BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – Four staff of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), were on Tuesday evening in Rivers State kidnapped by unknown gunmen just as another was shot.
Information made available to Forefront News indicate that the incident took place in Abua-Odual Local Government Area (LGA) of the State when the kidnapped officers were carrying out assigned duties.
It was also gathered that the officers were in the state to conduct an enumeration exercise to determine the number of farmers who were either affected by flood or conflicts to benefit from the National Emergency Agricultural Intervention Fund.
The fund which is under the National Food Security Programme of the Federal Government is expected to cover 18 states of the federation.
Those abducted include a woman and three men who had successfully completed the enumeration exercise in some parts of Rivers State.
A security source said; “I can authoritatively tell you that four emergency workers with NEMA are presently in captivity. They were kidnapped at Abua Odua near Ahoada in Rivers State yesterday in evening after undertaking an official assignment.
“However, one of the NEMA staff who was shot in the leg escaped being kidnapped alongside his colleagues, after he pretended to be dead. He has been admitted at an undisclosed health centre for medical attention.
“The abducted officers travelled in a NEMA Hilux van, which was not in good condition and even broke down several times on their way. It was a personal car of one of the NEMA staff that came to their rescue to continue the journey before the incident.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Omoni Nnamdi said he was yet to be officially briefed on the incident.
Attempts made to reach the Director-General of NEMA, Engineer Mustapha Maihaja did not yield any result as his GSM phone could not be reached. However, a staff of the agency confided in Forefront News that the NEMA DG is out of the country.
