Operatives from the Rivers State Police Command(anti-kidnapping unit) on Thursday rescued three chieftains of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who
were abducted by kidnappers last week.
Hon.Chinyere Igwe, a former member of the House of Representatives; Ikechi Chinda, PDP chairman of the Port Harcourt local government area, and Allwell Ihunwo, a party chieftain, were
all abducted by unknown gunmen at
the premises of Derail Hotel located in the Eagle Island area of Port Harcourt last Wednesday.
The incident sparked up a war of words and accusations by the PDP in the state, which immediately
accused the state governor, Rt. Hon
Rotimi Amaechi of complicity in the
abduction.
Reports gathered revealed that while
Allwell Ihunwo was released thursday morning, the duo of Ikechi Chinda and Chinyere Igwe were released on Wednesday night.
Although the details were still sketchy by press time, the trio were said to have been moved to their various residences with their family, friends, and political associates expressing gratitude over their
release.
The Commissioner of Police for Rivers State, Mr. Tunde Johnson Ogunsakin, confirmed the release to journalists, even though he
refused to divulge more information on the involvement of the police in the incident.
Ogunsakin however, assured the family of the abducted politicians and the people of the state that the perpetrators are only living on borrowed time and they shall be arrested in due time.
He said: ?The three abducted members of the PDP have all been released now. However, we are still on trail of the abductors and we shall soon catch up with them. You have to bear with us in this regards, as we cannot release further information on the incident as
this might compromise our investigation which is still ongoing.?
The state Commissioner of Information and Communications, Ibim Semenitari, had last week denied PDP?s allegations of
complicity by the state government,
accusing the party of being insensitive to the welfare of their members.
Reacting to the incident yesterday, the special adviser to the state chairman of PDP, Jerry Needam, confirmed to newmen that the three
members of the party had been released and that all of them were in good health.
Needam said: ?The three members of our party that were abducted last
Wednesday have been released.
One of them, Hon. Allwell Ihunwo, was released this morning (Thursday), while the other two were released late in the evening.
We are grateful that the three of them were in good health, as no harm have befallen them.?
