Ebonyi state government says the abductors of the two Chinese Nationals, suspected to be members of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign state of Biafra (MASSOB) are currently demanding a ransom of twenty million naira before their hostages could be released. The two Chinese nationals reportedly abducted from a factory in Nnewi, Anambra state by suspected members of MASSOB were traced to mountainous boundary towns of Okagbue and Ekoli-Edda in Ohafia and Afikpo South local government areas of Abia and Ebonyi States .
The combined team of military, state security service and mobile police force drafted to the area by the federal government are still strategizing on how to invade the mountainous enclave where the MASSOB people are holding their captives without inflicting injuries on innocent civilians. However, briefing newsmen on the development yesterday in Abakaliki, the Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Mr. Abia Onyike said that the abductors may not necessarily be MASSOB members but militants who are bent on jeopardizing the peaceful atmosphere which currently holds sway in the state. �Earlier in the year, the same group of people kidnapped a businessman from Anambra and took him to the same place where they were later given two million to release him. Now they are demanding N20 million. We don�t think they are MASSOB members, if they are political agitators, they will not engage in abduction and demand of ransom.
They are operating more on the level of criminality,� he stated. On why it had been difficult for the security operatives to invade the enclave, Onyike said the soldiers were only avoiding a situation where innocent people are killed in the process, adding that the hostages were equally entitled to some level of protection. His words; �they can�t just open fire on the militants, they have to study the terrain because it is very rugged and difficult, the most important thing is that they have gone there to contain the militants and before long, peace will effectively return to the area�. He also stated that the state government was concerned on the new dimension the whole situation had assumed where there are reported cases of rape and sporadic shootings arising from the invasion of the boarder communities of Okagbue in Abia state and Ekoli community in Ebonyi State by the soldiers. The Commissioner noted that the government was still investigating the situation, which also led to the villagers deserting the place with a view to restoring normalcy, stressing that such had always been the case whenever there is military action. �People are tensed up, I mean the rural people. The presence of the military has created tension. They are civilians who are not used to living with soldiers. But the aspect of engaging in rape is completely unacceptable, it makes the whole thing to look as if the town is under siege,� he stated.
May252007