Kidnappers Of Okrika LG Boss Demand N150m Ransom

Gunmen who abducted the Chairman of Okrika Local Government Council in Rivers State, Philemon Kingoli, have demanded a sum of N150million for his freedom.
This development is coming five days after the council chairman, was abducted at gunpoint along Odili Road Road in Port Harcourt, last Wednesday.
A close family source confirmed the demand to newsmen, late Monday.
Kingoli was said to be heading home after attending a stakeholders’ meeting of the Okrika Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chapter, where arrangements for the flag-off of campaigns for the upcoming local government elections in the state were fine-tuned.
The ransom demand may have in the meantime, calmed the frayed nerves, and somewhat assuaged the feeling of apprehension of his immediate family members even as the motive for his kidnap remain mere conjectures.
Sources claim that his abductors could be planning to get a piece of the pie as his tenure gradually winds to an end.
In the last couple of months, the spate of kidnapping has been on the increase, even as the Rivers State Police Command claims to have intensified efforts to make the state safe.
In a reaction to the abduction of the Okrika LGA boss, the police command assured that it would do everything humanly possible to ensure that Kingoli reunites with his family at the shortest possible time and in good health.
On the ransom demand, the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Nnamdi Omoni, said the command was not aware of any demand by the kidnappers, and promised to get back to The Tide as soon as any positive information was received.
But as at the time of going to press, Omoni had yet to confirm the demand.