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Tag: ABA

  • Eight-month-old baby kidnapped in Aba

    •Gunmen abduct man 

    Six gunmen at the weekend invaded the home of a man, simply identified as Mr. Amankwo at Amaorji in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area, Aba in Abia State and kidnapped his eight-month-old son, Chima.

    Sources said the kidnappers, who arrived in a red car, took the baby from his cot.

    The abductors’ two mobile phones were allegedly picked up on the scene of the incident.

    Also, a resident of Aba was reportedly kidnapped at the weekend.

    It was learnt the victim,  Nnanna Ngwakwe, was snatched about 7:45pm at 10, Akwarandu Street, opposite a filling station on Ikot Ekpene Road, Ehere, Aba.

    It was yet to be established whether they have contacted the victim’s family.

  • Hotel guests robbed in Aba

    About 10 robbers at the weekend in Aba, Abia State, attacked one of the hotels in the commercial city, stealing valuables and money.

    They also stole an unspecified amount of cash from an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) on the premises.

    Although information about the incident was sketchy, The Nation learnt that the incident occurred about 4 am on Saturday.

    A source, who confirmed the incident, said none of the guests was injured.

    The source said the bandits fled the scene before the police arrived.

    Two suspected robbers were arrested by a vigilance group in Aba.

    They were said to have been arrested after they allegedly robbed a hotel on the Aba-Owerri Road, Aba.

    One of the suspects was said to have died before they were handed over to the police.

  • Sacked workers protest in Aba

    Sacked workers protest in Aba

    More than three years after their disengagement, non-indigenous Abia State civil servants have staged a street protest seeking to be recalled to their positions.

    The protesters, sacked on October 1, 2011, marched through streets of Aba, the commercial hub of the state, demanding that Governor Theodore Orji recall them.

    The protesters bore banners and placards with such inscriptions as “We are the sacked workers in Abia State, call us back to work”.

    Some of the sacked have indeed been reinstated by the protesters said the number of the recalled workers were too small.

    They said that they were using the opportunity to also mourn not less than 35 members of the group who died since their sack, stressing that they were not going to rest until the government recalled all of them.

    Mrs. Ijeoma Ihejirika who led the group on the protest in an interview with reporters said that they decided to embark on the protest to remind and also draw the attention of the Abia State Governor that as he prepares to leave office on May 29, he was yet to fulfill the promise of total recall of its members into the its civil service even as they expressed the fear that the incoming government may overlook their way.

    Ihejirika who could barely speak as she was soaked in her emotions said that their members were dying in their numbers out of frustration and idleness arising from expectation that they would be called back to work as the governor promised.

    According to her, most of the workers who were due for their retirement were yet to get their gratuity and pension since 2011 till date which has made life miserable and difficult for them, adding that some of them who had put in their years in service, hoping to live on their gratuity and pension could hardly afford a square meal for their family to feed on.

    Thanking the governor for the ones that they have absorbed, she urged him to show mercy and act on his words in order not to create the impression that the promise he made was to score cheap political goals and appealed to the governor to direct his commissioners and Head of Service of the state to implement without any further delay, the orders of the state government in reabsorbing them into their various ministries.

    One of the disengaged worker that gave her name as Joy Ajah stated that she has received a re-instatement letter since May 2014 from the government but was yet to be placed in a ministry.

    She said that the delay in the promised re-instatement process was making life more unbearable for her and others in her shoes who have no other means of income because they were made to visit the state capital frequently without any positive result.

    She therefore called on the state governor to fulfill his promises to them now rather than allowing the issue to drag on.

     

  • Aba Mega Mall for inauguration

    Aba Mega Mall for inauguration

    The first phase of the $300 million Aba Mega Mall project, expected to stimulate economic activities in the Southeast and Southsouth is set for inauguration.

    The project, which seats on 28 hectares, on completion, would consist of 5,830 ultra-modern shops, in four sizes of 12sq meters, 16sq metres, 24sq meters and 48sq metres.

    The facility will also have provision for banks, security post, 25,000sq meters climate-controlled warehouse space, restaurants, entertainment centres with six cinema screens, children play area and a massive parking space for over 5,000 cars.

    The South East Amalgamated Traders Association (SEAMATA),  an umbrella body of traders in the Southeast region, has endorsed the project, which they described as laudable. Consequently, it has urged its members across the country to support the project, arguing that it is good for the Southeast region, as it is providing the needed infrastructure to ensure that the region regains its pride of place in commerce in Africa.

