Ex-commissioner, soldier kidnapped in Bayelsa

Mrs. Marie Ebikake, the former Commissioner for Transport in Bayelsa and a soldier were abducted in separate incidents by gunmen in Bayelsa on Sunday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the incidents occurred barely three days after a Bayelsa monarch’s wife, who spent 25 days in captivity, was freed on Thursday.

It was learnt that Ebikake was kidnapped at her residence in Igbogene area of Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state.

The spokesman for the Bayelsa Police Command, AsImin Butswat, confirmed the development.

“She was abducted at her residence by gunmen at about 1 a.m. today. Manhunt has been launched to apprehend the perpetrators,” Butswat said.

NAN gathered that the soldier was abducted by suspected sea pirates between the waterway of Foropa and Azuzuama area of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area.

The soldier, identified simply as Rotimi, was on board a passenger boat on to Yenagoa while the boat driver was shot on the shoulder.

“The suspected sea pirates attacked the boat conveying the soldier and two others to Yenagoa; they shot the boat driver and took away the soldier.

“They also stole the boat engine. They, however, left behind the female perasenger, ” a community source in Southern Ijaw said.

Ebikake, who hails from Brass Local Government Area, was a former local government chairman in the area.

It was learnt that on Jan. 10, some armed men had invaded her home in Twon-Brass in Brass Local Government and vandalised the residence. (NAN)

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