Emma Amaize
16 June 2007
Sapele — TWO Indians were kidnapped by supposed militants yesterday's morning, at Sapele in Delta State, but the Delta Waterways and Security Committee intervened without delay, and in less than two hours after the unpleasant incident, the committee and men of the Joint Military Task Force (JMTF) in the Niger-Delta rounded up three of the suspected militants.
The expatriates were said to be inside a bus when they were kidnapped by some armed youths and whisked to the Sapele waterside. The speedboat, which the militants hired for the operation could not meet them at the scheduled time after the abduction at the waterside, and they hijacked another -- a Yamaha eight boat in which they took the expatriates away.
It was not clear yesterday, why the two Indians were kidnapped, barely 24 hours after the release of the leader of the Niger-Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Alhaji Mujahid Asari-Dokubo on Thursday, as militants in the region were supposed to be in a celebration mood.
Three of the suspects were seen by Saturday Vanguard at the JMTF post in Sapele but they denied any involvement in the kidnap, while one said that the hostage takers only hired him to convey them in his vehicle. Reports said that the kidnappers were sighted in a particular drinking spot in Sapele a day before the operation.
Saturday Vanguard learnt that officials of the Delta Waterways Security Committee, including the chairman of the security sub-committee, Comrade Dennis Otuaro, Mr. Omolubi Newuwumi (member) and others met with the men of the JMTF in Sapele and interrogated the suspects before they were taken away to the JMTF headquarters in Warri. The committee reportedly got a tip off and spread its dragnets, which led to the arrest of two of the suspects that came in a speedboat to convey the militants and the expatriates to their den after the operation.
Chairman of the security sub-committee of Delta Waterways Security Committee, Comrade Otuaro and Mr. Omolubi told newsmen on the spot at Sapele that the committee would trace the militants to wherever they took the expatriates and release them, saying that with the release of Alhaji Asari-Dokubo, there was no excuse for anybody to kidnap expatriates in the region.
They said that contacts made with leaders of some militant groups indicated that the kidnapers might be some "small boys" who just wanted to shake the town but they said the committee would not condone such criminality anymore in the state. The committee assured that in the next few days, the militants that carried out the abduction would be located and the expatriates released.
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