    Group Managing Director, Geenfield Assets Limited, promoters of the mall, Paul Obanua, while  hosting Abia State Governor Theodore Orji, on a pre-inauguration inspection of the facility, explained that when completed, it would be the first mall with a dry port in Nigeria and Africa as well as the biggest mall on the continent.

    The dry port, according to Obanua, will be a 30,000 square meter bonded warehouse, which affords people of the Southeast the opportunity of clearng their goods on time. This means that they would no longer suffer time wastages due to perennial port congestion at the nation’s various sea ports.

    Obanua said: “We are also going to offer good storage facilities, automated climate controlled facility. So, this mall is going to be a one-stop-shop. And by the second phase, you are going to have a 100-room hotel come up here at the Aba Mega Mall. We are going to have a section that will be called the Aba Business Resort, so that you have your events here, like conferences and when you are in the Southeast, you can also lodge in and do your business. The other aspect of this mall is that we are going to have Aba Mega Mall online. So, the e-commerce of this mall will commence operation at the commissioning.”

    He said what this meant was that shoppers who couldn’t come to the mall to shop could shop online in any part of the country. “Even if you are in Lagos or Abuja, you can shop from anywhere and it will be delivered to you at your door steps by the Orji-led administration that encouraged the company venture into the project,” he said.

  • Police tackle housing deficits in Aba

    Police tackle housing deficits in Aba

    The Aba Area Commander of the Abia State police command, Assistant Commissioner of Police Peter Wagbara has started addressing the accommodation challenges in his jurisdiction. Dilapidated structures are being rehabilitated. The commander’s quarters are also being rebuilt and expanded to accommodate more people.

    The woeful housing profile of the police is well documented. Their barracks built decades ago can only house a limited number of personnel. Even those inadequate facilities are filthy in most cases, with all kinds of negative behaviour associated with them. As a result, a good number of police personnel live outside the barracks, exposing themselves to undue danger and indignities, such as rent issues.

    A police source recalled how a friend and course mate from Police College Enugu was gruesomely murdered by men of the underworld immediately after their posting. The source said his friend would not have been killed in the manner he was if he were appropriately housed in the barracks.

    The source also said he too has been living outside the barracks for over 20 years.

    “My friend and course mate after we passed out from the police college in Enugu was posted to one of the communities in one of the southeastern states. When he got there, he told me that there were no quarters for them and so he had to go and rent an apartment outside the station.

    “One day when he was sleeping, some armed men attacked his area and when they got to his house and upon discovering that he was a police officer, they inflicted bodily injuries on him before riddling his body with bullets.

    “They didn’t get any arms because we book and sign out our guns from the armoury as soon as we are through with the day’s duty. You know that police or security agents are usually seen by the bad boys as their rivals. That was how I lost my bosom course mate.

    “If he was living in a police barracks such things would not have happened even though I have lived outside the barracks after my training till date. It has not been easy living in the midst of civilians. Are you talking about the continued harassment of the landlord, co-tenants or the community that one lives? It is not easy but there is nothing one can do owing to the nature and health condition of most of the police quarters.

    “Sometimes, the sewage is full and nobody cares to evacuate it, making some people to even defecate in nearby bushes. I even find it difficult as I am talking to you to visit some of my friends who stay in the quarters,” the source said.

    To address the issue of accommodation in his command, the Aba Area Commander, ACP Peter Wagbara on resumption of office started with the reconstruction and expansion of office of the Area Commander and the rehabilitation of Area Commander’s quarters in Aba which was abandoned for more than 10 years after it was burnt.

    The Nation gathered that while several attempts by Wagbara’s predecessors to renovate the house failed because of “paucity of fund”, they resorted to paying heavy hotel bills throughout their stay which Wagabra was not comfortable with, hence the renovation of the ACP’s quarters, renovation of offices and one of the residential quarters for officers and men under his command through the assistance of public spirited individuals.

    It was gathered that the renovation work on the residential quarters at its completion would provide accommodation for over 100 policemen.

    One other key area that received a facelift is the communication or control room of the Area Command which has been equipped with modern communication gadgets which has made communication with patrol teams more effective and that according to sources at the Aba Area Command helped in checking crime in commercial city especially, during the Christmas festivity where no crime was recorded in any part of the command during the period.

