Develop Kidnap Contingency Plans, Expert Tells Govt

A security expert, Dr Ona Ekhomu, has asked state governments to develop a kidnap contingency plan to manage all aspects of mass abduction of school students. In a statement in Lagos on Wednesday, Ekhomu, who is the National President of Industrial Security and Safety Operators of Nigeria, condemned the handling of the abduction of the 39 students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Kaduna State, saying government officials were not sensitive to the psychological and emotional stress the victims’ parents underwent during the 57 day captivity. Ekhomu said since school abductions had become frequent, the government should create Crisis Management Teams(CMT) to respond to abductions or other critical incidents. According to him, the CMT will provide logistical, practical and emotional assistance to families of kidnap victims. “This could be in the form of transportation, communication, housing, financial, etc. The CMT would provide authoritative information about efforts to rescue the hostages and help with productive negotiations with the bandits. The CMT could also provide psychological counseling and medical monitoring for victims’ families.” Ekhomu said the CMT would also provide post captivity support for victims, many of whom could be traumatised, sick, injured and emotionally scarred for life.