Nigeria Content Online

Kidnappers in Abia State have abducted
Etuk-Udo Sampson, the father of Akanimo Sampson, Editor (Niger Delta)
of Watchdog Reporters. Mr Sampson was abducted with three others on
Saturday on their way back to Eket, Akwa Ibom State from a wedding
ceremony.

The kidnapped elderly man, who is also
a royal father in Atai Ndon, Afaha-Eket, in Eket Local Government Area
of Akwa Ibom State, was at Ikeduru in Imo State, for the wedding
ceremony of his nephew, Mr Akanimo N. Sampson Etukudo, where he served
as the groom’s father of the day. Some five other relatives who
accompanied him to the wedding received serious gunshot wounds during
the abduction.

An eye-witness account said Mr Sampson
was abducted at Onicha Ngwa, near the Nigerian Christian Hospital,
after sporadic gun shots by the bandits which lasted for some 10
minutes.

The abducted citizens have been denied food since Sunday, while their abductors are pressing for a ransom of N30 million.

Already, the Nigeria Police, Rivers
State command, has made necessary contacts with the Abia State command,
to ensure that the captives regain their freedom.

Police Commissioner, Suleman Abba, said
on Tuesday that his command has brought the incident to the knowledge
of the Abia State high command.

Mr Daniel Abia, spokesperson for the
Journalists for Niger Delta (JODEL), a media group concerned with the
affairs of the oil and gas region, said Abia State was becoming
increasingly unsafe for Akwa Ibom and Rivers States citizens. The group
is, therefore, calling on the federal government to do something about
that axis of terror, since the authorities in Umuahia, the Abia State
capital, appear to be helpless.

From Eket, where Mr Sampson hails,
concerned citizens have called on the state government to ensure the
safety of Akwa Ibom citizens who travel through Abia State.

Ensure safe passage

Spokesperson for the Concerned Eket
People, Maurice Edohoeket, claimed that if the situation was not
curbed, “Akwa Ibom people could be forced to embark on reprisal
attacks. There are some prominent Abia people who live and do business
in Akwa Ibom.”

Family sources say the health of Mr Akpabio, who recently underwent surgery, is at risk.

Before the Nigerian civil war, Mr Sampson was a prominent figure in
the automobile industry in Aba, the commercial town of Abia and, before
retiring to become head of his community, he was the sales manager of
Auto Engineering Sales and Service Ltd, in Calabar, the capital of
Cross River State.