The 82 Division of the Nigerian Army operating in Abia State, under the leadership of its General Officer Commanding (GOC), General Sarkin Yaki Bello, says that it  has arrested about 449 suspected kidnappers and armed robbers from different locations in Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Imo and Rivers states since September 28.

The army said that out of this number, a total of 79 suspects had been handed over to the Abia State Command of the State Security Services (SSS) for further investigations and where necessary  for prosecution.

This was contained in a press release signed by Lt Col Sagir Musa, the Deputy Army Public Relations Officer, and made available to journalists in Aba.

Col Musa said that the Army after its investigation was able to release about 171 suspects to their families, while others were still in  its custody for further investigations.

Three French citizens who were kidnapped two months ago while working on an oil platform near Rivers State were released on Wednesday, France’s foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, and the company, Bourbon, said.

The Associated Press reports that French marine services provider, Bourbon said the three were being looked after by a company crisis unit in Nigeria and appeared to be in good health “despite difficult conditions while in captivity.”

Unidentified gunmen on Wednesday abducted Mrs Lakshmi Tombush, the principal of Mobil Pegasus Schools, Eket, in Akwa Ibom State.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that a police orderly attached to the victim and her driver were shot dead and abandoned in her car on Grace Bill road in Eket.

It was learnt the gunmen overtook and blocked the victim’s car, abducted her and sped off in their car to an unknown destination in the early hours of Wednesday.

Akwa Ibom State Police Command spokesman, ASP Onyeka Orji, told NAN on the telephone from Uyo that the police were already on the trail of the hoodlums.

The police spokesman added that investigation into the matter was in progress.

Orji expressed regret over the death of the officer in the incident but assured Nigerians that the perpetrators of the act would soon be apprehended and brought to book.

Security sources in Eket also confirmed the incident, but said that the kidnappers had yet to establish contact with the family of their hostage or demand any ransom.

The remains of the slain driver and police orderly have been removed from the scene of crime and deposited at the Immanuel Hospital mortuary in Eket in Akwa Ibom.

Tombush manages Pegasus Schools, funded by Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN), the operator of the MPN/NNPC Joint Venture in Akwa Ibom State, for staff children and some members of its host communities as part of its social responsibilities.

The Federal Government yesterday deployed hundreds of soldiers to Aba in lawless Abia State to hunt down an armed gang holding 15 school children hostage, residents said. Roughly 400 soldiers in armoured vehicles sealed off the town of Aba where the kidnapped youngsters are believed to have been held since gunmen hijacked their bus on the way to school on Monday.

“They are everywhere and have taken over the streets. They have cordoned off the area. People are not allowed in or out of the town. Several shops, banks and schools remain shut,” one resident, who did not wish to be named, told Reuters.

This abduction of a large group of children, some of them as young as 3, has caused outrage as the nation prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary of independence from Britain today. Meanwhile, the management of Abayi International School Aba, Abia State, the kidnapped children’s school, said yesterday that the kidnappers have reduced the ransom money to N20 million from the initial N40 million they demanded.

Ogechi James, a management staff of the school, who revealed this Thursday in a briefing in Aba, noted that they have offered N100,000 which the kidnappers turned down. She affirmed that the school, like the other schools in the commercial city, has temporarily shut down while they await the release of the kidnapped pupils.

Some of the parents of the children who were present at the briefing urged the Federal Government to wade into the matter and free their children as the kidnappers are adamant. David Ezeribe, whose three children are involved, said his family had known no peace since the incident.

“I have not been myself; even my wife has not rested since Monday.” He said his children- Prince (6) who is in primary one, Testimony (4) and Grapevine (3), both in nursery one, left home with only a slice of bread they had before the school bus came to pick them. “I am most worried about Grapevine who had a malaria attack on Sunday and had received only one dose of treatment before the abduction”.

He pleaded with the kidnappers to let the children come back home. Ndudi Ihesieme, 35, whose two children were also among the kidnapped-Winner (4) and Macdonald (3), said his wife, who is nursing a four month old baby, has not slept and has been crying since the incident. However, Danni Ubani, president of Renaissance Youths of Ngwa Land has urged the kidnappers to release the abducted children uncondittionally, noting that the issue would have a devastating effect on Ngwa people and Nigeria in general, if anything untoward happens to the innocent children.

Ubani urged the kidnappers to embrace the amnesty programme of the state government to better their lives. President Goodluck Jonathan who faces an election early next year, condemned the kidnapping as “utterly callous and cruel” and said security forces would take “all necessary steps” to secure the children’s release.

Three French oil workers were kidnapped from a drilling supply ship last week, and police in nearby Rivers state say a group of five women were kidnapped two weeks ago by a gang believed to be from Abia State. There has been no word on the fate of either group, although in most instances in Nigeria, hostages are released unharmed after ransoms are paid.

Umuahia—ABA, the commercial capital of Abia State was literally shut down yesterday on account of the activities of hoodlums, especially kidnappers.

Residents of the commercial city now live in fear following the kidnapping of 15 school children whose school bus was hijacked by the kidnappers who are now demanding for N20 million ransom before they could be released.

Banks, Schools, hospitals, markets and even street shops were closed yesterday by their owners for fear of being attack by criminals who seem to have declared war on the commercial city. The city now looked like a ghost town.

Fear gripped residents of Aba, Abia State on Monday as news spread that gunmen had hijacked a bus conveying pupils to school and seized 15 of them.

Also on Monday, a former deputy governor of the state, Mr. Chris Akomas, was quizzed and detained at the headquarters of the Abia State Command of the Nigeria Police Force in Umuahia, the state capital for alleged security breaches.

Three French oil workers were yesterday kidnapped off the Coast of Bonny Island in Rivers State.

The three men, whose names could not be confirmed as at press time, were abducted from a vessel working on Addax offshore field.

The armed men used many speed boats for the operation.

A security source said the kidnappers shot sporadically into the air for some minutes in order to scare people in the neighbourhood, before picking their targets and disappearing into the creeks.

As at press time, no contact had been established by the kidnappers, with the employers of the French men.

Four Nigerians have been arrested for allegedly kidnapping six people in Malaysia, the Nigerian High Commissioner to that country, Ambassador Peter Anegbeh, said on Monday.

He told the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja that the suspects allegedly kidnapped four Nigerians, one Malaysian and an Indonesian in late June.

Anegbeh noted with regret that hostage-taking involving “supposedly Nigerian students” had become a common trend in recent times in Malaysia.

Goodluck Jonathan has assured Nigerians that the police and other security agencies will be equipped with modern gadgets to stem the tide of kidnapping .

The president gave the assurance on Friday in Uyo, while responding to questions during a town hall meeting with Akwa Ibom people, at the Government House.

“We have allowed kidnapping to degenerate to an embarrassing level. There are some communities where kidnapping is becoming a business. We are not comfortable. Government is not happy with the situation and will not hesitate to deal with anybody involved in the act henceforth,” he said. He said.

The president said that the current security challenges in our country were being taken seriously, and the full weight of the law would be unleashed on the culprits.

He added that the National Assembly will look into the laws concerning kidnapping, with a view to making them more stringent.

News Source: 234Next.com