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Former Governor Sylva's Uncle Kidnapped In Bayelsa

Benson Adigio-Eseni, an 86-year-old uncle of former Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State, remains missing after kidnappers snatched him away in the early hours of Sunday.

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Benson Adigio-Eseni, an 86-year-old uncle of former Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State, remains missing after kidnappers snatched him away in the early hours of Sunday.

Mr. Adigio-Eseni’s abduction has come as a reminder that the menace of insecurity and kidnapping is heightening in Bayelsa.

The elderly uncle of Mr. Sylva’s was abducted from his residence in Okpoama in Brass local government area at 2 a.m. on Sunday night.

His abduction came approximately 10 days after two men, Bukuromo Odidikuma and Awotimigha Iyabi, an aide to Mr. Sylva's Commissioner for Information, were shot dead by gunmen suspected to be sea pirates operating on the Nembe-Brass River.

In that incident, a politician, Alfred Belemote, a mobile police escort and the driver of the boat in which they were traveling to Okpoama, were also shot, but survived with bullet wounds.

Two sources in Mr. Adigio-Eseni's community disclosed that the elderly man’s abductors arrived in a speedboat, shot sporadically in the air, and then whisked away their victim into the sinuous creeks. 

A relation of the victim, Austin Adigio, confirmed the incident.

“It's true that he was kidnapped at about 2 a.m. on Sunday,” he said.

Contacted yesterday by a correspondent of SaharaReporters, Alex Akhigbe, the police public relations officer in the Bayelsa Police Command, said the police had yet to receive official notification about the kidnap of Mr. Adigio-Eseni.