Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, yesterday, led the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Maj. Gen. Umar Musa, the State Commissioner of Police, CP Ahmed Ammani, the Director of Department of State Services, H.M Daluwa, the Garrison Commander, 82 Division, Nigerian Army, Brig. Gen. M.K Ibrahim, among others, to Ugwogo-Opi road on a strategic assessment of the area, including the hideouts of kidnappers, with a view to decisively ending the recent kidnapping incidents along the road.
Addressing newsmen during the on-the-spot assessment visit, the GOC, 82 Division, Nigerian Army, Maj. Gen. Musa, who spoke on behalf of the other heads of security agencies in the state, confirmed that “the perpetrators are purely kidnappers.”
He assured the public that the combined-team of the security agencies are taking further steps into the bush to apprehend the perpetrators, rescue the victims and end the menace along the road.
“I assure you that we are going to go deep into the bush to pursue them and ensure they do not perpetrate more harm along the road,” he said.
Acknowledging the presence of Gov. Ugwuanyi on the visit and his utmost commitment towards ending the security challenges being posed by the hoodlums along the Ugwogo-Opi road, the GOC assured the public that “these criminals will be fished out and they will be dealt with.”
Maj. Gen. Musa advised members of the public to report to the security agencies whenever there is any incident rather than rushing to the social media, stressing that “news items on social media platforms are usually unconfirmed incidents and could send wrong notion to the public.”
The GOC maintained that Enugu remains a peaceful state notwithstanding the unfortunate incidents along Ugwogo-Opi road, saying: “We are here; we have seen the deployment; this state is peaceful but once in a while you have criminals and I assure you that these criminals will be fished out and they will be dealt with.”
Earlier, Governor Ugwuanyi visited the GOC 82 Division of the Nigeria Army in his office in Enugu where they met behind closed doors before they embarked on the assessment visit to Ugwogo-Opi road with other heads of security agencies.
This is as a former Secretary to the Enugu State government, Dr. Dan Shere, has been abducted by suspected herdsmen.
Shere, who served under the administration of Chimaroke Nnamani, was among several other commuters kidnapped along the Enugu-Ugwuogo Nike-Nsukka Road yesterday. It was learnt that he was travelling to Nsukka for a meeting when the gunmen attacked him alongside other travellers.
Herdsmen had also kidnapped an unknown number of travellers, including students of the University of Nigeria, along the same road on Sunday. The students were returning to the school after the protracted ASUU strike. Their captors are reportedly demanding a ransom of N300 million.
However, the school authority has raised doubt over the reported kidnap, saying that no parent has approached the institution to report that their ward was missing.
In the recent incident, which occurred yesterday afternoon, it is unclear how many people were kidnapped, but sources said they were more than 10. A survivor, who shared a video of the attack, said the gunmen were about eight in number.
“They shot severally at our vehicle; one of us was hit by the bullets. But our driver managed to move on. We succeeded in taking the victim to the hospital,” he narrated, while thanking God for saving him and four others from the same community.
Spokesman of the police in Enugu, Daniel Ndukwe, was yet to confirm the development at the time of this report, as he did not pick calls to his mobile phone.
How did the army chief come to the conclusion that they are purely kidnappers? Again, he assured that they will never operate again along that road, what of operating in other parts of the state and even the forest?
Are they still denying the video of helicopter dropping suspected criminals somewhere in Enugu hills? I think it’s time this people know that citizens are not fools for trying to respect our laws and authorities.