Gunmen In Military Uniform Abduct Agip Retiree’s Wife

Unidentified gunmen, dressed in military uniform, have abducted Madam Walama Otikiri, wife of a prominent chief and retired senior official of Nigerian Agip Oil Company.

The gunmen stormed the coastal city of Town-Brass in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State on Friday and seized the 60-year-old woman.

The incident, which occurred about 11pm on Friday, reportedly threw the Sambo-Ama, Twon-Brass community into confusion with the gunmen shooting sporadically for over 30 minutes to scare residents.

Community sources said that the abduction of Madam Otikiri came a few days after an In-law to a member of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Isreal Sunny-Goli was released from kidnappers’ den.

The gunmen, according to sources, entered the community from the waters with two speedboats and shot their way in and out of the community after the operation which lasted for about 45 minutes.

Confirming the development in a statement issued on Saturday,  Sunny-Goli, strongly condemned the abduction of one of his constituents, Otikiri by unknown gunmen.

Sunny-Goli described the abduction as not only malicious and senseless, but utterly inhumane.

He, therefore, called for her immediate release by the abductors.

The lawmaker said, “Kidnapping has become the greatest monster bedevilling us as a people, and it is now imperative that we sit together on a roundtable to discuss how best we can bring it into extinction.

“As far as I know, kidnapping remains an alien tendency that must not be indulged in by any well-meaning individual regardless of the pecuniary benefits it may yield.

“It is against this backdrop that I wish to call on security agencies to quickly swing into action in order to rescue the innocent woman from the hand of her abductors as well as bring the perpetrators of this heinous act to justice.”

When contacted, spokesman for Bayelsa State Police Command, Mr. Asinim Butswat, said he was not aware of the abduction.

Butswat, however, promised to call back after confirming from police division in Twon-Brass.

But as of the time of going to press, the police spokesman has yet to call back.