Almost after one month of military successes in Abia State, and just when some state gov­ernments are fiercely at war over who won the Abia victory, kidnappers have staged a come back. In very fierce opera­tions for the whole of the week, the gunmen stormed Ngwaiyie­kwe deadly spot and kidnapped over 17 travellers.

Meanwhile, fresh corpses of four youths were found at the emerging dumpsite at the same Ngwaiyiekwe spot, all face down. Policemen nearby could hardly give details when BusinessDay team chatted with them. One of them said: “Oga, we are not from this state. All I know is that this is how we find corpses every day”.

The security operative who held firmly to his rifle even as he talked, said the bad boys still rush unto the expressway, grab who­ever was available, and rush back into the bush. Security sources said a man travelling from Port Harcourt last week was abducted at the same spot. “His vehicle is still parked at the police station and the man has not been found”, the source stated.

In other parts of the hot zone, the gangs have found confidence again, now eliminating those be­lieved to be passing information to security agencies. The JTF has been urging citizens to pass infor­mation needed to fight the gangs. The new upsurge has created fear and tension even as businesses began last week to find their feet.

At about 2p.m last Wednesday, gunmen suspected to be kidnap­pers abducted 15 persons at Ngwaiyiekwe in Ugwunagbo local government area of Abia State to raise the security bar.

This development is also coming on the hills of the alleged killing of a pregnant woman and a man in one of the villages of Obingwa local government area of the state with their houses set ablaze.

BusinessDay gathered that the kidnappers, who operated at Ngwaiyiekwe junction along the Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway, hijacked a commercial bus head­ing towards Port Harcourt and abducted all the 14 passengers and took them to an unknown destination.

About the same time and place, the hoodlums kidnapped a woman who was being driven by her son to Aba. The abductors were yet to place any ransom on their victims as at the time of fil­ing in this report.

A close source to the Joint Military Task Force deployed to restore sanity in the state confirmed the incident, noting however that about seven people out of the 15 victims have been released.

The source did not give fur­ther details, but assured that soldiers were doing everything possible to free the remaining kidnapped persons and arrest their abductors.

Beaf:

JTF is not equipped to deal with police matters. We need to modernise our police and speed up the training of our anti-terrorist squads.

chyz1:

I don't get it. Is it that these group of igbos are weak or what? They don't know how to deal with these kidnappers/robbers? I think the best thing to do is send some Igbos from Anamba or Imo to that area of Abia state to whip those people up very well.

chyz1:

I don't get it. Is it that these group of igbos are weak or what? They don't know how to deal with these kidnappers/robbers? I think the best thing to do is send some Igbos from Anamba or Imo to that area of Abia state to whip those people up very well.

marcdunu:

Osisi now has AK47s and General Purpose Machines he inherited from his apperentice under Ateke Tom and you are talking sending people to whip them up.

Terrorism is now spreading in the South and we need a strong leader who will call these terrorists bluff.

Nsiman:

Some time i use to wonder what the intelligent unit of security outfit do. Are these kidnappers strangers in Abia, do they fly into Abia etc. I will suggest to the security outfit to summon all the chiefs in Abia for questioning because these kidnappers are living in their domain.

In other parts of the hot zone,
the gangs have found confidence
again, now[b] eliminating those be­
lieved to be passing information
to security agencies.[/b] The JTF has
been urging citizens to pass infor­
mation needed to fight the
gangs. The new upsurge has
created fear and tension even as
businesses began last week to
find their feet.

chyz1:

I don't get it. Is it that these group of igbos are weak or what? They don't know how to deal with these kidnappers/robbers? I think the best thing to do is send some Igbos from Anamba or Imo to that area of Abia state to whip those people up very well.

EzeUche0:

What? Remember where Bakassi originated from? God's Own State. . .

Abia Igbos are actually the most warlike and strongest.

chyz1:

O I doubt that. You must not know about Anambra or Ebonyi. What are the bakassi boys doing now? Besides they were a mix of different Igbos.

Dawgpound:

As strong as u Abians are how come kidnappers are living large in your domain then?

EzeUche0:

Really? Anambra Igbos were strong? Thought Nri boys was preaching peace? Ebonyi Igbos are the weak Igbo clans that Ohafia and Abiriba used to practice their head-hunting techniques on.

Vigilante justice found its roots in Abia and spread to Anambra. Do not forget that.

Dawgpound:

As strong as u Abians are how come kidnappers are living large in your domain then?

chyz1:

So Afikpo, Ezza, and Ezillo are weak? Do you know that it is like afganistan in ebonyi state now to the point no reporters go there to report the war thats going on. And its been like that for a while. Send a group of Onitsha, Awka, and Nnewi boys down to Abia and see if they don't take it over.This kidnapping must stop.

EzeUche0:

On a side note, Afikpo Igbo is so hard to comprehend.