Abductors of Bayelsa Speaker’s in-law demand N40m

Despite the vow of the Speaker of the Bayelsa House of Assembly, Mr. Kombowei Benson, not to pay a ransom before the release of his 90-year-old mother-in-law, the nonagenarian’s assailants have demanded N40 million before she’s freed.

Mrs. Ogbona Orumo, popularly called Obololo, was kidnapped last Friday by unknown gunmen from her Seibiri home in Korokorosei community of the Southern Ijaw Local Government of Bayelsa State.

After days of silence, the gangsters were said to have contacted the family today to make the demand for the ransom.

Benson had during the assembly’s plenary session on Wednesday in Yenagoa said that he would not pay a ransom to free the woman, adding, however that the kidnappers had yet to contact the family.

He said the family would not consider the option of paying ransom and urged the kidnappers to free the old woman unconditionally.

The old woman was abducted by the gunmen suspected to be kidnappers operating along the waterways of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area .

Benson reportedly visited his in-laws on Wednesday regarding the incident where he called for the establishment of a mobile police base in Korokorosei community, as part of necessary security measures.

In a statement by his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Preye Kiyaramo, Benson sympathised with his in-laws over the kidnap.

He appealed to the family members to be patient, as the matter had been reported to the police for action.

Also, traditional rulers in the state have condemned the abduction of the nonagenarian and called on the State Government to be proactive in the area of security in the state.

Chairman, Bayelsa Traditional Rulers Council, King Godwin Igodo, who had himself been a time of abduction in 2013, said the rising cases of kidnapping in the state had become worrisome

The royal father, who spoke in Yenagoa on Thursday, argued that the activities of armed kidnappers were strange to the culture of the Ijaw people.

“I have been a victim of this nefarious act. I spent 29 days in the den of kidnappers under the rain and the sun,” Igodo said.

SOURCE; NIGERIAN TIMES

 http://nigeriantimes.ng/news/abductors-of-bayelsa-speakers-in-law-demand-n40m/