Nigerian gunmen kidnap-hijack school bus in Aba

Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers on Monday morning hijacked a school bus conveying 15 pupils of Abayi International School, Osisioma, near Aba to their school and took them to an unknown destination. Daily Sun gathered that the driver of the school bus had gone out that morning to designated points as was the schedule to pick the pupils to school.

On getting to a spot at Ekeakpara, it was learnt that a Toyota Camry saloon car waylaid the school bus and ordered the driver at gunpoint to stop. It was also gathered that as the driver came down, the hoodlums collected his mobile phone set and ordered him to lie face down while they drove off with the pupils towards Etche in Rivers State.

Investigations revealed that most of the kidnapped school children were nursery and primary school pupils.
The kidnappers were said to have demanded N20 million ransom for the release of the kids.

When Daily Sun visited the school located in the outskirts of Aba, teachers and some parents of the abducted kids were seen in groups discussing the fate of the children even as one of them appealed to the abductors to release the children without further delay considering their tender ages.
When contacted, the principal of the school who would not disclose his name for fear of being attacked, although confirmed the incident, refused to give further details.

He said it was only the manager that could speak on the issue. But the manager said the matter was too sensitive to be discussed now. She, however, promised to speak after the release of the children.
Some people who spoke with Daily Sun condemned the high rate of kidnapping in the city.
While calling on the kidnappers to take the ages of the children into consideration and release them immediately, they called on government to do something urgent to arrest the situation.

Abia State Government had last week given kidnappers in the state a two-week ultimatum to surrender their weapons and be rehabilitated by government in an amnesty programme that appeared to mean nothing to some of the hoodlums. Since the ultimatum was issued, no day had passed without a reported case of kidnapping or violent crime in the commercial city.
In another incident, gunmen last Saturday killed two policemen at Umuafor Ukwu in Obingwa Local Government Area (where four journalists and their driver were kidnapped sometime ago). The policemen were said to be on patrol when they ran into the gunmen who opened fire, killing two of them instantly and reportedly burnt their Hilux van.

Source: Sun Newspapers

Aba mafians and rebels are stronger than the taliban,I think we need the UN to help us.

It is like all criminals congregate in Aba,because it is a fertile ground for crime,I will not be surprise to hear that the law enforcement agencies is responsible for 80% of the crime or they are accomplice.
I recommend the sacking of the police and security chief of Abia state,they seems to be useless.

This is absurd and unspeakable in any part of the world. I'm sure these kids are averaging 5 - 7 years. How can anyone in his right senses degenerate to committing such a heineous act? At times like this, dialogue and negotiation do not work. There must not be any negotiation with these idiots. They are taking advantage of a compromised Abia security network. Are they the only ones that are unemployed in Nigeria? Government must not treat these miscreants with kid gloves.The traders in Ariaria Aba volunteered to do it in their own way and the lame duck government in Umuahia, Abia state denied them. Desparate situations require desparate measures. If this is not nipped in the bud now, it will spread to the neighbouring states at an alarming dimension. President Jonathan, please deploy special troops to ABA to permanently quieten these boys. The Police check point approach is totally ineffective. With intelligence information on their hideouts, they can be taken headon with a lethal strike force. Incidentally, Gen. Ihejirika is of Abia extraction and must be pained by the activities of these terrorists. Anyone of them sighted must not be spared. They have gained so much grounds and their various cells must be tactically eliminated. Our military are robust and tactical at times like this. This is not a matter of complementing the mobile police force. It is time for full military operation. They should declare ABA in a state of emergency and strike hard on identified kidnap cells. The neighboring states like Imo, Rivers, Enugu, Akwa Ibom should pump resources into reinforcing their security network because of anticipated influx of some of the criminals when the special force strikes in Aba. These idiots must not be spared. The good Lord of these innocent children will expose them. They have come to the last Bus stop. PRESIDENT JONATHAN PLEASE ACT NOW...NOW....NOW..

One thing is clear indeed,there is an absolute security breakdown in Aba and the neighboring areas.
Presently ,all banks in Aba are closed for fear of the kidnappers.

Wild wild west...MONEY AT ALL COST.
Two weeks ago I heard that the Abia Govt has given the kidnappers amnesty and ultimatum of two weeks,now the amnesty period and the ultimatum has expired ,yet kidnappings has become more vibrant.
WHAT ON EARTH !! How can kidnappers given amnesty and rehabilitation or does the govenor and his people not know the meaning of these words ? That is a big sign of weakness on the part of the govenment . Give amnesty today and many more kidnappers will go into the business knowing nothing will happen if they are caught.
Is the governor part of the kidnapping cabal???.

