13th October, 2015
Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
Weeks after Donu Kogbara, the Vanguard columnist and broadcaster was set free by her abductors, the Department of State Security (DSS) in Rivers State, has arrested four persons suspected to be involved in her kidnap.
The suspects who were among the 13-man gang of kidnappers were paraded Tuesday by the DSS state Director, Ibrahim Ngoshe, at the DSS office in along the Forces Avenue, Port Harcourt.
Ngoshe said the suspects were part of a 13-man gang that kidnapped the popular columnist on 30 August, 2015, in front of her house in Nkpogu area of Port Harcourt.
Ngoshe told journalists that from preliminary investigation and the voluntary statements by the suspects they had been involved in various kidnappings in the state.
He called on members of the public to provide useful information that would aid in tackling insecurity.
Some of the items recovered from the suspects include a pump action gun and some ammunition.
In a related development, gunmen have abducted five persons, including a male member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
The incident occurred on Monday at Government Secondary School, Agba-Ndele, in Emohua Local Government Area of the State.
An Eyewitness said the kidnappers spent the night at the corps members’ lodge because the NYSC members in the community had long vacated the place due to insecurity.
She narrated: “At exactly 10am, the kidnappers, armed and numbering over 10, came from the corps members’ lodge. They first took the security guard identified as Jonathan Woforu, who, then shouted, ‘militants, militants’.
“The security guard’s shout attracted the attention of everyone. Thereafter, they went after the teachers, who began scampering alongside students.
“They were taking away five teachers and the guard, but one teacher was resisting. They, then, beat him brutally with their guns and went away with the rest.”
She narrated further that “those abducted include the security guard, Jonathan Woforu, a male corps member, two female teachers, one nursing mother and one male teacher.”
The kidnappers wore army uniforms with masked faces.
The victims were dragged to a nearby Sombrero river where they had anchored their get-away boat and zoomed off to an unknown destination.
The State Police Command has confirmed the incident through the command’s spokesperson, Ahmad Muhammad, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) who said that security operatives had intensified efforts to track down the bandits.
According to him, “We are doing all it takes to safely rescue the two abducted females, a teacher and youth corps member.”