DELSU’s ASUU petitions Uduaghan over abducted female lecturer

Worried by the continued abduction and harbouring of one of its members in the custody of kidnappers, members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Delta State University branch, Abraka,  has petitioned Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, urging him to intervene in the saga.

The don, Dr (Mrs) Mercy Mokobia, was kidnapped since April with her whereabouts yet to be ascertained.
Rising from a crucial meeting on Thursday in Abraka, the lecturers expressed shock over the state police command’s inability to rescue the lecturer, smoke out and apprehend her abductors.

In a communiqué issued after the meeting, which was signed by ASUU chairman and secretary, Dr. Emmanuel Mordi and Dr Chukwujindu Iwegbue, the body expressed astonishment over the silence hitherto maintained by the state police command on the saga.
While registering its disappointment over the handling of the issue by the police, the association stated that its members were running out of patience over the whereabouts of the female lecturer since her abduction on April 9, 2013.

 “Our patience is running out and we are very much concerned with the whereabouts of our colleague, who was abducted on April 9, 2013,” the statement read in part, lamenting the resurgence of the menace making lecturers to live in perpetual fear.
Explaining how Dr Mokobia was kidnapped, ASUU said the incident occurred in her bedroom when the kidnappers forcefully broke into her room through the window after destroying the protector.



 “A month after, another lecturer,” Dr Ugochukwu Uzuegbu was kidnapped at Uromi Junction, Agbor where the vehicle in which he was travelling was stopped by hoodlums who dragged him out of the vehicle and abducted him, leaving his vehicle behind.
“Nearly in all cases, we did what is expected of law-abiding citizens by involving the security agencies in search of the kidnapped victim.
Regrettably, our experience has shown us that the police are  ill-equipped and lack the proper motivation and morale to succeed,” the statement said.
“It is unfortunate and frightening that it has become our lot in recent years to be saddled with the burden of combating kidnapping and related nefarious acts which have posed a danger to the security of lives and property of our members,” the statement further read.
The body pleaded with the governor and security agents to devise all means to rescue their colleague before things go out of hand.