The Nation Newspaper

Tag: kidnapped

  • Kidnapped driver: Family locks out Assembly workers

    Workers of the Edo State House of Assembly were yesterday locked out of the premises by the family of a driver, Victor Igbinovia, who was kidnapped on February 3 with his boss, Victor Edoror.

    Edoror was released two weeks later but the driver is yet to be seen.

    The family, which protested last Friday, continued yesterday, carrying placards in front of both entrances of the Assembly complex.

    Inscriptions on the placards read: “Edoror, where is our son Victor Igbinovia?”; “Give us our son”; “We have not seen where a driver has been kidnapped before”.

    The protesters said the kidnappers have not called to demand any ransom.

    Igbinovia’s wife, Felicia, who was among the protesters, sat in front of the gate weeping.

    She was inconsolable and carried their three-year old child.

    Felicia said: “Edoror called my husband on Saturday to take him to Irrua that one of his relatives had an accident.

    “Since that day, I have been waiting for my husband and I have not seen him.

    “The lawmaker said he didn’t see my husband that they were kept in different places.

    “They came to my house three times asking me not to worry that if the lawmaker is released, my husband would also be released.

    “I am not sure this is kidnapping anymore. I went to his house to ask for my husband but he asked his security details to chase me away.

    “One threatened to shoot me and I dared him to shoot.

    “He does not call us. He said the kidnappers gave him a cell phone and N3,000 but that he cannot make calls with the phone except the kidnappers called him. I then said maybe he had something with them.”

    The victim’s brother, Osahon, said the lawmaker has refused to meet with them.

    When contacted, Edoror said it was uncivilised for the family to accuse him of having something to do with their brother.

    He said the driver was taken away in his official vehicle and he was kept in a jeep and was blindfolded.

    Edoror said he was yet to be contacted by the kidnappers.

  • Doctors to go on strike over kidnapped colleague

    Doctors at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) have threatened to go on strike, if their colleague, Dr. Michael Aziken, is not released by his abductors.

    Aziken was abducted in front of his Evbomore home at about 11pm on Wednesday on his way from work.

    The kidnappers were said to have laid ambush for him.

    The Chief Medical Director, Prof. Michael Ibadin, confirmed the abduction at a briefing yesterday.

    Ibadin said the kidnappers have contacted the family for payment of ransom.

    He was silent on the demands of the kidnappers, saying the discussion was with the victim’s family.

    The CMD said statistics showed that doctors topped kidnapped victims in the state and appealed to the kidnappers to release Aziken.

    He urged law enforcement agencies to do their jobs “to stem the recurrent abduction of doctors in the state.”

    Doctors, comprising the Association of Resident Doctors and the Medical Dental Consultant Association, gave the kidnappers 48 hours or they would go on strike.

    ARD President Dr. Okafor Kingsley said they cannot continue to operate in an unsafe environment.

    MDCN Chairman Prof. Afekhide Omoti said they were not out to cause pain to the public through their proposed strike action but to ensure their safety and security

  • Six foreigners kidnapped in Niger Delta, says Orubebe

    SIX expatriates working for Setraco Construction Company, which is dualising the East-West Road, have been kidnapped.

    Minister of Niger Delta Affairs Godsday Orubebe said this when he inspected work done from Effurun, in Delta State, through Kaiama in Bayelsa State, Port Harcourt and Ogoniland in Rivers State to Eket and Oron in Akwa Ibom State.

    Orubebe called on stakeholders to prevail on kidnappers to give peace a chance.

    He assured that the strategic road would be completed in December 2014.

    The minister said the inspected sections has 42 bridges, with 32 completed and 10 ongoing.

    The road has 768 culverts, with 740 completed.

    Setraco is dualising from Effurun to Eleme Junction in Port Harcourt.

    Reynolds Construction Company (RCC) is handling the dualisation from Eleme Junction to Eket; Jetro Contruction Company is dualising from Eket to Oron.

    Orubebe said: “Six expatriates were kidnapped between November last year and now.

    “They (kidnappers) should not drive away development, after we cried for development.

    “Huge funds are spent by the companies on security.

    “The inspection is historic because many people have talked about the East-West Road.

    “The sand-filling will be completed between now and June.

    “ We will deliver the dualisation in December 2014.

    “The contract was awarded in 2006, but nothing was done till 2009/2010, when the job was redesigned and contractors were mobilised to sites.

    “The collapse of some parts of the road was caused by last year’s floods.

    “The stone-base was washed away. You must create land through sand-filling, to construct roads in the Niger Delta.“

     

  • Bayelsa Speaker’s mum kidnapped

    Gunmen have abducted the 70-year old mother of the Bayelsa State Speaker, Kombowei Benson.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mrs. Betinah Okunwa Benson was abducted from her home in Korokosei, Southern Ijaw Local Government, at 12.30 a.m.

    A statement by Benson’s Media Assistant Piriye Kiyaramo said the gunmen stormed the octogenarian’s home and forcefully took her away to an unknown destination.

    “Information reaching the Office of the Speaker indicates that the gunmen, who came in two speed boats, shot sporadically into the air to scare away people before going away with their victim.

