Written by Biola Azeez, Leon Usigbe, with Agency Report
THE Chairman of Lagos State council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mr Wahab Oba and three other journalists, with their driver, who were kidnapped penultimate Sunday in Abia State, have regained their freedom.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that they regained their freedom in the early hours of Sunday, between 1.30 and 2 a.m. at Ukpakiri, in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State.
Narrating their ordeal to newsmen at the Police Headquarters, Umuahia, Oba and the others said that they were released by their abductors in a market.
He said that the hoodlums had taken them to a market square where they were abandoned between 1.30 a.m. and 2 a.m. and that they had to wait till 6 a.m. “and we were there until the police came and rescued us.
“They collected all our personal effects, including laptops, wristwatches and the sum of N3 million and even shared the money in our presence,” he said.
Oba said that they were fed on bread once a day but that at a time they declared a fast “and they asked us if we were fasting against them.
“We explained to them that we are journalists, who were at the vanguard of enthroning good governance, and even told them that we have been in the forefront for the release of Chief (Ralph) Uwazuruike, leader of the Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra (MOSSOB).
“We even requested them to give our phones to us to contact our families for them to bring the money they requested but they said that they were not after our money but that of the government.
“We were not beaten except the fact that they blindfolded us on some occasions.
“The kidnappers told us that they resorted to protest as a result of bad governance in Abia and accused the state government of diverting the money the Federal Government released for amnesty.
“They told us that they were giving the state government one month to either complete the amnesty programme or face their wrath and that they will come out openly to shoot at people,” he said.
Oba said that the hoodlums accused the government of insensitivity to the plight of residents of the state and threatened to disrupt the 2011 general election.
Mr Silver Okereke, a Daily Champion correspondent, said that at a point the kidnappers blindfolded them and took them to a point they were to be slaughtered.
“They told us to say our final prayer,” he said, adding that it was a sad experience.
“I don’t know whether government paid any money but they told us that they did not collect any money and that they were releasing us due to our profession so that we will go and right the wrongs in the society,” Okereke said.
He said that the hoodlums had the best of communication networking, adding that all the information that transpired in the course of their captivity were at the finger-tips of the kidnappers.
“These people are well connected and are aware of every bit of police movement both internal and external,” he said....
Okereke said the kidnappers’ colleagues outside the country were also communicating with them to give them information.
Meanwhile, Abia State Commissioner of Police, Mr Jonathan Johnson declined comments, saying that the Inspector General of Police, Mr Ogbonna Onovo, would be in Umuahia to address journalists on the issue.
Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan has welcomed the release of the four journalists, and their driver.
According to a statement signed by his Special Adviser, Mr. Ima Niboro, in Abuja, on Sunday, the president noted that their release brought to closure “a sordid criminal incident, which, however, must be uprooted once and for all in Nigeria.”
While commending the police and Nigerians in general “for turning sufficient heat on the kidnappers and causing them to abandon the victims,” President Jonathan charged Mr Onovo, to ensure that the criminals were apprehended by all means.
He felicitated with the freed journalists, their families and the NUJ, saying “even as we celebrate freedom today, let us insist that this spate of criminality must stop. In every way possible, we must say no to these vices, and assist the authorities to expose perpetrators and bring an end to these vices as quickly as possible.”
However, the Abia State government has said that the traditional ruler of Amauba-Ime Oboro Autonomous Community in Ikwuano Local Government Area of the state, Eze Vincent Okezie Uche, has been placed under arrest and has been charged to court for allegedly aiding kidnapping and armed robbery.
The state government also said the monarch had been dethroned as the traditional ruler of Amauba-Ime Oboro Autonomous and his staff of office withdrawn.
The Abia State government, in a press statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Kingsley Emereuwa, also said that other traditional rulers, namely, Eze Okechukwu Atulobi of Osusu Abala Autonomous Community; Eze Nwabiaraije Eneogwe of Abayi Autonomous Community, and Eze S. Onwukwe of Abala Ibeme Autonomous Community, all in Obingwa Local Government Area of the state, had been suspended as traditional rulers of their communities.
