John Adams, Minna
Niger State Governor Abubakar Sani Bello has vowed that the state government will rescue the three remaining staff of Tractia construction company abducted from a construction site at Erena in Shiroro local government area.
Heavily armed men had stormed the company construction site in early hours of May 12 and whisked away one Abubakar Ibrahim Jibrin, a staff of the Niger State Ministry of Works and three staff of the construction company.
One of the victims escaped to safety when the motorcycle that was used to convey him fell into a river.
The abductors had earlier demanded N1 billion ransom for the release of their victims but later reduced it N700 million.
Governor Bello in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary in Minna on Sunday vowed to rescue the victims unhurt, adding that the government has provided all the needed logistics support to ensure that these people regain their freedom and the criminals brought to face justice.
The governor maintained that no responsible government will fold its hands and watch criminals hold its people hostage, pointing out that ‘enough is enough, it is time to take the fight to their hideouts and root them out of the communities.’
The governor said the government is on top of the situation and that the abducted persons would be rescued and reunited with their families within the shortest possible time, as he appealed for calm.
He noted that the abduction of the construction workers at a time when ‘the government is aggressively embarking on the construction of some rural roads across the state to make lives easy and enhance economic activities of the people is a deliberate attempt to sabotage government efforts, which will not be tolerated.’
The governor declared that no amount of banditry activities or criminality in any parts of the state will deter the government from achieving its rural roads transformation agenda.
He commended the security agents in the state for their sacrifices in combating the activities of the bandits and other forms of criminality in the state and urged them to go after the perpetrators.
Governor Sani Bello reassured the people of the state of his administration’s commitment to the protection of lives and property.
