Yet-to-be-identified gunmen kidnapped a father, mother, daughter, and two other people along the ever-busy Mile 2 axis of the Ishiagu/Okigwe express road, Ebonyi State.
Information gathered had it that the victims were said to be returning home from Enugu Airport with an airport taxi (Sienna Vehicle) with reg/no. KWL 941 PD before they were kidnapped at Mile 2 area, Ishiagu, and taken into the nearby bush by unknown gunmen.
A source from the community who identified the victims disclosed the man’s name as Ajah Chibuzo, age 41, with his wife and his 12-year-old daughter.
Others kidnapped were the Enugu airport driver of the vehicle and the farmer the abductors picked from his farm, who took the others to the bush.
The source also told Tribune Online that the victim’s car was recovered at the scene of the incident before the police took it to Ishiagu Police Station.
Recall that no fewer than 20 people have been kidnapped along the axis in the last 4 months, with about 4 killed by the rampaging kidnappers.
The women of the community had, about a few months ago, staged a protest that later turned violent following the continued abduction of innocent residents of the area by the hoodlums.
When contacted, the Special Assistant to the Ebonyi State Governor on Internal Security, Ivo Local Government Area of the State, Hon. Ike Cletus, who confirmed the abduction, expressed regret that the local government has become a safe haven for kidnappers and attributed it to the lack of functionality of the local Vigilante Group in the council.
Hon. Cletus expressed the concern that, apart from the military personnel at the express road, the vigilante group set up by the council is not functional and calls for a total overhaul of the security architecture of the local government.
His words: “It is unfortunate that Ivo Local Government has become a safe haven for kidnappers and other criminal elements.
We have a non-functional vigilante group in the local government.
You hardly see them anywhere in the local government, yet money is spent on them monthly without any fruitful result.
“The security architecture of the local government, especially that of the local Vigilante Group, must be overhauled and made more efficient.
“He maintained that the administration of Rt. Hon. Francis Nwifuru is determined to ensure the security of the lives and properties of its citizens and needs the support of the Council Chairmen in whose domain the kidnappers operate freely”.
At press time, the phone number of the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Chris Anyanwu, was switched off.
Credit: Nigerian Tribune
