The is an octogenarian, about 86-year-old. Any hairy part of his head had already turned grey. Adigio-Eseni, a community leader, no doubt deserves respect, especially from the youths. The octogenarian is a favourite uncle to former Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Sylva.
On July 28, youths as young as his grandchildren stormed his home in Okpoama, Brass Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, at about 2am, and whisked him away. Without respect to the age of the octogenarian, the armed youths kicked, pushed him and tore his clothes before bundling him away in a speedboat to an unknown place.
The hoodlums unsettled the community with their sporadic gunshots before and after abducting the grandfather. Two weeks after the incident, nothing was heard from the kidnappers. They kept family members of their victim in the dark and created anxieties over the safety of Adigio-Eseni. Their action created panic among the children of the victim raising suspicion over the motives of the gunmen.
The affected relatives were in dilemma, especially considering the health condition of their benefactor.
He has high blood pressure. He was only being sustained by his drugs. His abductors didn’t go with the drug neither did they go with his phone.
The family thought that they would come out to make their demands . It took over two weeks before the kidnappers asked for ransom. They want N250m to set the old man free. He was also allowed to speak with a family member and the family was relieved, but worried about where to get that kind of money.
Fabo, the third son in the family, suspects that their father was abducted for political reasons because of his relationship with Sylva, who is now a leader of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the state.
Apart from being his uncle, Sylva, according to Fabo, was very close to their father.
He said: “We are suspecting that it is political because of his relationship with former Governor Sylva. Maybe some persons kidnapped him to get at Sylva. We know our dad is not a politician and he has been sick for sometimes.
“He has been in the house and he hardly goes out even to the church. But he is a very close uncle to Sylva. Any time he (Sylva) comes to the village, his first port of call is my dad’s place.
“We are down and my step mum is the worst hit. She has been in shock and depressed. She doesn’t know what to do. She has not uttered a word since then. We are even afraid. Everybody is downcast. There is nothing we can do because the old man is the pillar of the family.”
Just like Fabo said, the 70-year-old wife of Adigio-Eseni has been a ghost of herself since her husband was taken to the kidnappers’ den. But her spirits were lifted a little on Tuesday when she was told that the kidnappers contacted a member of the family. She was also told that her husband’s voice was heard for the first time after about 15 days.
“I miss my husband. Until l see him l won’t be at rest. I am begging the kidnappers to set him free for me. They should at least consider his old age. Since they took him away from me, my life has not been the same again,”she said.
But where will the money come from? That is the family’s dilemma.
Fabo said: “We are a little relieved to learn that our father for the first time spoke. This is an indication that he is still alive. At least negotiation has started.
“We, however, learnt that his voice was very down perhaps because of his sickness. He should be released to come back to us. Hearing that he is alive makes us happy.
“Where do they expect us to get that kind of money? We don’t have money. We are appealing to them to release our father on humanitarian ground.”
Commissioner of Police Mr. Hilary Opara said the command was doing everything possible to rescue the octogenarian. Hilary whose command has been solving many kidnap cases in recent time promised to bring back Adigio-Eseni alive.
Certainly, the octogenarian does not deserve the kind of treatment being meted out to him. The youths who are holding him should think of their own old age. That is if they leave to even see old age.
