| The unknown gunmen, who on Tuesday kidnapped four expatriates at Owaza Junction, near Obehie in Abia State, on the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, are demanding N300 million, before their victims would be released. A source said yesterday that the kidnappers called the management of Netco Dietsman, a contracting firm to the Anglo/Dutch oil giant, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), to demand the ransom. The source also said the kidnappers declared that if the ransom was not quickly paid at an undisclosed location, the lives of Kevin Gray, Philip Martins and John Bennett (Britons), as well as a Columbian, Mr. Fabian, would be endangered. The source also confirmed that the kidnappers did not move into Rivers State as alleged, but disappeared with their victims into the forest, near some villages in Abia State. The local government has since been cordoned off by policemen from Rivers and Abia states. Police spokesperson Rita Inoma-Abbey said no arrest had been made, but that policemen were on the trail of the kidnappers. She, however, could not confirm the demand of ransom. The spokesperson said the villagers told policemen that they saw the kidnappers, who backed the expatriates to escape into the forest. |
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Jan142010