Police vow to nab NTA reporter’s kidnappers in Rivers

The Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mukan, has vowed that personnel of the command will track down and apprehend the abductors of a reporter with the Nigerian Television Authority in Port Harcourt, Mrs Chidiebere Onyia, who was kidnapped by gunmen on Tuesday.

Similarly, the state council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists has demanded Onyia’s immediate and unconditional release.

Onyia, a mother of three, was said to be returning home from work in company with some of her colleagues when the gunmen intercepted her around 6.30pm

Mukan, who expressed bitterness over the development, said the police had already spread their dragnet wide to apprehend the criminals.

He stated, “Once there is any communication, of course, we are going to ensure that we get them. We are going to work on any information that is available to us now.

“But be assured that we are on top of the situation and we will continue to do what we are supposed to do in this situation to rescue her.”

The incident is coming barely three weeks after a renowned broadcaster and Business Manager of Silverbird Communications in Port Harcourt, Segun Owolabi, narrowly escaped been abducted.

It was gathered that gunmen blocked Onyia’s vehicle at Woji, near Port Harcourt, dragged her out of the vehicle and drove off in their own vehicle to an unknown destination.

The hoodlums shot in the air and forced passersby to run in different directions before whisking the victim away.

One of Onyia’s colleagues, who alighted from her car before the incident, wondered what she could have done to warrant her kidnap.

The NTA worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “I was in her car and she conveyed me to my destination and decided to go and drop the others.

“I was shocked to hear that the gunmen used their vehicle to cross her and took her away, while abandoning the vehicle and the other occupants. She is a mother of three children. We are begging them to release her unconditionally.”

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officers in the state, Nnamdi Omoni, confirmed the incident and said the police had spread their dragnets to locate the whereabouts of the victim and ensure that she was released unhurt.

He said the Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mukan, had ordered the tactical unit operatives to ensure her safe release.

Meanwhile, the state council of the NUJ has condemned Onyia’s kidnap and called for her immediate release.

A statement jointly signed by the state NUJ Chairman, Stanley Job, and Secretary, Ike Wigodo, urged the security agencies to act fast to ensure her release and arrest the kidnappers.

The statement read in part, “The union charged the security agencies to ensure the arrest of the kidnappers and bring them to justice so as to serve as a deterrent to other criminally minded people.

“The NUJ demands that immediate steps be taken by the Rivers State Government and security agencies to arrest this ugly development so as to enable journalists to fulfil their constitutional mandate unhindered.”