Gunmen Abduct 11 LG Council Staff In Abia, Demand N25m Ransom

BY ONYEKACHUKWU IBEZIM – The staff of Umunneochi Local Area Council in Abia State are still in shock over the unfortunate news that 11 of their colleagues have been kidnapped by some unidentified gunmen on Sunday afternoon.

According to reports, the affected Council workers, said to be returning from the traditional marriage ceremony of their colleagues at about 5 pm, were seized by the unknown gunmen at Leru, a boundary town between Abia and Imo states, along the Enugu – Port Harcourt Expressway.

Reliable sources said the 11 workers were travelling in a bus when the kidnappers struck and took some of them into the bush while others escaped from the scene unhurt.

The President of Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Abia State Council, Comrade Ikechi Nwaigwe, who confirmed the incident, said that it has already been reported to the Umunneochi Police Division.

Comrade Nwaigwe, who praised efforts so far made by the Council Chairman of Umunneochi Local Government Area, Chief Ifeanyi Madu, to have the abducted workers freed, said; “Information reaching the NULGE office reveals that some members of our staff from Umunneochi LGA were kidnapped yesterday about 5 pm on their way back from the traditional marriage of their colleague and taken into the bush along Enugu/Port Harcourt expressway within Imo/Abia state boundary in Leru town.”

Further disclosing that; “Up to this moment, they (workers) are still in the custody of the kidnappers”, the Union leader said the kidnappers initially demanded N50 million ransom but later reduced the amount to N25 million, even as he urged the Union members to pray for the safe release of their abducted colleagues.

“We urge all our members to pray for God’s intervention for their release. There’s nothing God cannot do. With prayers, all things are possible to them that believe in God”, he said.

Reliable NULGE sources confirmed that workers of the Council have been convening prayer sessions seeking God’s divine intervention for their abducted colleagues to be freed.

Meanwhile, the Abia State Police Command is yet to issue an official statement on the unfortunate incident and efforts to reach the Command’s Police Public Relations Officer, SP Geoffrey Ogbonna, for his comments were unfruitful as at press time.