    Some of the police officers who spoke to our correspondent thanked Peter Wagbara for seeing the need to rehabilitate their dilapidated quarters which would go a long way to solve their accommodation problems when completed as they equally called on the police authority to build more quarters for them in order to save them from being exposed to preventable dangers.

    A police officer living outside the barracks who would not want his name in print told our correspondent that the dangers of living outside the barracks contribute to the level of their performance and productivity.

    According to him, most policemen resident outside the barracks don’t perform optimally because of the dangers of being attacked by their host community, armed robbers and hoodlums who would trace them to their homes to unleash terror on them.

  • No Yuletide accident in Aba, says FRSC

    No Yuletide accident in Aba, says FRSC

    The Aba Sector command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has said that there was no recorded case of road crash in Aba, the commercial nerve of Abia State, during the festivities.

    The Sector Commander, Akachukwu Chika-ero also said 36 persons were arraigned before a mobile traffic court set up by the agency during the period for various traffic offences.

    Chika-ero, in an interview with our reporter, attributed the success his command recorded to the continued road safety awareness campaign at various motor parks in Aba and its environs mounted by the corps before and in the run-up to the Yuletide as more people and motorists came into Aba.

    He disclosed that out of the 36 persons that were arraigned before the mobile court for reckless driving in December, 35 were convicted of various offences while one person was discharged and acquitted.

    The Aba sector chief of the FRSC said the commission was not ignorant of the fact that Aba, being an economic and trade centre, usually hosts traders and individuals from neighbouring states of Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Rivers, Imo states, including their counterparts from such West African nations as Ivory Coast, Benin, Niger, among others, who come to buy one product or the other during festive periods.

    Lauding his officers on their dedication, commitment and display of high level of professionalism while discharging their duties even when they had cause to be angry, he admitted that such feat wouldn’t have come without some challenges.

    Speaking on the command’s readiness to sustain their  efforts, he further called on motorists using the Aba Ikot-Ekpene, Aba-Port Harcourt, Aba-Umuahia expressways to obey and maintain traffic regulations guiding driving on the highway, reminding them that his men will always be on the highway to check and penalize any driver that flouts driving code.

    He also disclosed that as part its routine measures to stem drivers’ excesses, the agency through the use of a mobile court would prosecute and sanction drivers that flout traffic regulations on the Highway, adding that the public awareness campaign would be a continuous one.

    “As part of measures to curb to the barest minimum the rate of accident on our highways and checking excesses of drivers, we are planning in 2015 to introduce a speed limit device for motorists to install in their vehicles and it is our belief that it will be warmly embraced by all motorists because it is for their safety and that of their passengers,” the FRSC Aba sector boss disclosed.

    Chika-ero thanked the media for supporting and partnering with the agency in educating and enlightening the public on the need to be safety conscious while making use of the roads, advising drivers to desist from alcohol intake, making and answering calls while on steering and any other act capable of putting their lives or that of their passengers at risk.

    It could be recalled that the Commanding Officer RS9, Corps Marshal Samuel Obayemi, presented by the Zonal Head of Operations at the end a sensitization exercise in Aba ahead of the Yuletide with the theme “Road Safety, a Shared Responsibility, it Depends on You” said that the essence of the exercise was to remind all road users in the southeast and the country at large that they have a responsibility to play in ensuring safety on the roads within the festive period and beyond and promised that by the end of the exercise, FRSC personnel that would be deployed on the roads would work optimally to ensure that road users in Aba and within the RS9 zone drove to their destinations safely.

     

  • ‘I wept when I saw how bad Aba was’

    ‘I wept when I saw how bad Aba was’

    Hon. Iheanacho Obioma is an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain. He is the candidate contesting for Abia Central senatorial district in the senate under the platform of the APC. In an interview with our correspondent, Sunny Nwankwo, amongst other journalists, the APC candidate spoke of his preparations to contest and win his opponents including the incumbent governor Theodore Orji in the coming elections. Excerpts

    THE PDP says there is no opposition in Abia State, are they right?  If you watch what has happened over time, the issue of what those in the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in the state are saying is always far from the truth. Saying that there is no opposition in Abia is laughable. I don’t know if any of you was in the rally All Progressive Congress (APC) held in Aba and that was just an ad hoc rally that was hurriedly put up. It was like a sensitisation rally and a kind of unity rally after all the problems we have gone through and you saw the response. The number of persons who wanted to attend that rally was so many and because of the bad roads in Aba, all those who set out to attend that rally, more than half of them could not get to the venue. So, if anybody, a government or party, tells you there is no opposition in Abia, wouldn’t you just laugh? So, there is very strong opposition in the state and we have a whole lot to get the people appreciate that we need a change in Abia come 2015.

