Delta lecturer’s wife, two Cross River women kidnaped for ransom

Kidnappers of the wife of Dr. Sunny Ojobor, a lecturer in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Delta State University, Abraka, have demanded a ransom of N10m before they can release her.

The victim’s husband told journalists on Wednesday that the abductors had established contact with him with a demand for N10m.

“These are our boys. Their English might not be too sound, but they are enlightened,” Sunny said while blaming hustlers from the Niger Delta for the abduction.

“It is very annoying that we have got to this place in Nigeria that somebody, who is doing her business and managing her life will be kidnapped because people are looking for money,” he lamented.

The victim, who is a staff member of the Erho Secondary School, Abraka, was kidnapped from her shop on old Eku-Abraka Road on Monday around 6.30pm.

A community source told one of our correspondents that the hoodlums, numbering about five, stormed the victim’s shop and started shooting indiscriminately before they whisked her into a standby vehicle to an unknown destination.

The source stated, “They came in a commando style and started shooting, and before people could figure out what was happening, they had whisked her away. They also drove away with her SUV.

“Residents came out and with the help of some vigilantes, the kidnappers were given a chase, but they couldn’t get them.”

contacted on Wednesday, the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Onome Onovwakpoyeya, confirmed the incident, adding that the police were on top of the situation to rescue the victim.

“I can’t begin to disclose some vital information regarding the kidnap, but we are on top of the situation. For now, there are no updates,” she stated. The PPRO noted that nobody had been arrested in connection with the incident but added that a manhunt had been launched for the abductors.

“The command is doing everything possible to rescue the victim alive and apprehend the abductors,” she said.

Similarly, two women have been kidnapped in Calabar, Cross River State, 48 hours apart.

One of the victims was identified as the wife of an auto spare parts dealer identified simply as Longinus.

It was gathered that Longinus’ wife was abducted on Tuesday from her house on Victory Way, Satellite Town, Calabar.

She was said to be picking her belongings from her car when she was abducted.

Earlier on Sunday, an employee of a federal agency, simply identified as Mrs Ochie, was abducted.

The incident also happened in her house in Bakoko, Nasarawa, a Hausa community in Calabar.

Details of the two incidents were sketchy as of the time of filing this report.

When contacted, the state Commissioner of Police, Abdulkadir Jimoh, said, “I am just coming back from Ogoja. I have been there since Monday because of the election coming up next week. We had a stakeholders’ meeting yesterday (Tuesday).

“Crime is dynamic and we must resolve it. Cross River is not as bad as other states. We are doing our best. We are arresting and parading criminals despite what we went through during the #EndSARS protests.”

There have been rising cases of kidnapping of mostly women in Calabar over the past few weeks, but the police have been able to arrest some suspects.