One common occurrence these days is stories about kidnapping of children or some young people in certain parts of the country. The Western Region has been particularly noted for such occurrences.

It is, therefore, incumbent on the security agencies as well as the public to work hard and help bring such matters under control.

Kidnapping puts fear in many people and prevents them from going about their duties freely. Again, it is a security threat which prevents people from becoming confident and participating actively in social life and development.

Kidnappers usually demand money from the relatives of their victims before they are released. They ask for ransom and threaten to kill their victims if the ransom is not given. We, therefore, need to be careful about our movement by ensuring that we inform people we stay with whenever it becomes necessary for us to move away from our areas of residence to new places.

Of late, another motive for fake kidnapping has emerged. Here, individuals plan with others to fake that they have been kidnapped when, indeed, it is not true, so that upon payment of the ransom to certain people, the supposed victims will go back and share the booty with those they planned the activity with.

This is diabolical and must not be entertained by society because apart from the creation of fear and panic in the minds of people, it destroys the image of a country also.

Those who collaborate in fake kidnappings do so for money and this shows that our intelligence agencies be proactive and arrest the situation before it gets out of hand.

People should take note of the tricks of this nature so that they will not fall victims to them. Everyone including children, married and unmarried people as well as old people must not take things for granted but be prepared to notify the police of strange observations in their homes or neighbourhood.

The Spectator is of the view that maximum punishment ought to be meted out to perpetrators of kidnapping, whether they are fake or real, so that these unpleasant developments can be eliminated from our society once and for all.

Peace is very essential in society. For this reason, if there are security gaps such as kidnapping or threats to the peace of an area, it will distract people from what they will do for socio-economic development.

Every individual has a role to play to ensure the absence of kidnapping, whether fake or real.