About five persons have been reportedly kidnapped by yet-to-be-identified gunmen in Ebonyi State.
The incident happened at about 5:30 pm on Tuesday, August 15, along the Mile 2 axis of Ishiagu/Okigwe express road, Ebonyi State. They were reportedly returning home from Enugu Airport with an airport taxi (Sienna bus) with reg/no. KWL 941 PD, before being kidnapped at Mile 2 area, Ishiagu, in Ivo Local Government Area of the state. They were reportedly taken into the nearby bush by their assailants.
Special Assistant to Governor Francis Nwifuru on Internal Security, Ivo Local Government Area, Ike Cletus who confirmed the incident, blamed it all on non-functional vigilantes in the area.
Cletus said;
“It’s s unfortunate that Ivo Local Government has become a safe haven for kidnappers and other criminal elements. We have a none functional vigilante group in the Local Government. You hardly see them anywhere in the Local Government, yet money is spent on them monthly without any fruitful result.
“The security architecture of the Local Government, especially that of the Local Vigilante Group must be overhauled and make it more efficient.”
A source who spoke to Punch, identified those kidnapped as 41-year-old Ajah Chibuzor; his wife; their 12-year-old daughter; and the airport driver.
The source further revealed that while taking the victims into the bush, the gunmen ran into a farmer on his farm and also abducted him.