According to Army spokeswoman, Roseline Managbe who spoke with Reuters.”Yesterday the Four Brigade raided Ogwashi-Ukwu in search of Mama, and 63 people were arrested in the raids.
“Those arrested are being questioned,” she added.
Residents of the area, where Okonjo-Iweala’s mother was abducted, now reportedly live in fear of the near daily abductions.
“It could be my turn tomorrow,” said Tony Agwu, who lives near Okonjo’s house.
“It’s
a terrible situation down here. The security situation in the Delta is
disturbing,” he added, voicing the widely held view that security forces
are often complicit.
“Around this time during
Christmas I start to get worried,” said Shopia Oko-Akoko, a civil
servant and mother of two in Bayelsa State, adding that she often looks
over her shoulder entering her car.
“Many times I’ve seen cars following me. Once someone followed me on foot and I ran off in terror as he approached.”
Okonjo’s kidnapping is a risky strategy for the abductors
“If
it’s just a kidnap for ransom, then they’re not the smartest boys in
the world,” said Peter Sharwood-Smith,Nigeriacountry manager of security
firm Drum Cussac.
“Everybody else learned that you don’t pick the most high profile. It’s not worth it. This might not end well for them.
“Kidnapping
is worse than during the militancy period, but it’s mostly rich
Nigerians who pay up and you never hear about it,” Sharwood-Smith said.
Political
motives have been suggested for the abduction. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s
drive to reform a corrupt economy ruffled powerful vested interests,
especially fuel importers.
“Whatever the motive,
the main cause is joblessness,” said Felix Osaduwe, a student in Delta
state. “Get them jobs in a bank or a firm, there’s no way they’ll turn
to kidnapping.”
Two policemen who were supposed to
be on duty guarding the palace but were not on duty at the time of the
kidnap are also in detention. It was gathered that a contact has already
been established with the kidnappers who reportedly reduced the ransom
being demanded as a pre-condition for her release from $1 billion to
N200 million.
According to sources, the reduction
in the ransom followed the negotiation between Onyema, one of the sons
of the abducted woman and the kidnappers.
Meanwhile,
Police inDeltaStateare investigating the involvement of three suspected
kidnappers who were arrested on their way to Ogwashi-Uku on Sunday,
December 9 morning, the same day Professor Kamene Okonjo, the
82-year-old mother of the
Minister of Finance, Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was abducted by a 10-man kidnap gang in broad daylight.
Aduba confirms arrest of suspects
DeltaStateCommissioner
of Police, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba, who confirmed the arrest of the three
suspected kidnappers, however, said the police have not established
their involvement and otherwise with the gang that seized the queen
mother.
His words, “It (kidnap of Professor
Okonjo) was really a setback because that same day, we were able to
round up three young men that were heading to Ogwashi-Uku for a kidnap.
“One
of them was armed. Nobody knows their identification, they were
unidentified, three of them and they are still with us. There is going
to be a press conference and you will see them. So that is the thing,
honestly, it took every person by surprise.” he added.
SSG meets with service providers
Secretary
to the Delta State Government, Comrade Ovuozorie Macaulay, yesterday,
in Asaba met behind closed doors with communication service providers.
The
details were not made public, but it was believed that the discussions
centered on how they could help in providing timely information on the
call log of kidnappers and communication made by kidnappers to relations
of their victims and other related matters.
Police parade 26 kidnappers
Commissioner
Aduba, who addressed reporters in Asaba, yesterday, paraded about
26-suspected kidnappers that were arrested in the last few months by the
police and assured that the police were doing everything possible to
ensure a crime-free yuletide.
Adopt personal security measures
On
why the palace was porous security wise, he said: “I don’t want to join
issues with anybody. I visited the monarch on Thursday, (December 6),
there was no complaint of such that bothers on security. In a palace,
there are supposed to be palace chiefs, there are supposed to be palace
guards. The Emir of Bauchi, can you enter his palace? I am asking. The
Sultan of Sokoto, can you enter his palace”?
kidnappings: US officials meet Kuku
…as cries out over cloned e-mail
Concerned
by the rising wave of high profile kidnappings in the Niger Delta
Region, officials of theUnited states of America’s Department of State
met the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Chairman of
the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Hon. Kingsley Kuku, inAbuja,
yesterday, to discuss ways to stem the tide.
Mr.
Neal Kringle who led a three-man delegation of the meeting said his
office was prepared to collaborate with the Kuku team to ensure a
peaceful Niger Delta, which he considered a pre-condition for the
desired rapid development of the region.
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