    “The incident has been reported to the police,” the statement said.

    Police spokesman Fidelis Odunna confirmed the report, saying the command had launched a manhunt for the kidnappers.

    “It is confirmed that the speaker’s mother has been kidnapped.

    “We learnt of the kidnapping early this morning, but we have started work to see what we can do to free her,” Odunna said.

    He assured the public of the command’s determination to rescue the victim.

    Odunna said the command has sent detectives to track down the criminals.

     

  • Police deny rescuing kidnapped Gombe lawmaker

    The Gombe State Police Command has denied the rumour that it has rescued the kidnapped House of Assembly member, Jalo Ahmed Ganga.

    The command also denied a report, which said Police Commissioner Mohammed Suleman announced the reunion of the lawmaker with his family.

    The command’s spokesman, Atajiri Fwaje, described the report as embarrassing.

    He said: “The Gombe State Police Command wishes to state unequivocally that the report is false, callous and mischievous. It was made to undermine police investigation, thereby misleading the public.”

    The police spokesman urged the family of the kidnapped lawmaker and the public to remain calm as well as disregard the rumour as the imagination of a mischief maker.

    Fwaje said the police would locate the whereabouts of the lawmaker and rescue him.

    According to him, there has been no communication with the abductors.

    He added that investigation was on and that the police would publicise the result.

    Ganga, the Chairman, House Committee on Finance, was kidnapped at 5am in front of his home in Gombe when he was returning from the dawn (Subuhi) prayer.

     

  • Nollywood actress Nkiru Sylvanus feared kidnapped

    Nollywood actress Nkiru Sylvanus feared kidnapped

    Unidentified gunmen yesterday in Owerri, the Imo State capital, abducted the Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Affairs, Nkiru Sylvanus.

    The Nollywood actress was redeployed from the state’s Liaison Office in Lagos.

    She was reportedly abducted around the famous Concord Hotel in company of some friends.

    Though details of the incident were still sketchy at the time of filing this report, it was gathered that the abductors had demanded for N100million ransom.

    Efforts to reach the Commisioner of Information, Chinedu Offor, were abortive.

    He did not anawer his phone when our reporter called it last night.

    Police spokesman Vitalis Onugu promised to call back.

    He said he was driving when our reporter contacted him yesterday.

    Ms Sylvanus became a celebrated actress through the movie: A Cry for Help.

    She was appointed by Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha as the Special Adviser on Lagos Affairs.

    She held the position from the inception of the administration until when she was recently given another portfolio.

    Her close associates in Lagos said Ble-Ble, as she is popularly called, based on the character she played in A Cry for Help, has been in Owerri because of her new portfolio.

    A member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) National Executive, who spoke in confidence, said: “I just received the message now as well. I have been trying to make contacts. I just hope it is not true. Please, I will feed you back as soon as the picture is clear.”

  • Ex-Governor Rotimi’s wife kidnapped in Ibadan

    Ex-Governor Rotimi’s wife kidnapped in Ibadan

    ABDUCTORS have struck in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, snatching away the wife of Nigeria’s former ambassador to the United States, Gen. Oluwole Rotimi (rtd).

    Mrs. Tayo Rotimi was grabbed in front of her company, AOP Logistics Limited, on New Ife Road at about 6:30pm by four armed hefty men. She was leaving the office after the close of work.

    The kidnappers are demanding N200 million ransom.

    Five of the company’s workers are being held by the police, who have launched a search for the abductors.

    The home of Gen. Rotimi, a former military governor of the Western Region in Ikolaba, Ibadan, was deserted yesterday.

    Oyo State police spokesman Ayodele Lanade said: “It is true the woman was kidnapped on Monday at about 6.30pm.

    Our men are on the trail of the criminals.”

    It was learnt that the abductors came in a green Nissan Primera car, which they drove in reverse into the company’s gate.

    The police said they suspected a foul play, considering the manner the kidnappers drove into the premises and forced their victim into their car .

    Lanade said “the incident was different from other cases of kidnapping in some parts of the country because, in this case, we learnt that the driver of the woman was with the abductors when they took her away.

    “And we found out that there is a rift between the woman and her workers because she was said to be owing them three months salary and there was agitation by the aggrieved workers.

    “In the course of demanding for their unpaid three months salary, some of them were sacked . So, it seems there is a foul play in this case. It’s not in anyway related to other kidnapping cases in Southeast and Southsouth ,” the police spokesman said.

    The company’s workers were praying yesterday for the quick release of their managing director. General Manager Mr Omini Ikpi recounted how she was abducted.

    He said: “The MD was about driving out of the gate when she was abducted by four gunmen who blocked her with a grey Nissan car. They shot sporadically into the air to scare people away.”

    Ikpi said at the time of her kidnap, Mrs Rotimi had her bag containing two BlackBerry phones, a laptop and other valuables. Her shoes dropped when she was being dragged away from her black Prado into the kidnappers’ car.

    “Immediately she was kidnapped, Egbeda police station was contacted and they brought a patrol van. I believe there is an informant in this company. The police have arrested three of our security guards and two workers while the investigation is still on going.”

