NEMA Official
Kidnapping: NEMA
NEMA Official
Kidnapping: NEMA Staff Pay Abductors, as Agencies
Discouraged from Paying Ransom
Government agencies are in dilemma on how to handle cases of staff
abducted by kidnappers when there are no provisions in the budget
for payments of ransom.
PRNigeria gathered from Presidency sources that as a deliberate
attempt by the government to discourage kidnapping, agencies are
urged to sensitize their staffs on security consciousness.
When emergency workers on official assignments were abducted by
Kidnappers in Rivers State recently, the National Emergency
Management Agency (NEMA) refused to pay any ransom for their
freedom.
The agency merely paid the staff their travelling expenses into
their accounts after the kidnapping.
The kidnappers who had collected their ATM cards withdrew all
the money in the accounts of the victims.
Meanwhile, PRNigeria learned that after the victims were
tortured in Orashi Forest in Rivers State where they were kept, the
families of the four abducted emergency workers mobilized and
raised N1,500,000 each to secure their eventual release.
A security source involved in the case told PRNigeria that
agencies of government are encouraged to report cases of abductions
to appropriate authorities for necessary actions rather than paying
ransoms.
The security officer said: “NEMA didn’t pay any money to the
abductors of the four staff who were eventually released. Even
though, the kidnappers asked for ransom, it wasn’t appropriate to
grant their senseless and reckless financial request. And this is
because, the government does not want to be seen supporting the
evil business of hostage-taking or better still, kidnapping.
“It was the families and relations of the four abducted NEMA
staff that sourced and paid the money demanded by the kidnappers as
their ransom.
A relation of one of the kidnapped (but now freed) NEMA workers,
told PRNigeria in a phone chat that the families of the four staff
each paid about N1.5 million naira when the kidnappers started to
torture them.
“Our sibling, together with three other NEMA colleagues, who
were abducted, saw hell during the period they were in captivity.
As family members, we had to sell some of our property for their
freedom.
“They were brutally tortured by their merciless kidnappers. They
were severely battered to the extent that some of them were
bleeding through their ears. For the whole week they spent in
captivity, they were not allowed to bath or freshen up. The
kidnappers also emptied their various bank accounts through their
ATM Cards and POS.
“You know the NEMA staff were not paid any allowance when they
embarked on the tour for the enumeration exercise in Rivers, until
the day of the abduction. The moment they received alerts for their
allowances, the kidnappers quickly withdrew it from their
accounts,” he said.
It would be recalled that, Five NEMA staff had successfully
completed an enumeration exercise they had gone to carry out in
Abua-Odual Local Government Area of the oil-rich State when
kidnappers ambushed their car and abducted four of the officials,
namely Julius Alunomoh, Damian Egwu, Olisa Ojukwu and Chidiebere
Wendy, the only female staff
The other staff, Minafel Ikisikpo, a son to an All Progressives
Congress (APC) chieftain in Bayelsa State, Senator Marcus Clever
Ikisikpo, who was shot and seriously injured, managed to escape
after he pretended to be dead.
The dangerous route used by kidnappers in Rivers State is the
East-West Road along Choba-Emuah-Elele-Ahoada West. The NEMA staff
were kidnapped close to Ahoada West by River Orashi and taken into
the Orashi forest.
By PRNigeria