1st September, 2015
Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
The All Progressives Congress, APC, Rivers State chapter, has decried the abduction of renowned essayist /columnist, Ms Dornu Kogbara last Sunday in Port Harcourt by unidentified gunmen.
The party stated that “a sundry reflection on the security situation of our dear Rivers State indicates that the several efforts made by the previous administration which significantly brought criminality to its lowest ebb across the state have now been reversed in just three months of the administration of Governor Nyesom Wike.”
In a press statement issued by Chris Finebone, the state Publicity Secretary of APC, the party pointed out that the present sorry state of security in the state did not come by accident.
APC recalled that before and during the last electioneering campaigns, the APC warned that the worst thing that would happen to Rivers State was for Nyesom Wike to become governor of the dear state, especially with regard to security of life and property.
The warning, according to the party, was based on a clear assessment and observation of the individuals who call the shots in the Rivers State chapter of the PDP and those they chose to engage as their foot soldiers to snatch electoral victory through the use of the gun.
According to the party, “today, the worst fears of the APC have come to stay in Rivers State considering the skyrocketing level of killings, armed robberies and kidnap sweeping through the length and breadth of the state with negative impact on the economy and social life of the people and residents of the state.”
The APC calls on security agents in Rivers State and beyond to do all they can to ensure a quick and safe rescue of the kidnapped journalist of international repute whose only crime was to visit the family in Port Harcourt, her home state capital.
“It is the belief of the APC that Rivers people do not deserve the present state of insecurity that has been imposed on them by a band of individuals who deployed criminality to steal the peoples’ mandate and now cannot find meaningful engagement for their foot soldiers who now resort to self help in armed robbery, kidnap and other crimes. The PDP and its governorship candidate sowed an ill wind of violence and we all are now made to face the accompanying whirlwind,” APC said.
Dornu Kogbara was abducted at her residence in Nkpogu, the commercial nerve centre of Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
The columnist with Vanguard Newspapers and broadcaster was forced out of her CRV SUV and taken away by her abductors to an unknown destination.
The Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ahmad Mohammad, a Deputy Superintend of Police, confirmed the kidnap, assuring that the police are on the trail of the kidnappers with a view to rescuing the columnist.
The State Governor Nyesom Wike through his Special Adviser Media ond Publicity, Opunabo Inko-Tariah, condemned Kogbara’s kidnap and expressed hope that she would be set free soon.
According to the Governor, “no responsible government will brook such acts of criminality. On this premise, the kidnap is roundly condemned and we believe that by God’s grace, she will come out alive.
“The governor is working assiduously to ensure a crime-free state and that is why he has stopped at noting to provide the necessary tools, including the donation of 64 security vans to the police. By God’s grace, she will be released in good health.”