THE Abia State Police Command on Thursday said no official report has been filed on the abduction of a photographer attached to the Ebonyi State Government House Press Unit, Uche Nwube.
Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Command Geoffrey Ogbonna disclosed this in an interview with The ICIR.
“Some of your colleagues have called me on this issue, but like I told them, up till now we don’t have any such report.
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“I directed your colleagues to tell the victim’s relatives to report the kidnap to the nearest police station. If there is no report we may not have the details to work on the case with,” he said.
Gunmen reportedly abducted the photographer along the Okigwe-Aba-Enugu expressway on Wednesday.
The kidnappers have reportedly demanded the sum of N50 million for his release.
Nwube who was granted access to his phone, told his colleagues that he was kidnapped while returning from Aba at about 7:00 pm.
“I was kidnapped today, June 8 while returning to Abakaliki from Aba and I had some people in my car.
“Right now, they are demanding N50 million as ransom, which I do not know how and when I can get such money. Please, I need help,” he said.
According to reports, the kidnappers threatened to kill the photographer if the ransom is not paid by Thursday.
Journalists had reached out to the Ebonyi State Police Command over the incident, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
They were, however, directed to the Abia State Police Command as the location of abduction was outside the jurisdiction of Ebonyi Police Command.
When informed that newsmen in Ebonyi had already reached out to the police in the state, Ogbonna noted that there has not been any contact between the Ebonyi and Abia police commands concerning the abduction.
“The PRO is supposed to link up with me if there is a report, then I’ll be able to know the exact place it occurred and we can take action.
“You can also share my contact with the relatives of the victim,” he said.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.