| Kidnappers yesterday struck again in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, at No 91, Ada George road, shop of Dorathy Otele, wife of a Bayelsa lawmaker, Honourable Franklyn Otele. The gunmen who kidnapped her later demanded N400million ransom. The rasnsom was later reduced to N200million. This came just as five Julius Berger workers kidnapped last week Wednesday, along Calabar River, were released . Kidnappers of the lawmaker’s wife, dressed in mobile policemen uniforms, allegedly pretended they were arresting the lady, but when neighbours asked where she was being taken to, the armed men fired into the air. It, however, dawned on them that the woman had been kidnapped when all attempts to trace her to any police station failed. Her husband allegedly told security agencies in Port Harcourt that he had received text messages about a month ago, threatening to kidnap his wife and daughter. He also told the security men that when the kidnappers demanded for the N400 million ransom which was later reduced by half, they told him that they wanted money from Bayelsa State government. Police spokesperson, DSP Ireju Barasua, confirmed the kidnap for which no group has so far claimed responsibility. Meanwhile, the five Julius Berger workers who were seized together with cement consignment they were conveying were freed, following the intervention by some traditional institutions in the state. Although security agencies said they located where the pirates took the men, they could not free them. |
Mar192008