Kidnapped school kids: Ransom now N40m
...Parents besiege school
From OKEY SAMPSON, Aba, Taiwo Amodu, Abuja
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
More Stories on This Section

Outrage trailed the abduction of 15 pupils of Abayi International School in Aba, Abia State yesterday, but the kidnappers upped the ante by increasing the ransom demanded on the school children to N40 million from N20 million. Contrary to the speculation on Monday evening that the school kids were abandoned in a bush path near a village in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area few hours after their kidnap on the way to school on Monday, investigations showed that they were still held captive.

When Daily Sun visited the school at about 2.45 p.m yesterday, none of the principal officers was around. They were said to have gone out with some policemen in search of the pupils, aged between three and 10.
A staff member who preferred anonymity confided in Daily Sun that the kids had not been freed and that frantic efforts were being made towards their release.
Some parents of the kidnapped school children were seen trooping into the compound perhaps to discuss with the school officials on the way forward.

When contacted, the spokesman, Abia State Police, ASP Geoffrey Ogbonna, said the command had been unable to establish contact with the school authorities. However, a senior police officer in Aba, on condition of anonymity, claimed they visited the school yesterday morning but could not get any concrete information.

According to him, “we went to the school this morning (Tuesday) to get information about the children from the authorities, but all they told us was that God was in control. Please, my brother, if you have information concerning the whereabouts of the children, give us so that we can work on it,” he said.

There were, however, moves yesterday indicating the children would be freed as the authorities of the school, with the parents, intensified moves towards this direction but how soon that could be remained unknown.
In a related development, the National Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, yesterday, reacted angrily to the kidnap of the 15 pupils by unknown gunmen in Osisioma near Aba in Abia State describing it as callous and unacceptable.

Nwodo, in a statement by his media aide, Ike Abonyi, described the action of the hijackers of the children, most of them in nursery and primary level, as wicked and challenged relevant security agencies to fish them out and save the children, their families and the nation the trauma.
The PDP national chairman said such wicked action by anybody at a time the nation was in the celebration mood and many foreign dignitaries already in the country for the nation’s golden jubilee was not only callous but distracting.
He said the issue of kidnapping in the South-east, especially Abia, had become a huge embarrassment to the nation and should be condemned by all reasonable persons.

The last high profile kidnap in the same area involved three Lagos-based journalists returning to Lagos after attending a conference of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital.
In addition, the UN Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) has joined the array of those crying out against the kidnap of the 15 school children in Abia on Monday describing it as craven.
“Under no circumstances should children be the target of violence,’’ said the Representative of UNICEF in Nigeria, Dr. Suomi Sakai, in a statement yesterday in Abuja.

“Kidnapping children for financial gain is simply heinous,’’ the statement noted.
The children’s fund, which advocates everywhere for the inviolability of schools, hoped the law enforcement agencies would be able to find and bring the children to safety quickly.
“In all its work, UNICEF stresses the need for families, communities and civil society to work in partnership to protect the rights and well-being of children,” the statement added.

“Communities in which children are safe and well, are communities in which everyone is safe and well,” the statement added.

This is really absurd. It's time to join forces to fight this monster. These are kids for God's sake

I dare to believe that it may not be bread and butter as usual...this sponsored men may not go free this time. God cannot fail to answer the cries of this little ones..

We need help.

What a birthday gift to nigeria at 50. Why it is easy to criminalize the acts of the kidnappers, we must pause and ask ourselves why and how our society has so degenerated. How are these people better than the governors especially the south eastern governors who have collectively kidnapped and held their people hostage? The only thing i see wrong is the fact the poor are turning their guns against each other instead of their oppressors.

Then somebody somewhere needs to tell them!

It is beyond comprehension. Where the children are not kidnapped, they are slaughtered for their body parts for rituals. These things are universal in Nigeria. What kind of governments do we have? How on earth can they have the guts to come back to the people and ask for their votes? They only satisfy their own desires and the rest of thrown to the dogs? Let me remind them of this saying: 'The person who irrigates the land of the limbs with desires, has infact planted-in his heart- the tree of remorse.'

Good news.....................,thank goodness,the kids have been released.
http://www.nigerianelitesforum.com/n...sed-freed.html

There is an event for this October in facecook, and I hope we shall all join hands.