Nigeria Content Online

The Abia State
police command on Thursday said it is investigating the alleged
abduction of two foreigners believed to be Germans even though no
official report of the incident has been made to them.

The kidnapped men
were said to be on a picnic at the Azumini Blue River in Ukwa East local
government of the state last weekend when they were taken hostage.

The spokesperson of
the police, Alli Okechukwu, told journalists in Umuahia that the command
learned of the alleged abduction from the media as it was not reported
at any station. He, however, said the police was able to confirm the
incident.

Mr. Okechukwu said
“I want to make it categorically clear that the command also got the
news from the press. As I speak with you, there is no official report of
that alleged kidnap incident anywhere in the Abia State Police
command”.

Mr. Okechukwu said
after the command was besieged by journalists seeking to confirm the
report, its leadership dispatched officers to Azumini to investigate the
incident.

He said the
investigation revealed that the missing men had been at the river with
three girls.

“Our investigators
were told that when the expatriates ended their visit and were about to
go, some people shot sporadically in the air, scared away people and
whisked away the two in a waiting van and drove towards the boundary of
Abia and Akwa Ibom States,” Mr. Okechukwu said.

“In the melee, the
three girls and the driver were said to have run into the swamp but
reemerged later to drive back to Port Harcourt where they came from,
after the expatriates had been taken away by their abductors.”

The police spokesperson said the command was yet to ascertain the
nationalities of the abducted men and advised expatriates wishing to
travel to seek for police protection.