    There is no way we can continue like this, everybody is crying, people are dying in silence, people are being intimidated, people are being humiliated by all manner of things and you say there is no opposition. Why wouldn’t there be any opposition? Even if there is no political party you call opposition party, the people themselves are opposed to the way the government is run, everybody is opposed to that, so there is no way anybody will say there is no opposition in Abia, it’s not possible, there is very strong opposition in the state.

    Maybe they were expecting us to start reacting to them, we have our programmes and they can’t drive our programmes, we need to drive our own programme. We have our plans, when to come out and when to strike. The one we have just done in Aba is a tip of the Ice berg. So, we are not going to allow maybe somebody using us to go to Abuja to get some glory or get some money from the Federal Government or you make some noise so that the government will allow you to do what you want to do, then you tell them there is no opposition in Abia. Let them come down and see the way things are, and I can tell you, next month’s election will so embarrass the government of the day.

    Let me tell you something, to say opposition do not exist in Abia, means people are happy with the government, but that’s not the truth, people are not happy with the government, the government has not done well in every area, maybe they are talking security, we are only lucky that we have the army formation here, so the army has been able to add to police efforts in curbing crime, it’s not that it has anything to do with the governor.

    You are running for the Abia Central Senatorial seat against the incumbent governor of the state, what are your chances of winning the election?

    What is difficult about that? There is nothing difficult about it. I can tell you yes, he is a two-time governor, but he has never ran any election; this is going to be the time he is going to contest an election and test his popularity and test his person, his acceptance. The first tenure he had, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu ran the election for him when he was in detention, Kalu did the magic for him. The second one was an agreement when he said that it was Kalu that made him not to perform and that he was then ready to give Abians dividends of democracy. All of us joined hands and say lets give him another chance, so there was no competitive election in the state in 2011. He has been in the saddle of the state for over seven years and people are now able to judge him, no  more Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu or whatever stories you are going to give anybody that made you not to perform. People have given you opportunity. You see how Aba is? You see how Umuahia is? Go to the Expressway, everywhere is just filled up with filths and all that. No roads, if you get into Aba in a day, something that will take you 30 minutes to come out, you are spending a whole day there.

    Everywhere you go to, it’s the same thing. So, I think he is the easiest person to win in an election, because one, people know him, his ability and capability in terms of delivery. People also know as a governor who is used to heavy security, going to the senate, he will never see anybody because he is used to security. Used to using all manner of people preventing people from seeing him. A legislator is supposed to be one who goes about seeing those he is representing, but for my  opponent in the coming  election, he is not cut out to just seeing people like that, he’s cut out regimenting how people see him and all that, so he is not going to start learning to see people. I have two times been elected into the House of Representatives, they know me. In 1999 to 2003, they knew what I did. I’m not somebody people would ask who is Hon. Iheanacho Obioma?

    If the APC wins next month’s election in the state as you are envisaging, what is it going to do differently to better the lots of the people?

    There is a whole lot to do differently. First of all, you have to provide the conducive environment. APC cannot put in place a government that would promote hatred, a government that would promote and be happy to see people quarrelling among themselves. Like if I’m opposed to the governor and you are my friend, if you are seen as my friend, that means you are opposed to the governor, it shouldn’t be that way. There should be an environment where everybody is happy with each other. That we disagree politically does not make us enemies, there are issues that make us disagree, this government promotes hatred I can assure you that.

    In terms of infrastructure, you see there is nothing on ground. You can see, maybe very few buildings and they will orchestrate they are doing this, they are doing that, but I assure you they are doing them with interest. They are more interested in the proceeds that come in building those structures and these structures are not valued by anybody. They are valued by the same people who give the contracts and do them themselves, so they have not come out to tell us what it is costing to do some of the few things they are doing. Some of these projects when you go inside, you see they are empty buildings.

    Our education is in disarray, look at the state polytechnic, no salaries paid to workers, students hardly go to school. You go to ABSU, its like another breeding place for criminals, nothing  is happening there, no real education is going on, people are tasked heavily, parents sweat to pay school fees while our neighbouring state, Imo, the story is by far different. Imo state is a model of what APC can do in Abia. Everybody is on free education, both natives and non natives.

