Armed men have reportedly kidnapped a staff member of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the Ebenebe axis of Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State.
According to counter-insurgency publication Zagazola Makama, one Okeke Victor, a resident of Ngozika Estate, reported to the police that his wife, Christy Nkiru, an INEC employee, was abducted on Friday, July 24. The kidnappers are said to have demanded a ransom of N40 million for her release.
Makama reported that operatives of the anti-kidnapping unit, the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) and other tactical teams were swiftly deployed to the area.
The publication also disclosed that a businessman narrowly cheated death in a separate attack on the same road that day, sustaining a gunshot wound in the process.
Citing police sources, Makama said both incidents were reported at the B Division Police Headquarters in Awka, the state capital, on July 25.
According to the publication, Emmanuel Nwobodo from Nibo reported that at around 5:45 pm on July 24, he was driving home from Oba Ofemili in Awka North LGA in his Mercedes-Benz E-Class saloon car when four armed men dressed in dark outfits opened fire on his vehicle near Ebenebe Community Secondary School.
Makama said Nwobodo managed to drive through the ambush despite the gunfire, only stopping a few kilometres away near a Catholic church where he discovered he had been shot in the left knee.
“During the attack, his staff, Tochukwu Afunenu, 40, who was in possession of the victim’s ATM card and two mobile phones, reportedly jumped out of the vehicle and fled into a nearby bush,” Makama added.
Nwobodo later grew suspicious after voice messages were allegedly sent from his staff member’s phone claiming that he had been kidnapped and demanding a ransom of N40 million.
Police have since launched an extensive combing of surrounding bushes and are conducting intelligence-led tracking operations aimed at rescuing the abducted victim and bringing the perpetrators to justice.