The police chief stated that the victim’s kidnappers decided to abandon her due to pressure mounted on the abductors by security operatives who were determined to locate and rescue the woman.
Florentina Paulker, the 90-year old mother of Senator Emmanuel Paulker, has been freed a week after some gunmen abducted her.
Mrs. Paulker, whose son represents the Bayelsa Central constituency at the Nigerian Senate in Abuja, was seized on July 30 from her residence in Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State. Her abductors were believed to be kidnappers seeking ransom. Senator Paulker, who is a PDP member, chairs the Senate committee on petroleum.
The gunmen had struck at the victim’s residence in Opollo-Epie area of Yenagoa and fired shots before whisking the elderly woman away to an unknown destination.
Hilary Okpara, the Bayelsa State police commissioner, confirmed today that the senator’s mother had been released. Mr. Okpara disclosed that Mrs. Paulker’s abductors had abandoned her at a fishing camp in Azuzuama community in Southern Ijaw local government area of Bayelsa State.
The police chief stated that the victim’s kidnappers decided to abandon her due to pressure mounted on the abductors by security operatives who were determined to locate and rescue the woman.
“We had reported to you earlier that we arrested many of the suspects. The parents of the people arrested put pressure on the kidnappers and those arrested also put pressure on them,” said the police commissioner. “They dropped her at a fishing camp in Azuzuama. It was [due to the] combined efforts of the police and other security agencies,” Mr. Okpara added.
It was the second time the senator’s mother would be kidnapped. The first time, in 2010, she was rescued after a shootout between security agents and her abductors.