    Infrastructure wise, look at Aba, when I went to the city and saw how bad it was, I wept. Is Aba not a sign of a failed government? All these things I said the PDP government in Abia has failed to do, we will do them if APC wins the next election. We are doing to give quality and free education, we must give infrastructure that everybody will be happy and I’m also praying that the APC will control the centre from where we will be able to tackle the problem of light.

    Look at all the states being  controlled by APC, what they are doing, look at Lagos State, look at Imo and even Rivers that is nearby here, so that’s what we are going to replicate here so that Abia State will be a model, a place where people can be free and happy, where our sons and daughters will be happy to come back to Aba and live, Aba is a smelly town, even Prince Arthur Eze said it last year, he’s a chieftain of PDP, that the whole of Abia is smelling. He came and he saw, anybody that doubts him should come and see. So, APC is going to give us the  security that is needed, it’s going to give us free  education, it’s going to improve on infrastructure to make sure there is massive development, expand the  town, not running around the same village, the same little town, you are running around it, nothing new is happening, we are going to change  this.

    And if we put a government in place, it’s not going to be a ‘mama’ or ‘papa’ government, it’s going to be a government that will elect a governor and that governor will do the job, not giving the job to either the wife or the son to  be doing for us because we never voted for them. They should not even be heard because they do not have the mandate of the people to do anything. So, this thing that is happening in Abia where somebody is given a position he transfers that power to his children and his family, it’s unacceptable to the people.

    2015 election is around the corner, what advise do you have for Abians?

    Abians are all quarrelling inside, we are all grumbling in our minds, we are all complaining internally, we should come out and show it. Everyone feels the same way I feel; it’s not CHOMEN’s matter.  Everyone of us, including you  pressmen, know that Abia is not working and you have to join us, let’s sensitize the people, let’s tell them the truth, let’s give them courage to come out, that  this thing is doable. It’s not a question of what you are, whether you are a governor, whether you are president, people can vote them out and defend it. The issue of relying on armed forces to come and intimidate and write result for you is no longer going to happen. If you vote, you defend the vote. Even the army, everybody, they are all part of the society; they know that what we are saying is absolutely correct. Nobody should be used to intimidate your own people because at the end of the day, it comes back to all of us. So, what we are saying is that 2015 election is at hand, the PDP has failed in Abia, that one is completely done, they may probably have succeeded in some other areas, but in Abia, it’s not a model, it’s not what anybody can be happy about, therefore, people should join hands with APC, which is now out to make sure we change the government and particularly to make sure that this governor who has failed Abia should not be rewarded with any one single vote of going to the senate in any name to represent us.

  • Another ‘Aba’ on the way

    Everything going well, another commercial hub will soon spring up to rival Aba, the Abia State’s commercial nerve.

    This information came from Chief Arisa Solomon Ikwuagwu, President of Abia North Industrial Development Initiative (ANIDI), who confirmed that arrangements had been concluded on the development.

    Speaking at the inauguration of ANIDI executive members in Aba, Ikwuagwu said that the essence of creating another economic city in the state was to help decongest Aba and help other economic potential city(ies) grow and as such spread development across the state using Lagos as an example.

    He said that the organisation was set up to enable businessmen and women to come to Abia North and establish their businesses and also develop the infrastructure in the zone.

    The ANIDI president said for government to stop the massive drift of people from rural to urban areas like Aba and other parts of the country, it was high time attention was diverted from Aba to Abia North where the residents have good business and entrepreneurial skills, as is obtainable in Aba.

    Said he, “Our people are good entrepreneurs. Give an Abia North man a chance and he will do wonders out of the little you gave him. Aba is over-populated and something must urgently be done to develop other parts of the state that have the potentials which Aba has and there is no any other place good enough for such but Abia North even as the government of the day is talking about developing other towns”.

    Ikwuagwu, who stated that membership was open to all Nigerians mainly those resident in Abia State, said the viability of ANIDI lies in the fact that over 60 per cent of the businesses in Abia State were owned by people from Abia North.

    “The idea is to bring investors to Abia North. What it takes to become a member is to pick our interest declaration form, from that, we will know who you are and if are accepted as a member, you then pay a membership dues that is determined by the executive committee from time to time.”

    Ikwuagwu disclosed that ANIDI was not a Chamber of Commerce in the strictest sense of it, but a Non Governmental Organization which aim was to assist members in the areas of developing and expanding their businesses and source funds through donor agencies.

