Gunmen Abduct Ex-Commissioner, Soldier in Bayelsa

Matilda Omonaiye/

Gunmen on the prowl in Bayelsa have abducted a soldier and a former Commissioner for Transport in the state today.
Reports say that the separate incidents occurred barely three days after a Bayelsa monarch’s wife, who spent 25 days in captivity, was freed.
Ebikake was allegedly kidnapped at her residence in Igbogene area of Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa.
The police spokesman in Bayelsa, AsImin Butswat, confirmed the development.
“She was abducted at her residence by gunmen at about 1 a.m. today. Manhunt has been launched to apprehend the perpetrators,” Butswat said.
The soldier was allegedly abducted by suspected sea pirates between the waterway of Foropa and Azuzuama area of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area.
The soldier, identified simply as Rotimi, was on board a passenger boat to Yenagoa while the boat driver was shot on the shoulder.
“The suspected sea pirates attacked the boat conveying the soldier and two others to Yenagoa; they shot the boat driver and took away the soldier. They also stole the boat engine. They, however, left behind the female passenger,” a community source in Southern Ijaw said.
Ebikake, who hails from Brass Local Government Area, was a former local government chairman in the area.
It was learnt that on January 10, some armed men had invaded her home in Twon-Brass at Brass Local Government Area and vandalised the residence.