Ten days after her abduction by masked and unidentified gunmen, Mrs. Joyce Ebua, sister of the Bayelsa State Commissioner of Sports, Mr Mitema Obodor, was released on Thursday. The release, according to sources, came only after family members had met conditions set by her abductors.
Ten days after her abduction by masked and unidentified gunmen, Mrs. Joyce Ebua, sister of the Bayelsa State Commissioner of Sports, Mr Mitema Obodor, was released on Thursday. The release, according to sources, came only after family members had met conditions set by her abductors.
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Ebua, 60, was dropped off by her captors at a coastal settlement from where she was received, shortly after the kidnappers were paid an undisclosed sum for ransom.
Reliable sources in the security services that participated in the freedom deal, and the family of the victim, told SaharaReporters that the ransom was paid to the kidnappers, but the sum was not disclosed publicly. This, for obvious reasons, was essential, in large part due to the involvement of Bayelsan government officials.
Relatives of kidnap victims are often advised by police to keep the ransom money amount a top secret.
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Ebua was kidnapped by gunmen at her Oloibiri residence in the Ogbia local government region of the state, on March 10th.
Bayelsa Commissioner for Sports, Obodor, confirmed the release of his sister, but strongly denied that any ransom was paid to set her free.
The kidnappers, still at large, have not been arrested.
In negotiated release of kidnap victims, the kidnappers are not apprehended, as the victims are dropped off at lonely, often undisclosed places. It is there where they are picked up by either a relative, or police officials, or other security operatives who often act as ‘middlemen’ in such exchanges.
Obodor said, officials of the State Security Service (SSS) were instrumental in arranging the freedom of Mrs. Ebua.
The gunmen shot-off their guns sporadically, SaharaReporters was told, to scare-off people in the neighborhood where she lived. This sporadic shooting occurred on the day of the kidnapping incident, and just before Ebua’s abductors had whisked off the woman to their camp.
Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Alex Akhigbe, also confirmed the release of Ebua. But he said, police authorities were not involved in the negotiations to free her, or the exchange.
Kidnapping has been a frequent occurrence in Bayelsa in spite of legislation stipulating the death penalty for the crime.
The law, enacted over a year ago, is yet to be tested and has not led to the capture, or conviction of any suspect, or suspects.
Chief Nengite Nitabai, an uncle and foster father to President Goodluck Jonathan, recently regained his freedom in a kidnapping incident last week. While another close relative of the president, a cousin, avoided a kidnapping, ironically, on the same day Nitabai was rescued.
SaharaReporters learned that Nitabai was set free by his abductors after receiving cash pay-out of N500 million, an amount that was earlier demanded by them.
The president’s extended family had raised, and offered the kidnapping gang, N30 million. It was an amount the gunmen turned down. The negotiations stalled until Jonathan had visited Otuoke to make up the shortfall.
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