Abductors of Beauty Ogere, the
mother of a former skipper and Coach of the Super Eagles, Samson Siasia, have
released one of their victims, Florence Donana.
The 66-year-old Donana was
abducted on July 15, the same day Siasia’s mother was kidnapped at Odoni
community, Sagbama Local Government Area, Bayelsa State.
Donana was abducted alongside her
17-year-old granddaughter by the hoodlums, who first broke into the family
house of Siaisia to seize Ogere at 2am.
But it was gathered that about 50
days after the incident and following prolonged negotiations between the
families of the victims and the hoodlums, the kidnappers only released Donana,
whose family paid some ransom.
A source from the community, who
spoke in confidence, said the Donana family negotiated undisclosed amount of
ransom with the kidnappers and sent someone to deliver the money to them.
He said the kidnappers collected
the money, held the ransom payer captive and released only the aged Mrs.
Donana.
“The 17-year-old granddaughter
was not released. The mother of Siasia was also not released because the family
had yet to agree on ransom. They are still holding three persons captive”.
The source, however, lampooned
the police leadership headed by the Commissioner of Police, Uche Anozia, for
not living up to its duty on the matter.
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be upturned, by Siasia
He said the kidnap case had
exposed the current state police leadership as clueless and wondered why the
octogenarian mother of Siasia could spend 50 days in kidnappers’ then without
the police bursting the crime.
“It seems the commissioner of
police has forgotten this case. The kidnappers are having fun, tormenting the
families of their victims and acting with ease and impunity yet the police have
said nothing on this case.
“They have no clues and nobody
has been arrested. It seems nothing happened in Bayelsa. It is really bad.
Maybe the Inspector-General Police should intervene by sending a special force
to crack this crime”, he said.
Two days after the incident, the
kidnappers established contacts with Siasia’s family and demanded N70m to set
the victims free.
Siasia, however, begged the
kidnappers to set his aged mother free unconditionally saying he was out of job
and had no such money to pay them.
But a family member said the
kidnappers brought down the ransom from N70m to N50m without consideration to
the health of the woman.
Residents and the Bayelsa State
Chapter of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) raised concerns on
the whereabouts of Ogere.
Residents said it was a sign of
incompetence on the part of the police and other security agencies to allow the
80-year-old woman to be in kidnappers’ den for over 25 days.
They lamented that the silence of
the police and other security agencies was disturbing and asked the security commanders
in the state to either free the woman or resign their positions.
Some of the residents derided the
security architecture in the state for their lacklustre and alleged unserious
attitude on the case of Siasia’s mother.
The Bayelsa State Chapter of SWA
said it was disturbing that several weeks after her abduction, Ogere Siasia is
still being held hostage by suspected kidnappers.
The Chairman of SWAN, Alambo
Datonye said: “Nearly a month since the woman’s kidnap on July 15 at her
country home at Odoni in Sagbama Local Government Area of the State, the old
woman is still languishing in the hands of her abductors.
“This should not happen to anyone
talkless of an aged mother of Coach Siasia who brought joy to millions of
Nigerians and Bayelsans as a player and a tactician donning the national
colors, bringing glory to the country.
“We therefore call on the
kidnappers to release Madam Ogere Siasia unconditionally and reunite her with
her loved ones.
“We also urge security agencies
and government to act swiftly and efficiently to ensure the release of the
woman and others that are being held against her will.
“No sane society develops with
individuals held against their will, with the perpetrators of this
unconscionable act getting away scot free.The pain and trauma the Siasia family
is going through is better imagined than experienced.
“As concerned members of the
society, SWAN in Bayelsa call on the relevant agencies to be alive to their
responsibilities of safeguarding the lives of every citizen and bring to a halt
criminal activities such as kidnapping which is antithetical to the very
essence of our collective humanity”.
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