The decision to suspend the three royal fathers, the statement said, “followed security reports of their alleged serious involvement in sponsoring kidnapping and armed robbery in the state, for which they are currently under investigation.
“The state government wants to assure the entire citizenry that it will not stop at anything to eradicate the shameful manace of kidnapping and armed robbery in the state, as any person/s suspected to be behind this ugly vocation, no matter how highly placed, will be summarily dealt with,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State and Mr Onovo have promised kidnappers in the state total onslaught henceforth if the kidnappers refused to lay down their arms.
Speaking while receiving the freed journalists and their driver at the executive chambers of the Government House, Umuahia, on Sunday, the governor urged kidnappers in the state to partner with the government rather than go into criminality to attract attention. “No development can take place in a state of insecurity,” the governor said.
Governor Orji said that the youth of Ngwa area, particularly Obingwa, had hindered development projects by kidnapping either the contractors or expatriates handling projects in the area, adding that they refused to key into the recent amnesty programme of the state government.
The governor said the state government had not received any money from the Federal Government with regard to the amnesty programme as being rumoured by the kidnappers. “If we receive any such money we will give it to them,” Orji said.
He congratulated the South-East governors, the Nigeria Police and all those who assisted in securing the release of the abducted journalists, adding that kidnapping should be fought nationally.
He also charged journalists to fight kidnapping with their pens and also fight for freedom in all its ramifications, adding they should also join in he campaign for a better equipped police.
Also speaking, the IGP said that rescuing the journalists was a big challenge to him and the Nigeria police, since their ultimate goal was to rescue them alive, adding that the kidnap of the journalists had brought out the fact that everybody was a potential victim of the kidnappers.
The police boss thanked the governor for his assistance, saying that security was the business of everybody and that police operation in the South-East to rout criminals had just started. He said the police would go after the criminals, warning that many innocent people would be inconvenienced.
In a vote of thanks, Mr Oba expressed his appreciation to all Nigerians, their families, the police force and the Abia State governor for all the sacrifices they made to ensure their release.
Oba called that the police to be properly equipped, saying that their weaponry did not compare favourably with what the criminals were flaunting.
Ukpakiri town, where the four kidnapped journalists were rescued, on Sunday, was calm, but there was still a heavy presence of security men in the area.
A NAN correspondent reported that the people carried on their normal activities but they expressed joy that the journalists regained their freedom unhurt.
Chief Okoro Kalu, a community leader, told NAN that he was happy that the journalists, who had helped to shape the country positively, regained their freedom.
Chief Azuka Alagwu, the president of Aba Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, said the kidnap of the journalists had drawn the attention of the Federal Government to the sufferings of the Aba business community.
He urged the government to eradicate kidnapping to save businesses in Aba, which is 10 kilometres from Obingwa.
Also, the Rivers State Commissioner for Information, Mrs Ibim Semenitari, expressed gratitude to God over the release of the journalists by their abductors.
The commissioner told NAN in Port Harcourt, on Sunday, that it was a thing of joy that the journalists came out unharmed.
Mr Akinola Ariyo, the Financial Secretary, Lagos State council of NUJ, told NAN on telephone that journalists in the council were happy over the freedom of their colleagues.
He added that the families of the journalists received the news with joy.
Ariyo thanked the federal and state governments, the security agencies and the NUJ president, Muhammad Garba, for their roles in the release of the journalists.
He also thanked other members of NUJ, religious leaders and Nigerians for their prayers over the incident.
The Minister of Information and Communications, Professor Dora Akunyili, charged Nigerians, on Sunday, that they should stand up against the kidnappers.
Akunyili told NAN that payment of ransom had encouraged kidnapping, which, she lamented, had now become an industry.
In his reaction, the president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Mr Gbenga Adefaye, recommended that kidnappers should be punished to put an end to the act.
