Kidnapping, which seemed to have been confined to the Niger Delta where gunmen are holding sway, may have been shifted to the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT) Abuja.
Yesterday, the ugly trend reared its head in Abuja as some armed bandits invaded the University of Abuja and abducted the daughter of a member of House of Representatives, Hon. Christopher Benewari.
Benewari represents Opobo/ Nkoro/ Andoni Federal constituency of Rivers State.
His daughter whose name was given as Theresa was allegedly taken away by the gunmen in the wee hours of the morning to an unknown location from where her abductors have been making frantic phone calls to the father to redeem her with the sum of N100 million.

As at the time of filing this report, no group has claimed responsibility for the abduction.
It could also not be ascertained if the kidnappers are from the Niger Delta region where the Benewaris hail from.
Attempts to reach Benewari for his reaction failed as he was said to be in a pensive mood since the news of his daughter’s abduction broke.
The kidnappers are said to have brought down their demand to N70 million after fruitlessly waiting for the huge sum they earlier demanded.

There has been an upsurge in the spate of kidnappings in the country, mostly in the Niger Delta.
But it seemed yesterday was a day of kidnapping as there was an orgy of abduction across the country.
An eight-year-old daughter of the Chief Accountant of the Delta State Ministry of Lands, Surveys and Urban Develop-ment, Tare Isiaye, was seized in Asaba by yet unknown gunmen while a Lebanese, Mr. Jimmi Rahjah, was abducted by a group of hoodlums at Oloto Community in Okitipupa Local Government of Ondo State.
The Portuguese kidnapped by the militants at Ajagba, Irele Local Government Area of the state was also yet to be released.

The whereabouts of the kidnapped daughter of the chief accountant in Delta State was still unknown last night
Isiaye, who is a former Chief Accountant, Government House, under the administration of Chief James Ibori, told reporters that his daughter was kidnapped by two men who were in a car that had trailed his driver, right at the entrance of his residence on Isiaye Drive, Anwai, Asaba around 4 pm.
He said his driver had gone to pick the daughter from school and was driving into his residence when the two men alighted from the car and forcibly removed her from the car into their own car and drove off.
As at the time of filing this report, sympathisers had already thronged Isiaye’s residence. A family source told THISDAY that no contact had been established with the kidnappers as at the time of this report.

When contacted, Delta State Police Commissioner Jacob Oshiomogho and Spokesman of the police command, Mr. Charles Muka, told THISDAY that officers and men of his command were already on red alert even as THISDAY learnt they were in Warri on the entourage of the AIG, Zone 5 Benin.
However, Isiaye told THISDAY that the matter had been reported to the command’s control room, adding that he was on his way to formally report the matter at the police station.

Delta State had been relatively quiet in matters of kidnap except last year’s abduction of the father of the Secretary to the Delta State Chief Arthur Okowa, who later regained his freedom.
Okowa, 75, was abducted from his residence at Boji Boji Owa, in Ika North-east Local Government Area of the state by four armed men at about 11.30 am on July 20, 2008. He regained his freedom on July 25, 2008.
In Ondo, Rahjah, an engineer working with another construction company, Samchase, was abducted late Wednesday by hoodlums who demanded ransom before they could release him.

However, security operatives on Wednesday arrested four of the militant youths that kidnapped a Portuguese, Luis Jose Rentad, who is an engineer with Picolo Construction Company handling project that will link Irele with Ilaje and Ese-Odo Local Governments.
The arrest of the militants, THISDAY learnt, was made possible by a joint patrol team of the Nigerian Army, Navy, Police and the State Security Services (SSS).

A security source said that one of hoodlums was apprehended when he was about collecting the sum of N2 million ransom promised them by the management of the Picolo Construction Company for onward release of the Portuguese.
The source said those arrested were now cooling their heels in an undisclosed detention as men of the patrol team have intensified efforts to arrest others and get the two expatriates released.
It was also gathered that an undisclosed huge ransom has been demanded by the abductors of the Lebanese before he could be released.

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Adeniran Aremu (ASP) confirmed the story, saying the command was making efforts so that the two expatriates could be released.
Meanwhile, for the second time within 48 hours, armed hoodlums have again kidnapped another clergy, Apostle Captain Ileru of Kingdom Peoples Mission Incorporated, Ebulu branch in Eleme, Rivers State.
The man of God was said to have been accosted by the kidnappers around 9.25 pm Wednesday as he was driving home after midweek service. He was forced inside his dark green Honda car and whisked to an unknown destination.
The General Overseer of Covenant Faith Assembly, Dr. Mike Ifijeh, was earlier taken from his Ada George residence by some hoodlums who broke into his house. They are demanding N8 million ransom.

Whereas contact has been made by those who abducted Ifijeh, kidnappers of Ileru are yet to make any contact or demand any ransom, though the belief in security circles is that he was taken for pecuniary reasons.
Confirming the incident, Spokesman of the Joint Military Task Force in the state, Lt. Col. Sagir Abubakar, said the Commander of the Task Force in the state, Brigadier-General Awwalu Mohammed, had directed all security agencies under his command to intensify efforts to track down the kidnappers.
He, however, said the registration number of the car in which the clergy was kidnapped was not available as at the time of going to press.

Sagir also narrated how the hoodlums had stormed Ifijeh’s residence and forced their way into his room and took him away despite the pleadings of the wife and children.
Only last week, the wife of former Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Edmund Daukoru, was abducted by gunmen operating in the oil city of Port Harcourt. She was released a few days later by her abductors who dropped her off in a hotel in the city.

Her abduction came soon after an 11-year-old-daughter of an employee of Shell Petroleum Development Company was shot dead for resisting the abduction of her eight-year-old brother on their way to school.
But the kidnapping scenario had for a long time been restricted to the volatile oil-rich region where armed militants have for several years battled security forces deployed to keep peace in the region.

Although there have been recent campaigns that kidnapping be made a crime punishable by death, it remains to be seen if this would serve as a deterrent to the perpetrators.


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