18th July, 2015
Unidentified gunmen suspected to be kidnappers on Friday abducted the Chairman, Odi Compensation Funds Disbursement Committee in Bayelsa, Professor Zibokere Daukiye, the police said.
Police spokesman in the state, Mr Asinim Butswat, confirmed the incident to NAN in Yenagoa on Saturday.
“In the early hours of Friday, some unknown gunmen stormed the residence of Professor Zibokere Daukiye, the Chairman of Odi Compensation Fund Disbursement Committee, at Odi community, in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area.
“The unknown gunmen abducted him, whisked him to a waiting speedboat and sped off to an unknown destination.
“A manhunt has been launched by a combined team of Marine Police, anti-kidnapping unit and JTF to rescue the victim and arrest the abductors,” Butswat said.
NAN reports that the development has raised anxiety among residents of Odi, which was in 2014, given N15 billion as compensation for its invasion by
federal troops in 1999.
The Community dragged the Federal Government to court for the incident and was awarded N 37.6 billion by a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt.
In compliance with the judgement, the Federal Government approached the community for talks and negotiated the figure down to N15 billion.
Consequently, the community constituted a committee to handle the disbursement of the money to its people and appointed Daukiye as its chairman.