Demolition of kidnappers’ houses in Anambra

The Anambra State Government, in fur­therance of its battle against kidnap­pers, recently demolished houses be­longing to some kidnappers in the state. This unconventional treatment of the property of kidnappers in Anambra is, undoubtedly, a response to the spate of kidnapping incidents in the state, which made its former governor, Chief Peter Obi, present a bill to the State House of Assembly, seeking more stringent sanctions against kidnappers, in 2010. The bill, which was eventually passed into law, allows the state gov­ernment to confiscate, destroy and put houses belonging to kidnappers and their sponsors to other uses.
Since the law came into effect, a number of houses belonging to kidnappers have been re­duced to rubble by bulldozers. Two buildings were pulled down at Oraifite in Ekwusigo Local Government Area, where a large cache of arms was uncovered by the police, while a church and three other buildings were demolished in Awkuzu, Oyi Local Government Area, over links to kidnappers. Recently, too, three build­ings were pulled down in Aguleri, where the suspects confessed that they had collected N295 million in three kidnap operations.
The state government, since the anti-kidnap­ping law came into effect, has left no one in doubt of its resolve to implement its provisions to the letter, to rid the state of kidnappers. A Joint Task Force (JTF) comprising agents from the security agencies in the country, codenamed Operation Kpochapu (Operation wipe out), has been set up to confront kidnappers and other criminals in the state. Governor Willie Obiano, during the celebration of his 100 days in office, in June, revealed that 177 kidnappers had been arrested, while 97 are facing prosecution.
Kidnapping of human beings for ransom is, indeed, a heinous crime that requires whatever methods considered to be effective and legal to confront it. It is an offence that should not be tolerated for any reason in any society, and we cannot but agree with the view of the authori­ties in the state that kidnappers should not be allowed to enjoy the proceeds of their crime. Allowing kidnappers to live large among their people with the gains of this criminal activity can only encourage more people to take to the crime as a source of living.
However, concerns have been raised about the danger of miscarriage of justice in these demolitions. Questions are also being asked on whether the demolitions are based on orders duly issued by courts of competent jurisdic­tion, if the houses are truly certified to have been built with the proceeds of kidnapping, or actually used for kidnapping, before they are destroyed.
These are critical questions that the state authorities need to consider before the houses are demolished. One other question that has also been raised is whether it would be fair to demolish a house that was used as kidnappers’ hideout by persons other than the actual owner of the house. Would the house owner have to suffer the demolition of his house for a crime that he knows nothing about? The state govern­ment needs to provide answers to these ques­tions to reassure the people that some persons will not have their houses pulled down on ac­count of personal vendetta and other issues that are quite unrelated to the crime of kidnapping.
We commend the commitment of the Anam­bra State government for running kidnappers out of the state, but care must be taken to en­sure that justice is not miscarried. Care must­also be taken to guard against public hysteria in the decision to demolish houses of kidnappers. The decision on the houses must follow careful consideration of the facts of each case to ensure that no house is unjustly pulled down. This is important because the demolition of a house is akin to capital punishment. It is hardly revers­ible, because the state government is unlikely to be inclined to rebuild any house that is later determined to have been unjustly demolished.
There is no gainsaying that no punishment is too much for kidnappers, considering the trauma that the victims and their loved ones are subjected to by their captors.  The treatment of human beings as objects of trade that could be stolen and used as items of negotiation is rep­rehensible. But, care must be taken to ensure that innocent persons do not suffer the indig­nity and stigma of wrongful demolition of their houses. The order for the demolition of houses should, as much as possible, be based on court orders, after kidnap suspects have exhausted all avenues for appeal of the judgement.
We, therefore, urge the Anambra State Gov­ernment not to allow the understandable hys­teria and euphoria of the people becloud its responsibility to ensure that justice is not mis­carried with regard to the demolition of sus­pects’ houses.
While we praise the political will of the state government to fight this menace, the risk of mob action with regard to this law is high. The gov­ernment must draw a clear line between hyste­ria and justice. The due process of the law must be followed even with regard to kidnapping, so that people do not get punished for no just cause. We enjoin the Anambra goverment to remember that even suspected kidnappers are innocent until proved guilty. The police must avoid detaining suspects indefinitely, keeping them incommunicado or torturing them. They must not deny their families and lawyers access to them while the cases are being investigated. Investigation of kidnapping cases and other crimes should be more scientific than we have it now in the country. Above all, the police and the state government must respect the rights of everyone in the state.
No matter how desirable any law is to ad­dress peculiar problems, it must not obliterate the fundamental rights of the people for whom the law was made, and whom it must protect. Every case, every suspect, must be properly in­vestigated to ensure that this law is not used by unscrupulous persons to settle personal scores.