    “We assist our members in the areas of developing and expanding their businesses, source funds through donor agencies because the issue of funding has become a big reoccurring decimal such that funds are difficult to access and when you don’t have funds to execute your business, you see over a period you will go comatose so what we are trying to do is to bring our members, come together and see how we can internalize and initiate means and ways of raising funds to assist members in order to expand their businesses

    “We are not Chamber of Commerce, but more of an NGO with different departments that take care of all the facets of our members businesses because if we limit our organization to becoming a Chamber of commerce, we only find ourselves doing what Chamber of Commerce will do.

    “But we do not want to do that, we want to broaden the space and create jobs thereby stopping the influx of people into Aba that has led to infrastructural collapse and decay which is the most important thing to us.

    ANIDI President further stated concerns itself with trade and commerce including manufacturing and urged people to embrace the organisation.

    While inaugurating the executives, the Abia State Director, Micro, Small and Medium-scale Enterprises, Chris Nwoko who represented the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, pledged government’s readiness to partner with ANIDI for the overall achievement of her objectives.

    Describing Abia State as the home of commerce and industry, Nwoko said with the birth of ANIDI, the industrialisation of Abia North would be a matter of time.

  • Otti decries billboards’ destruction in Aba

    Otti decries billboards’ destruction in Aba

    The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Dr. Alex Otti, has condemned the destruction of his billboards in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, by suspected hoodlums.

    Otti, who spoke to reporters through the Director-General of his campaign organisation, Chief Ahamdi Nweke, after a tour of the city to assess the  damage, described the action as criminal and counterproductive.

    Nweke, who described Otti as the man the indigenes were expecting to develop the state, alleged that the attack was carried out by those afraid of his acceptance.

    He said: “The Alex Otti Campaign Organisation erected billboards everywhere in the town, but as you can see, the opposition have destroyed them.

    “They do this because the state wants a change. Because Aba people have through their actions made it clear that they want a change. They believe they can stop the change by destroying the billboards of the man, who is going to bring about the change.”

    The director-general, berating the perpetrators, said: “What we expect from those who destroyed the billboards is to campaign as Otti is doing, rather than engage in barbarism and vandalism.

    “What we expect the opposition to do is to campaign as we are doing. We are going door to door, market to market, shop to shop, speaking to people on the change we must have in Abia. We have been in this mess for years and people think we must have a credible leader like Dr. Otti, the governorship candidate of APGA.

    “It is shameful and unfortunate that people have resorted to vandalism and thuggery.

    “A huge amount was spent on the billboards. But they have been destroyed by people who ought to have erected their own.”

    Nweke accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of carrying out the act “because the party’s billboards were not touched.”

    He alleged: “It is not difficult to know where these destructions came from, because the few billboards PDP has in the town were not touched. Although what it has in most places are banners.

    “We will not attack PDP because it is not in existence in the state. You will remember that before the state congresses, Abia PDP was dissolved, the local government executives were dissolved, the ward executives were dissolved. So, there is no PDP in the state. This is why APGA has taken the centre stage and everyone is supporting the party.”

    The director-general urged APGA’s supporters to remain calm, saying Otti was a decent man, who would not be involved in violence.

  • Brewery staff kidnapped in Aba

    A staff of Nigeria Breweries Plc, Aba, Abia State has been abducted in the commercial city.

    His abductors, said to be armed, were suspected to be kidnappers.

    The Nation learnt that the NBL staff, identified as Charles Opara, a resident of Road 8, Federal Housing Estate, Ogbor Hill, had returned from work not knowing that dangers lay ahead.

    It was gathered that after a while, Opara had gone out to buy what he needed in his house, but on his way back home, around 9.00pm, a Volkswagen Golf car that had been trailing him, doubled-crossed and whisked him away to an unknown destination.

    A source said: “Immediately Opara got in front of his house and the gate to the building was opened, the hoodlums rounded him up at gunpoint and took him to their hideout”.

    It was yet to be established at the time of this report if the abductors had established contact with the family of their victim.

    When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Geoffrey Ogbonna said he was yet to be informed about the incident.

    However, a senior police officer who spoke anonymously, confirmed the incident but said that they were yet to have a formal report from the victim’s family.

    The officer added, “The kidnappers will always warn them (the victim’s family) not to involve the police and this might not be a different case”.

    It would be recalled that it was around the same location that Ugochukwu Eke, the Umuahia correspondent of The Nation Newspaper was kidnapped on November 16 and was later released after his family paid some ransom.