Following the abduction of top journalists by unknown gunmen in eastern Nigeria, the Chairman, Action Congress (AC), Lagos chapter, Otunba Oladele Ajomale, has expressed the fear that nobody is safe again in the country.
Berating the kidnap of the chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Lagos, Alhaji Abdulwahab Oba, the assistant secretary, Sylva Okereke, the union’s zone G secretary, Adolphus Okonkwo, a journalist, Sola Oyedipo and and their driver, Azeez Abdulrauf and the demand of a ransom of N250 million to secure their release, the former Lagos Commissioner for Special Duties described the incident as a bad signal on the state of security in Nigeria.
Ajomale said: “If this trend of kidnapping in this country is not quickly checked by the Federal Government, it means we are no longer safe and we can no longer move freely as citizens of the nation.
“To me, the kidnap of the chairman of Lagos NUJ and his colleagues is the high point of the fast growing criminal indication that nobody, even you and me, is safe again in our own country.â€
Ajomale lamented the disregard of the kidnappers for anybody, abducting whoever comes their way regardless of his profession, status, religion and tribe. He said the kidnappers are carried away by the quest for money they colllect from their victims.
He prayed that God in His infinite mercy should touch the kidnappers not to hurt their victims and release them safely without conditions.
The journalists and their driver were abducted on Sunday morning in Abia State while returning from a National Executive council meeting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.
Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police, (IGP), Mr. Ogbonna Onovo, has given the kidnappers 24 hours deadline to release them, saying that the kidnappers went too far by abducting journalists.
—Jide Osokoya
