AGAIN, GUNMEN KIDNAPS CATHOLIC PRIEST IN DELTA

Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State appears to be under siege as a Catholic Priest of the Sacred Heart Parish, Obomkpa, Rev. Fr. Andrew Anah has been kidnapped after series of kidnaps in recent times.

The news of the kidnap of the Priest came as a rude shock after the same priest had been kidnapped sometime last year and subsequently released after a coded ransom was allegedly paid.

This definitely is one kidnap too many as security observers believed the priest would have been transfered from that Parish after being abducted from the same environment in the past. They averred that his transfer would have afforded him ample of opportunity to recover from the trauma; but with this one now it would be too much for him to bear.



When we called the Executive Chairman of Aniocha North Local Government, Hon. Chuks Oseme, he confirmed the abduction of the Priest, saying it was unfortunate.

He stated that the security agencies were doing everything possible to get the priest released, having been combing the Idumuogo, Obomkpa, Ukwu-Nzu forests already.

The chairman posited that he could not exactly confirm if the abductors were Fulani herdsmen; he however, could not dispel the belief of collaborative informants in this kidnapping syndicate in Aniocha North.

Speaking with the PPRO of Delta State Command, DSP Andrew Aniamaka, he could not exactly confirm the incident, as he maintained it has not been officially reported. Though he promised to get the detail by morning, adding that he was sure policemen must have been mobilized into the bushes on search operations.

The Obomkpa/Ukwu-Nzu and now Olona axis of Aniocha North have remained terrific for sometime now. At the Obomkpa area where the same Rev. Fr. Anah was previously kidnapped and now; a construction company's MD had also been kidnapped, making the company pulled out of the road project temporarily.

Just very recently too, the Chairman of the Aniocha North Traditional Rulers' Committee, HRM Obi Sunday Olisenweokwu, the monarch of Ogodo community was kidnapped. This was apart from the kidnap of another prominent Catholic Priest, Very Rev. Fr. Jude Onyebadi in December of 2016 on his farm by Fulani herdsmen.

Kidnap cases have been on the increase in Aniocha North LGA. It subsided at a time, but has resurfaced again. And the fear mostly is predicated on the strong belief that some locals are definitely involved with information to the kidnap syndicates, which has made it difficult for security agencies to nab the criminals and put an end to the criminality.