One Nigerian lost his life when kidnappers struck
in Buguma, Asari-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State on Friday,
abducting four Thai farm workers.The Thai workers were said to have been whisked
away while they were on their way to the state government-owned fish farm in
Buguma.
It was gathered that the expatriates were with
two Nigerians when the incident happened as the victims were forced into a
waiting vehicle and taken to an unknown destination.
One of the two Nigerians, according to a source,
had, out of fear, jumped into a river as soon as they were released by the
kidnappers. He was said to have drowned immediately.
The state Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Emma
Chinda, told Saturday PUNCH that the body of the deceased had been retrieved
from the river.Chinda explained that six employees of Omida
Farms, an Israeli company managing the government-owned fish farm, were
accosted by bandits about 7.30 am as they (victims) were going for the day’s
work.“They were six in number; four expatriates and
two Nigerians. The six of them were kidnapped while the two Nigerians among
them were released almost immediately.
“Out of fear, one of the Nigerians jumped into
the river and drowned. His body has been retrieved from the water and we have
informed the police about the incident.“As I speak with you, efforts are being made to
secure the release of the expatriates as the local government chairman of
Asari-Toru and I are taking steps to ensure that the workers are released,”
Chinda added.
The commissioner, however, attributed the
development to the worsening state of security in Rivers, adding that hoodlums
had been emboldened by the level of insecurity in the state.
“The hoodlums have before now discontinued all
these acts of aggression and criminality until they became emboldened by the
fact that they believe that security is out of the state government’s hand.
“They (criminals) now believe that they have
superiority over the security agents. Now, the danger is that they are all
coming out of their hiding and terrorising people of the state,” the
commissioner observed.
Source-The Punch
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