Kidnappers Abduct Mother, Sons In Enugu

A mother and her three sons were Thursday abducted by suspected kidnappers at their farmland located at Ugbene Ajima in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State.

They were identified as Mrs Bridget Okey and her three sons, Chukwubuike, Chukwuemeka and Chijioke.

Sources said they were kidnapped while harvesting cassava on their farmland. Our correspondent learnt that the Chairman of Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area, Mr Chijioke Ezugwu, had visited the scene of the incident, and urged the natives to remain calm while efforts were ongoing to rescue the victims.

Meanwhile, a stakeholder of the community, Mr Sam Otti, has called on the government to beef up security in the area. According to him, cases of kidnapping had been reported in the LGA, hence “the need for concerted efforts to deploy security operatives to secure the agrarian LGA.”

He told reporters that, “We appeal to the Enugu State government, Uzo-Uwani Local Government Council, the Nigeria Police Force and other relevant security agencies to urgently deploy every necessary resource towards securing the immediate and safe release of Mrs Bridget Okey and her three sons. The family must not be abandoned to its fate. Every possible effort must be made to ensure that the victims return home alive and unharmed.

“Subjecting innocent children to the horrors of captivity for financial gain is barbaric and an affront to our collective humanity. No society should tolerate a situation in which children become bargaining chips in the hands of criminal elements. More troubling is the apparent spread of insecurity into rural communities, where farmers and other residents are increasingly exposed to abduction in places that should ordinarily be safe for their daily activities.”

Enugu State Police Command is yet to issue a release on the kidnap.