The infant twins of Elder/Deaconess Nyaknobong Etuk cry intermittently and are inconsolable over the long absence of their parents kidnapped Sunday evening by unknown gunmen in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom capital.
Elder Etuk and wife were said to have left the twins with a house help for shopping along Oron Road in Uyo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
On return, Elder Etuk, Director of Finance, Nsit Atai Local Government Council of the state parked and blew hone for minutes, yet nobody quickly opened the gate for the couple.
Not long, a mini-bus emblazoned with camouflage tarpaulin with suspected gunmen landed at the gate of his house located at Akpasak Estate, Mbiabong off Oron Road, Uyo, ordered them out of their car and whisked them away to an unknown destination.
Since then, according to an undisclosed source, the Elder of The Apostolic Church and wife, a Deaconess have not been found by the family members including the twin children dedicated to God about six months ago.
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Another source close to the family told Straightnews that the children are always crying refusing people from cuddling, giving pleasantries or spoon feeding them over the absence of their parents especially the mother.
Though the suspected abductors have not called to negotiate for ransom, the whereabouts of Elder Etuk who hails from Oruk Anam Local Government Area of the state remains unknown.
When Straightnews called on telephone the President of Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Akwa Ibom State chapter, Mrs. Anestina Iweh, she denied knowledge of the kidnap of their senior colleague.
‘‘I have not been told or briefed by the NULGE Chairman, Nsit Atai Chapter. I do not know the relationship of the kidnapped victim with the union members. Normally, they should have briefed me for us to jointly take action together to rescue the couple,’’ Iweh added.
Straightnew reporter called and sent a text message to the Transition Chairman of Nsit Atai Local Government Area, Mrs. Emem Ibanga to know effort made by the council to rescuing the kidnapped, she neither responded nor replied to the message.
However, the State Police/Public Relations Officer, CSP Odiko MacDon in a telephone interview with Straightnews on Wednesday, March 20 confirmed the kidnap of the couple.
‘‘We are aware of the kidnap incident of the Director of Finance and wife. The matter had been reported to us and the State Commissioner of Police, Waheed Ayilara has directed the appropriate unit in the police force to investigate the matter with a view to rescuing the kidnapped victims.
‘‘We are on top of the situation. In no short time, the kidnappers would be arrested and brought to book. We are not leaving any stone unturned in an effort to secure lives and property of the Akwa Ibom people. Kidnapping is a crime that is short-lived and I do not why people will kidnap others for ransom.
‘‘I can assure you that very soon, the victims would be rescued and be reunited with their family,’’ CSP MacDon assured.
Meanwhile, the police and other security agencies have rescued the Nsit Atai Chapter Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Abasiakan Eshiet.
Popularly known as Babs, Eshiet alongside two other persons was kidnapped at M-Lounge, Osongama in Uyo Local Government Area.
Eshiet and other persons were watching soccer tournament between Nigeria vs Cameroon during the 2023 AFCON Round 16, when the suspected abductors struck.
‘‘Lie down and cover your face. Everybody obeyed. They wielded A-47 rifle. By the time we stood up, the kidnappers had gone away with three victims including Eshiet,’’ an eye witness confided in the Straightnews.
One of the rescued victims who did not want his name in print narrated to Straightnews the ordeals they had gone through in the hands of their abductors.
According to him, ‘‘The kidnappers goaded them into a waiting bus, covered our faces and drove us to a seashore. On landing there, the heavily armed emptied us into a speed boat and sped off into high seas. The sea faring took us more than three hours to berth at their den.
‘‘They kept us there in the swampy area. We ate bread alone at times they left us famished. For some of us, we smoked cigarette with them to stay afloat in the cold but breezy area. We gave them telephone numbers of our close relations and they started calling and bargaining for ransoms.
‘‘We stayed there for more than three weeks. One of the kidnappers spoke Yoruba and others spoke Ogoni. Before we were freed, our relations had paid huge ransoms. They took us in their flying boats to nearby coastal line, dropped and left.’’
He alleged that three of their suspected kidnappers are said to have been nabbed are cooling their feet in the police custody.
A top politician in the state wondered why the kidnap incidents along Oron Road axis in Uyo are hotting up, unlike other major routes in the city.
Specifically, the man cited the kidnap of a person living close an estate located in Ifa Ikot Okpon in Uyo close to the office of Hensek Integrated Services Ltd. along the 10-lane Ring Road.
He attributed this to proximity of the axis to coastal lines spanning from Itu, Uruan, Oron, Mbo, Ibeno, Eastern Obolo to Ikot Abasi where the sea pirates are said to be operating unperturbed.
He, therefore, called on the Nigerian Navy, Nigeria Police and other security agencies to double up surveillance with a bid to tracking and nipping the surging kidnap incidents in the axis and other parts of the state in the bud.
