By; EMMA ARUBI, Warri
After the foiled attempt to kidnap the wife of a prominent Delta lawmaker last week in Uwvie Council Area of the state, a group of hoodlums have kidnaped a sick mother of 60-years old, Mrs. Ogbodu Olugbo in Warri, demanding a N15m ransom.
The sick woman was abducted close to the Warri Central Hospital along the ever busy Warri Sapele on September 5, close to a popular pharmacy to purchase drugs for her ailment, when the hoodlums picked her up and immediately opened communication with her family using her GSM phone demanding N15m.
The victim’s younger sister, Mrs. Helen Onuwaje told newsmen that they offered N500,000, which the kidnappers rejected and expressed fears over the fate of her elderly sick sister, even as she appealed to the Delta State Police Command, the governor and well meaning Nigerians to come to her assistance and rescue her sister alive as she’s in a critical health condition.
She said the kidnappers had since switched off all communication lines.
The incidents of unbridled abduction in Delta State have become worrying to every Deltan as each passing day comes with one harrowing kidnap story or armed robbery aided by the insecurity and economic hardship pervading the entire country.
She said the case has being reported to the Police authorities who also said they are on top of the situation.
It would be recalled that the abductors of the lawmaker’s wife unfortunately killed her security personnel and the driver of the SUV conveying her during the incident which occurred on Monday, September 2, 2024, around 6:30pm at Jakpa road in Uwvie Local Government Area.
However, their getaway was disrupted when their vehicle crashed into a stationary vehicle in a bid to escape the busy road, allowing Mrs. Uroye to escape.
The victim, according to sources, is currently receiving treatment at a nearby private hospital.
The police confirmed the incident but claimed the operation was “not successful.”
Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for Delta State Command, SP Bright Edafe, in a terse message Monday night said it was not a kidnap as the operation was not successful.
He said that three AK-47 rifles were recovered from the vehicle. Edafe, however, said that he cannot immediately confirm if the security personnel attached to the lawmaker’s wife was killed during the failed operation.
But it was reliably gathered that the kidnappers made away with the security personnel’s riffles, leaving behind their own empty riffles.
A prominent Chief in Uvwie kingdom has however, cautioned hoodlums to leave the council area in peace or they would meet their waterloo as residents have been told to be vigilant at all times.
