Gunmen Kidnap Total Official, 2 Toddlers

There appears to be no end to the spate of kidnapping and abduction in the Niger Delta as Secretary to the Deputy General Manager of Total Oil, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Nkwo was, Monday night, kidnapped by unknown gun men on her way from Church in Port Harcourt. The kidnappers have already demanded for N80 million ransom. Mrs. Nkwo, who was driving a blue Honda City car, was said to have been trailed and eventually blocked at the gate of Trans Amadi Estate on her way home from evening service at the Royal House of Grace Church on Peter Odili Road. She was subsequently overpowered and taken away. She was however allowed to speak to her husband, Mr. Sam Nkwo , who is said to be the Manager, Training Services in Total at 3am yesterday morning to inform him that her car had been abandoned at the First Artillery junction .When Nkwo and security men got there, there was no sign of the car and till the time of filing this report, it has not been seen. Also yesterday at 7.42am, two toddlers, Chimaroke Okocha (two years and two months old) and his brother Kelechi Okocha (one year and seven months old) were abducted, some distance from their home, by unknown gun men who blocked the Toyota Previa minibus in which they were being taken to the University of Port Harcourt Day Care School in Choba.Spokesman of the Joint Task Force in Rivers State, Lt. Col. Musa Sagir confirmed the two incidents, saying the Commander of JTF in the State, Brigadier General Sarkin Yaki Bello had placed the Force on high alert to contain the situation. “Mrs. Nkwo was trailed and overpowered by her abductors who snatched her vehicle, a light Blue Honda City with registration number AH 48 DBU and driven to an unknown destination. The motive behind this abduction is purely for pecuniary gains as they have requested for N80 million ransom for her,” Sagir said. On the reasons for the upsurge in kidnappings, he said: “The ugly trend is not unconnected with the JTF’s recent dogged crackdown on illegal oil bunkering and trade in condensate in the State and the attendant, consequences, repercussions and outcome on the finances of he miscreants. Right now, the bandits are terribly in a fix and require alternative sources of income, hence the mad resort to abduction.”