SAN FRANCISCO, June 26, (THEWILL) – The Bayelsa Police Command Friday said the expatriate construction workers abducted by gunmen at Ogbia Local Government Area, the hometown of former President Goodluck Jonathan in Bayelsa State, have been rescued by security forces.
The command’s spokesman, Mr. Asinim Butswat, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the Lebanese were freed on Thursday following a massive crackdown by combined security forces in the area.
“The two Lebanese, Ibrahim Abi Phrem and Sarkis Abi Chimooni, all male, were kidnapped on June 24, at Ogbia Local Government Area.
“They were rescued at Okodi in Ogbia riverine community on 25 June 2015 where they were abandoned by the kidnappers due to massive manhunt by police.
“They are hale and hearty and have been reunited with their families. Efforts are being intensified to arrest the kidnappers,” Butswat said.
Kidnapping for ransom is a common crime in southern Nigeria, especially in the Niger Delta region.
THEWILL recalls that the foreigners were kidnapped on Wednesday from a construction site in Onuegbum community after two policemen were killed.
The slain policemen were attached to Pache Construction Company, employers to the abductees.
The eight gunmen, according to residents who witnessed the incident, arrived the community at about 12.20 p.m. through the waterway in two speed boats.
The gunmen reportedly besieged the sand dredging site and shot repeatedly into the air to scare passersby and other dredging workers in the area who ran to safety.
The two policemen responded with gunshots, but were killed by the volley of shots released by the armed men.
Butswat said the corpses of the policemen were deposited at the morgue of the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa for autopsy.
