1 Nigerian killed, 4 Thais kidnapped by armed men in Rivers

One person was left dead while four Thai nationals – all employees of the Israeli-run Buguma mega fish farm, owned by the Rivers State government – were kidnapped Friday morning in Buguma, the headquarters of Asari-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State.

Saturday Tribune gathered that the victims, six of them, were abducted by armed men between 7 and 7:30am while on their way to work on the fish farm, managed by Omida Farms, an Israeli company.

Relaying the incident to Saturday Tribune in Port Harcourt on Friday, the state’s Commissioner for Agriculture, Emma Chindah, said six employees of the managers of the fish farm were kidnapped by the hoodlums, two of who were Nigerians; but that the kidnappers decided to release the two Nigerians midway into their operation. One of the two Nigerian workers, in an attempt to escape, jumped into the water and drowned.

Chindah lamented the situation and blamed it on the laxity of security in the state.  He said the matter had been reported to the police, but noted that the breakdown of security in the area and the entire state due to the sense of boldness the police in the state has recently conferred on criminals, who were hitherto in hiding.

“The hoodlums took six of the workers, including two Nigerians; but they decided to drop the two Nigerians among their victims, probably in a bid to prevent being easily traced. Unfortunately, one of them (Nigerians) tried to escape, jumped into the water and drowned. The other one managed to swim to safety.”

“We have reported the matter to the police, but what must be emphasised is that these hoodlums feel emboldened to do this because they believe the police are now their friends. You will remember when so-called militants protested on the streets of Port Harcourt in support of Mbu. Now they have the idea that they have the police on their side and that they can resume crimes without consequences. Buguma had been calm before now, you can see that the situation is gradually degenerating into something sad,” Chindah said.

He said further that the kidnappers had not reached out to anybody since the incident occurred.

The spokesperson of the state police command, Angela Agabe (DSP), said she had heard of the incident from journalists, but was yet to get a formal situation report from the Buguma Divisional Police Officer.