    The Chief Security Officer of the company, Mr Usman Illiasu, said although he was not on duty during the incident, he was told by security men on duty that the abductors came with sophisticated weapons.

    Illiasu said around 4pm (yesterday), Mrs Rotimi’s phone was called and it was picked by a male voice who said she will be killed if her family members failed to bring N200 million for her to be released.

    He said:” The driver of her car has been arrested with other co-workers, and our workers here could not work today (yesterday) and we have all been praying for the safety and quick release of our boss.”

     

  • Two kidnapped in Anambra

    Few hours after the Anambra State Government demolished the homes of suspected kidnappers at Uli, two people were yesterday abducted in the state.

    The Vice-President of the Amalgamated Traders Association (AMATA), Chief Gozie Akudolu (aka Iroko), and the Director of Works, Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Anambra State, Mr Ephraim Enekwenchi, were abducted on Wednesday night.

    Akudolu was reportedly kidnapped from his home in Umuanuka, Otolo Nnewi at 9.30pm.

    A statement by the union’s Publicity Secretary Dede Uzor Uzor urged Police Commissioner Ballah Nasarawa to go after the abductors.

    The statement said three gunmen held Akudolu and drove him away in his Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV).

    Enekwenchi was reportedly kidnapped by unknown gunmen as he was driving to his home.

    It was gathered that the polytechnic director was forced out of his vehicle, dumped in the gunmen’s operational car. They left foran unknown destination.

    Police spokesman Ralphael Uzoigwe, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP), confirmed both incidents.

    He said the police would go after the kidnappers and release their victims.

    Uzoigwe said the police had recovered Enekwenchi’s car.

    The police spokesman assured that the suspects would be apprehended.

  • Six Russian sailors, Estonian kidnapped in Bayelsa

    Six Russian sailors, Estonian kidnapped in Bayelsa

    Gunmen have attacked a ship operated by a French oil and gas services company in Bayelsa State. They kidnapped six Russian sailors and an Estonian in the assault, the firm said.

    Paris-based Bourbon SA offered only a tersely worded statement on its website about the attack.

    The incident which occurred at the Pennington oil platform belonging to Chevron multinational oil Company in the Southern Ijaw LGA area off shore Bayelsa state.

    Information on the abduction was hazy last night, but Lt. Col Onyema Nwachukwu, the Joint Military Task Force Media Coordinator who confirmed it, said the Military High Command has directed the Forward Operating Base (FOB) to comb the waterways in search of the expatriates.

    Another nine sailors onboard the vessel sailed safely away to the company’s port in Onne in Nigeria’s Rivers state, the company said.

    “The emergency unit set up immediately by Bourbon has been set up to aim at their rapid liberation under the safest security conditions,” the company said in its statement.

    A company spokesman reached in Paris declined to elaborate on the company’s statement and did not say where the kidnapping actually took place.

    Foreign oil companies have pumped oil out of the Niger Delta, a region of mangroves and swamps the size of Portugal, for more than 50 years. Despite the billions of dollars flowing into Nigeria’s government, many in the delta remain desperately poor, living in polluted waters without access to proper medical care, education or work. The poor conditions sparked an uprising in 2006 by militants and opportunistic criminals who blew up oil pipelines and kidnapped foreign workers.

    That violence ebbed in 2009 with a government-sponsored amnesty programme promising ex-fighters monthly payments and job training. However, few in the delta have seen the promised benefits and sporadic kidnappings and attacks continue. The last major kidnapping happened in August, when gunmen attacked a vessel operated by Sea Trucks Group, another oil and gas contractor, and kidnapped four workers. The workers were later released unharmed.

    While kidnappings in the delta routinely involve violence, most hostages are released a few weeks later unharmed after their employers pay a ransom.

  • Kidnapped wife of Osun Speaker rescued in Ogun

    Kidnapped wife of Osun Speaker rescued in Ogun

    The wife of the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Alhaja Muibat Salaam, who was kidnapped last Tuesday in Ejigbo, Osun State, was yesterday rescued from her captors in Ilaro, Ogun State.

    She was set free by a vigilance group while her kidnappers were making effort apparently to take her across the border to the neighbouring Benin Republic.

    It was gathered that the vigilance group became suspicious of the presence of the lone woman in the midst of nine tough men.

    They soon engaged the kidnappers in an argument and then a gun duel ensued.

    One of the suspects was killed, three were apprehended while the rest escaped.

    The woman was said to have given the vigilance men her husband’s cell phone number to speak with him.

    It was gathered that after the discussion between the Speaker and his wife, he called the Osun State Commissioner of Police, Mrs. Kalafite Adeyemi, who in turn alerted her counterparts in Oyo and Ogun States.

    The Osun State police boss was said to have gone to Ogun State with some of her men to bring back the Speaker’s wife to reunite with her family in the state.

    Meanwhile, on receiving the information, the immediate family of the Speaker as well as the people across the state went into jubilation.

    Alhaja Salaam was abducted after closing from her shop in Ejigbo, Osun State where she sells foodstuff.