Relocating to Lagos, a city of some 15 million people, is a “natural” move for small scale criminal outfits engaged in ransom kidnappings, he said.
The uptick in abductions in recent months is not limited to foreigners, but has involved Nigerian victims as well, including some local politicians, Ekhomu added.
In March a British man working for the French energy company CGG was kidnapped in the upscale Victoria Island area of the city.
He was released days later, with officials refusing to confirm reports that a ransom had been paid.
There have also been a number of recent reported kidnappings targeting the city’s large Lebanese population.
Foreigners have also been targeted in the north, but those attacks are considered different. They have been blamed on Islamist extremists and in several cases have led to the deaths of the hostages.
At least two Britons are believed to have been kidnapped and killed in the north by the extremist group Ansaru, an offshoot of Boko Haram, the Islamist insurgents who have also targeted foreigners.
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