owned by the Abia State Government,said that his is not campaign of calumny but that aimed at making the Abia electorates to have alternative from which to choose.

 ''We are restricted from selling our programmes to the electorates in the state,  through government-owned media. Ours is not a campaign of calumny but that aimed at pushing out programmes for the electorates tochoose from . Abia State has been raped by those who governed it in the last 12 years. What we have in Abia State today , is a mockery of what governance stands for'', he said.