Gunmen abduct community leader of Bayelsa

reportedly kidnapped a community leader, identified as Chief Geoffrey Agorodi, at Ogbia Town, Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

The abduction, it was gathered, occurred at about 8.30pm last Friday some distance from Ogbia Town jetty.

The four gunmen,  allegedly bundled Agorodi into a waiting speedboat and sped off after shooting sporadically to scare people away.

Chairman of Ogbia clan, Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, Worldwide, Mr. Osaanya B. Osaanya, condemned the incident, describing it as one abduction too many in the council.

He said: “Kidnapping has become a worrisome development at Ogbia. Kidnappers have laid siege to our council and at the last count, over five persons were abducted in the past one month.

“This is unacceptable. Most of the victims were elderly men and women, including traditional rulers.”

He urged youths to desist from crime and engage themselves in legitimate means of livelihoods.

He also called on the state government and security agencies, especially the Police, to evolve a better productive approach of tackling criminality in the council.

While noting that the youths were prepared to partner with security agencies, he asked Ogbia local government council to float a security programme to check the trend.

The Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Mr. Asinim Butswat, confirmed the development, saying investigations were ongoing to unmask the identities of the abductors and rescue the victim.