Kidnappers Threatened To Cut My Mother’s Head, Send It To Me — Bayelsa Commissioner Speaks
Bayelsa State Commissioner for Lands and Survey, Mr. Furoebi Akene, yesterday, described as ‘unsettling’ the continued search for his aged mother, Madam Patimi Akene, abducted, penultimate week, by gunmen at Fonibiri in Southern Ijaw local government area of the state.
Akene said the kidnappers, who initially demanded his resignation, later demanded N30m ransom which they reduced to N10m.
He described as worrisome the kidnappers
threat to cut off the head of his mother over his refusal to accede to
the ransom demand.
Akene spoke in Yenagoa when a group of
journalists, politicians and other professionals, under the aegis of
The Parliament, called at his residence.
He said though the threat was made on telephone, he was not going to be intimidated.
”One of the kidnappers, who claimed to be the leader of the gang,
threatened to kill my mother. He said he will cut off her head and
deliver it to my house at INEC Road and the body at the village. Because
of the difficulty at getting me to agree with their demand, they have
stopped calling me to discuss ransom,” he said.
Akene noted that because of his
uncompromising stance, the kidnappers have started calling his younger
sister to demand the ransom.
He reported that the younger sister pleaded
that they collect a million naira but the kidnappers declined insisting
that such sum is not enough for fuel and feeding of the kidnapped
septuagenarian.
Akene recalled that when the news of the
abduction got to him, he abandoned the World Surveyors Conference he was
attending in Malaysia.
”When they demanded that I resigned from the
present administration as the condition for my mother’s release, I told
them that I am not a man out to sacrifice his mother for position,” he
recalled.
According to him, they allowed him to speak with her as a proof that they were holding her.
”They allowed me speak with her twice. The
first time, she told me she was okay and I asked her if the kidnappers
are Ijaws, she confirmed that they are. On the second occasion, they
made my mother cry as a means to convince me of their seriousness. She
was crying and begged me to secure her release and give them the money.
”They asked me to pay them the ransom. I told
him I will not pay as I am not owing them. The last text I received
was, ‘You have lost your mother’.
Madam Patimi Akene, was abducted without any
gunshot and whisked away by armed men numbering about six from her home
close to the Ofonibiri community waterside at about 12 am penultimate
Saturday.
The Bayelsa State Police Command, through its
image maker, Alex Akhigbe, DSP, assured that they were on the trail of
the gunmen but declined further comment.
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