The Rivers State Chapter of the APC has urged those who are behind the kidnap of a chieftain of the party in Khana Local Government Area to release their victim unconditionally.
The kidnap incident is coming as the APC and the Rivers Government fight over issues pertaining to the security of Rivers people.
The APC said in a statement in Port Harcourt that it is dismayed by the adoption of a grassroots member of the party by unknown persons.
The APC observed that the action of those who are still holding its Caretaker Committee Chairman in Khana hostage, has confirmed that ordinary citizens resident in Rivers State are not safe.
The Caretaker Committee Chairman was abducted by unknown persons on Sunday from his home, according to information that is filtering out of the area.
Members of the victim’s family have been thrown into confusion as a result of the kidnap incident.
The whereabouts of the kidnap victim and the identity of those who are holding him captive are not yet known.
But the Rivers State Police Command, believed to have been alerted about the situation, may have swung into immediate action in an effort to rescue the victim.
Reacting to the news of the adoption of the victim, the party noted, “The Caretaker Committee Chairman of the APC in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State was snatched on Sunday from his home by unknown persons.
“We have been briefed that he was taken into captivity at a time when well meaning people were celebrating the resurrection of our Lord, the Son of God.
“We are appealing to those who have seized a Rivers citizen from the arms of his loved ones to release him unconditionally.
“While the identities of persons who are currently holding him hostage are not known, we have strong reasons to believe that the act was perpetuated against the backdrop of the inability of the Rivers State Government to guarantee appropriate security protection at the grassroots.
“We call on all security agencies in the State to intensify their man-hunt for those who are responsible for the sudden disappearance of a law abiding citizen.
Whereas the Government is claiming that the APC did not have access to all of the facts, the kidnap incident has further brought what many see as the failure of the Rivers government to secure lives and property into the open.
Recall that the APC had insisted that the Wike administration acted on its inception, to degrade the State’s security apparatus built around the C-4-I infrastructure installed by the Amaechi led government to protect the people of the State from the activities of criminal minds.
Taking port shots at the reaction of officials of the Government, the APC has emphasized in the meantime, that it got its facts right when it spoke on the attempt by the State Government to re-enact the establishment of C-4-I structures instituted by former Governor Rotimi Amaechi which it allegedly dismantled.
“We were right about the facts that we deposed to yesterday”, APC’s Spokesman, Chief Ogbonna Nwuke stressed, “We are right about those facts today.”
“We were right when we said that those structures were unwittingly dismantled under the watch of the Wike administration.
“These facts are known to the Rivers people. A great majority of Rivers people live in this State. They do not live abroad.
“They are witnesses to all that has transpired. More than that, Rivers people are no fools. They know the truth.
“Those who chose to react to our position equally chose to avoid the truth that the APC spoke.
“Under whose watch was the C-4-I infrastructure laid to waste? The answer is simple. It has happened under the administration of Governor Nyesom Wike. Nothing can change that reality.”