THREE students of a private secondary school run by wife of a former deputy governor of Rivers State have been kidnapped. About twelve heavily armed men reportedly stormed the school on Tuesday night and disappeared with the children.
The state Police PRO, Mrs. Rita Inoma Abbey who confirmed the development to newsmen could not say how the kidnappers came. According to her, the way they invaded the school made it impossible for the private security arrangement of the school to put up any resistance. She said the police was already working round the clock to secure the release of the hostages.
Meanwhile, residents of slum settlements in the state capital have hailed operations of the Joint Task Force in the area which so far have led to arrest of many hoodlums in their neighbourhood. Some who spoke to Vanguard said at the moment they now sleep with their two eyes closed.
According to them, before now it was either they were being harassed with gun shot sounds from the hoodlums or female residents were being raped by the same group. They urged security operatives not to relent in the drive to make the areas safe for habitation.
They also appealed to Governor Rotimi Amaechi not embark on mass demolition of the water fronts. They submitted that though the areas sometimes serve as hideout for the hoodlums but with security already being stepped up in the areas these brigands had abandoned the places for the creeks.
Spokesman of the Joint Task Force, Lieutenant Col Sagir Musa had told newsmen that no fewer than three hundred suspected miscreants had been arrested by the security body following cordon and search operations it carried out at separate times last week in the areas. He said those arrested had been handed over to the appropriate quarters for thorough investigation.
Responding to the mass arrest, a militant body, Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, (MEND) said those arrested were innocent of acts of militancy. In an online statement yesterday signed by Jomo Gbomo, spokesman of the body, they said thus, “The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) can confirm that none of its fighters have been arrested following the blind clampdown on innocent civilians in Rivers state.
The military wishes to give a false impression they are doing something after the humiliating defeat they suffered in our hands and their inability to protect oil facilities that were supposed to have been fortified after the Bonga attack.
This random harassment of these jobless youths should be condemned by all as they are only being used as scape goats.”