Abducted WASSCE candidates: Rivers pirates demand N100m

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Pirates who abducted 13 passengers, including eight students heading to sit the West African Senior School Certificate Examination in Bille, Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State, have demanded N100m for their release.

The pirates hijacked two passenger boats and abducted the occupants along the Port Harcourt–Bille waterways on May 6.

Since the incident, the whereabouts of the victims have remained unknown.

However, speaking in Port Harcourt on Friday, an indigene of the area and immediate past Youth President of Bille Kingdom, Dr Osaki Miller, said the abductors had now demanded a ransom of N100m.

Miller expressed concern over the safety and health conditions of the victims, noting that their families were traumatised. He questioned how the families could possibly raise such a huge sum and urged security agents to secure the release of the abductees.

“As we speak, the whereabouts of the victims is still unknown, and now we have been made to understand that the abductors are asking for N100m ransom,” he said.

Miller called on the State Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), to rise to the occasion and ensure all the captives are rescued unhurt. He said, “We have lodged complaints with various quarters, including the security agencies and the government. We even staged a protest to alert the authorities. But up till now, we have not heard anything. Whatever the case, we are calling on the State Sole Administrator to swing into action.”

Also speaking, a former Chairman of Bille Community, Fibite Bibi, disclosed that one of the victims, a security personnel, was released last Friday.

He stated, “They released a uniformed man who was kidnapped alongside the students last Friday. We don’t know whether ransom was paid. But right now, they are demanding N100m for the students and Bille residents that were abducted. Where will that money come from?