Kidnapping:Chinese Nationals Threaten To Leave Nigeria Unless …

As incidents of kidnapping continue unabated in parts of the country without any solution in sight, more than 500 Chinese nationals working as engineers and technicians in Innoson Motor Assembly Plant at Nnewi Anambra State, and those at flat sheet plant Emene industrial Layout, Enugu, Enugu State, have threatened to leave Nigeria emasse if the suspects apprehended by men of the Anambra state police command over their alleged involvement in the kidnapping and killing of their brother, Mr. Feng Shyenyi, were not duly prosecuted..

The Chinese Nationals who made the declaration, Friday while speaking to newsmen at the office of the Center for Victims of Extra-Judicial killings and Torture (CVEKT Africa) on Edinburgh Road, Enugu, through their spokesman, Mr Tang Tao, regretted that between 2007 and now, some of the people directly and indirectly involved in the kidnapping and killing of their compatriot are still working the streets as free men.

They noted that if those involved were not punished according to the law of the land, and if  they leave the country emasse the over N250 million Innoson Motor  Assembly plant at Nnewi, would collapse, thereby making the over 300 staff at the plant jobless.

This, they went on , would in no small measure simultaneously worsen the already bad economy of the state and that of the federal government.

The aggrieved Chinese nationals therefore called on both  the Enugu and Anambra State governments,  the Federal Government and the Attorney-General of  the Federation to ensure that all those involved in the kidnapping and  killing of their colleague and brothers, Mr Shyenyi, were brought  to book to serve as deterrent  to others.

This, they reasoned, is the only sure way of assuring them of their safety in Nigeria, describing the kidnapping and subsequent killing of their brother as “very unfortunate”.

Speaking to newsmen later, the Executive Director, Center for Victims of Extra-Judicial killings and Torture (CVEKT Africa) Rev. Fr. Tony Amarube, noted May 29, this year, turned out to be a “watershed” in the kidnap saga.

His words.  “On this day, exactly, two years and two months after the kidnap event, the  leader of the gang, Innocent Orji, alias “General” was apprehended by the Anambra State police and he has confirmed  the death and burial  of the second Chinese whose corpse has recently been exhumed and recovered by police.”

Rev. Fr. Amarube recalled  that on March 17, 2007, two Chinese nationals and one indigenous staff of  Innoson group, Nnewi, Anambra State were kidnapped at the premises of Innoson Motor  Assembly plant by a group of criminals “operating under the guise of Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).

According to him, confirmed reports have it that the three members of staff of   Innoson Group were kidnapped and  driven blindfolded to an unknown destination  where  they were  subjected to various degrees of torture, adding, “Infact, on a particular day, some of them almost gave up the  ghost but  for God.”.

The kidnappers, he alleged, demanded millions of naira ransom for the release of the indigenous employee, pointing out  that after the kidnappers subsequently accepted  to collect N10 million, they agreed to release him, while they held back  the other two Chinese nationals.

“Following the refusal by the kidnappers to let the foreigners go after  several months, a joint team of the military invaded their forest hideout at ‘Ekoli Edda’, Ebonyi State and rescued one of the Chinese while the hoodlums escaped with the second Chinese.

Using the forum to commend  the Nigeria Police, Anambra State Command in particular for the major breakthrough Rev.. Fr. Amarube further congratulated them for their demonstration of commitment and sincerity of purpose and enjoined them not to relent.

“Our worry is that this dastardly act and those behind it may be swept under the carpet, given that between 2007 and  now, some of the people directly and indirectly involved in the commission of this crime were  still working  the streets free men even as there seems to be sustained efforts to hijack this weighty criminal case. Even charging  those arrested  by the police to court was reluctantly done, and the pace of the dispensation can better be described as snail pace. We understand the gang leader , Innocent  Orji  has  made useful confessions, including exposing a popular  Nnewi based businessman as the man behind them, in addition to confessing several  other crimes he has committed with his gang.

Also in a petition to the Centre for the Victims of Extra Judicial Killings and Torture  CVEKT, dated  July 7, 2009, one of the kidnap victims, Mr Sylvester  Unigwe,called on the center to intervene , as kidnapping  has become a daily event in  “our state.”