Daily Independent (Lagos)
Emmanuel Nzomiwu
11 July 2009
Enugu — Chinese nationals on Friday threatened to flee Nigeria en masse in the absence of a determined effort by authorities to guarantee their safety, against the backdrop of the rising wave of kidnapping in the country.
The Chinese nationals made the threat in a petition to an Enugu-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), Centre for Victims of Extra-Judicial Killing and Torture (CVEKT).
The petition arose from latest revelations to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mike Okiro, by apprehended kidnap kingpin, Innocent Orji that one of his two Chinese victims died and were buried in the bush somewhere in Ebonyi State.
Though the police were said to have exhumed the body of the deceased Chinese national, his compatriots threatened in their petition to flee the country in the absence of a determined action on the part of Nigerian authorities to bring those behind the death of their kinsman to book.
Briefing reporters on behalf of the Chinese nationals, who were accompanied to CVEKT office by armed mobile policemen, Executive Director of the Centre, Rev. Fr. Tony Amarube said that all suspects in the case, either by proximate or remote evidence, no matter how highly placed, should be made to face the due process of the law.
While commending the police for arrest of Orji, Amarube warned against any attempt to suppress in anyway, doctor or play down his list of accomplices and collaborators, who must be made to face prosecution.
He cautioned against any attempt through covert or overt legal technicalities or social privileges by any individual or group to derail the course of justice in this matter, given the grave social, economic and political implications of the new wave of kidnap activities in the country, especially in the southern part.
In his words: "In similar vein, we have also followed the involvement of the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) in this matter, acting through the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
"We find reason to appeal to the AGF and advise that (he) handles the issue at hand with utmost responsibility, credibility and equity, so that all stakeholders in this matter and indeed the entire Nigerian public, who are keenly following this case will have no reason to doubt the credibility and neutrality of the office of the AGF in the matter," Amarube stated.
He solicited for the protection of the Federal Government through both the office of Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the AGF in the wave of kidnap, which is threatening to grind business, social and political activities in the South East to a halt.
"We make this plea in reaction to the copious intelligence report at our disposal of an ongoing subtle attempt, using all sorts of means including media manipulations and contacts, to distort the authenticity and content of Orji's confession," Amarube said. Names of the Chinese nationals at CVEKT are Tang Tao, Huang Jianwe, Wang Taunjun and Chen Mei.
Meanwhile, Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime's Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Dan Nwome's whereabouts remained unknown one week after he was abducted by suspected kidnappers in Enugu.
There is, however, a strong indication that Nwome might still be alive in captivity going by feelers from his home that his captors may have contacted the family.
Sources that pleaded anonymity disclosed that the captors contacted members of his family and made monetary demands, apparently as ransom for his release. This information could not, however, be substantiated as no member of the family, including his wife, could be reached to speak on the matter as of press time on Friday.
The state government has also not made any official statement on the incident since the governor's spokesman was abducted a week ago.
The attention in Enugu on Friday seemed to have shifted to the traditional marriage of the Governor's daughter in Udi town, the hometown of the state chief executive.
Also, efforts by Saturday Independent to speak with Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Enugu, ASP Ebere Amaraizu, proved abortive, as several calls put across to his cell phone were not answered.
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