A MEM BER of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly whose kidnapped was kidnapped Tuesday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Mr. Franklin Otele, yesterday said he would not succumb to pressure from the kidnappers who are demanding N200 million ransom to set her free.
Mrs. Dorothy Otele was kidnapped along Ada George Road in Port Harcourt and whisked away to an unknown destination.
Otele in a telephone interview in Yenagoa said shortly after the kidnap, he received a call from anonymous callers demanding ransom.
�Since the incident happened, suspected kidnappers have been calling me, demanding ransom ranging between N200 million and N400 million. Where do they expect me to get the money?
�I don�t have money and I am not ready to negotiate her release with anybody but I am hoping on the security network of the security operatives,� he said.
The lawmaker is yet to come to terms with the incident as he keeps wondering why his wife was targeted by the gunmen.
The kidnappers allegedly dressed in Mobile police uniform tricked the woman out of a beauty salon where she was dressing her hair before whisking her away.
Security beef-up around Bayelsa State Assembly quarters
Meanwhile, security has been beefed up around the Bayelsa State House of Assembly quarters in Yenogoa, Bayelsa State following of Mrs. Otele�s kidnap.
The Assembly quarters, situated along the Azikoro Road, yesterday, witnessed unusual high presence of policemen with visitors subjected to thorough screening before being allowed entry while those without serious business at the quarters were turned back.
Although no reason was given for the tight security, informed sources told Vanguard that it might not be unconnected with the kidnap in neighbouring Port Harcourt.
Many sympathisers who thronged the Assembly quarters yesterday on hearing the sad news of the lawmaker’s wife were turned back by the security operatives.
While some people expressed concern about the deteriorating security situation in Port Harcourt, where some unruly elements have turned kidnapping to money spinning venture, others expressed concern at the attitude of some Bayelsans, especially lawmakers, who find it more convenient to live in Port Harcourt.
According to them, �most Bayelsa politicians can hardly wait for the weekend before rushing to Port Harcourt to join their families as they have refused to settle in Yenagoa.�
A family source who spoke on condition of anonymity said unknown persons had been threatening to kidnap the lawmaker�s wife and daughter before they finally struck, Tuesday.
The embattled lawmaker, a native of Biseni in Yenagoa local government area, investigation revealed, was a contractor with the Nigerian Agip Oil Company and the Anglo-Dutch oil giant, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) before he ventured into politics. He was elected into the Bayelsa State House of Assembly in 2003 and re-elected in 2007.
Otele was suspended alongside five of his colleagues by a faction of the House led by the Speaker, Werinipre Seibarugu, when the crisis that rocked the People�s Democratic Party in the state divided the House, resulting in a gale of suspension and counter-suspension.