14 Abducted Passengers Regain Freedom In Rivers

The Rivers State Police Command has announced the rescue of 14 persons who were kidnapped while travelling in a commercial bus along the Ndele-Rumuji axis of the East-West Road.
The Tide recalls that gunmen had abducted the passengers, last Monday night and dragged them into the bush.
The Tide investigation shows that initial reports had indicated that 11 passengers were abducted.
But the police, last Friday, put the figure at 14.
According to the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Nnamdi Omoni, the rescue comes after a major operation in the four communities – Ndele, Rumuji, Rumuekpe and Ebele – in Emohua Local Government Area of the state.
Omoni said the command eventually rescued those abducted after combing the bushes and using tear gas in spots believed to house the kidnappers’ den, and in the process, the kidnappers abandoned their victims.
The Tide reports that the Emohua axis of the East-West Road has of recent become a hotspot for kidnapping by groups looking to receive ransom pay-offs.
Earlier last month, some 16 passengers were abducted in a commercial bus as they were travelling to Lagos through the Port Harcourt-Mbiama-Patani-Ughelli-Warri-Benin-Lagos Road.
“They ambushed us at about 9.00 pm… and after asking us to come out from the bus, they tried to take us inside the bush. But five of us escaped before police and military personnel arrived,” said Amiekro Princewill.
Security forces searched the area following the attack, according to another passenger, who managed to escape the gunmen.
“They had gone far into the forest with the victims before the security operatives arrived,” said the escapee, Bright Belekwe.
“Hoodlums ambushed us and tried to take us inside the bush. I and four others escaped before police personnel arrived at the scene.”
The Tide gathered that last Monday’s kidnapping is the third such incident in just two months.
The Rivers State Police Commissioner, Ahmed Mohammed Zaki, who addressed newsmen at the command’s headquarters in Port Harcourt shortly after the incident, had promised that efforts to locate the victims and rescue them were ongoing.