Gunmen dressed in military uniform reportedly stormed the coastal city of Town Brass in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, and abducted Madam Walama Friday Otikiri, the 60-year-old wife of a prominent chief and retired staffer of Nigeria Agip Oil Company.
The incident, which occurred between 10 and 11 pm on Thursday, threw the Sambo-Ama, Twon-Brass Community into confusion with the gunmen shooting sporadically for over 30minutes to scare the residents.
Some resident said the abduction of Madam Walama Friday Otikiri is coming few days after an In-law to the member of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Hon. Isreal Sunny-Goli was released from kidnappers’ den.
The gunmen, according to some ,residents, entered the community from the waters with two-speed boats and shot their way in and out the community.
The lawmaker representing Brass Constituency in the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Hon. Israel Sunny-Goli condemned the abduction of one of his constituents.
Sunny-Goli described the abduction as not only malicious and senseless but utterly inhumane, hence called for her immediate release by her abductors.
Meanwhile, the Akwa Ibom state Police Command has begun a manhunt for the abductors of three female students of Obong University, Obong Ntak, in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that some hoodlums stormed the female hostel of the university in the early hours of Friday and abducted the students.
The Police Public Relations Officer in Akwa Ibom State, DSP Macdon Odiko, said the police rescued one of the female students who sustained injury during the raid.
He said: “One person was injured and she is the person rescued by the police. She is at present undergoing treatment in a hospital in the state.
“The incident occurred about 2am on Friday within the female hostel. The hoodlums were about eight in number and the university securitymen were not armed.
“And they came in from the bush as there is no perimeter fence around the school premises,” he said.
The police spokesman in the state said they were yet to effect any arrest with respect to the abduction, promising that the command was doing everything possible to rescue the girls unhurt.
However, students of the institution on Friday morning embarked on a peaceful protest over the abduction of their colleagues.
The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Udoudo Ekanemesang, has however urged the students to remain calm, assuring that the school authorities would ensure the students were rescued as soon as possible.
Etim Ekpo council has in the past year faced security challenges often linked to the activities of militants and cultists.