Today, Sunday, September 27, 2020, makes it 15 days since Thompson Allison, Daniel Hart, Theophilus Ibiama and Sunny Hart, four indigenes of Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State were kidnapped in a dramatic circumstance at Finiapiri-Ama (Amauda) in Banigo Isile-Ogono without a word from the authorities.

It calls for concern that the Rivers State Government led by Governor Nyesom Wike that has been mainstreaming security as the high point of its policy thrust has maintained a deafening silence on the fate of the Banigo Four.

Neither the Governor nor any official of the administration has made any statement or shown any visible interest in the matter.  Ditto with the Bonny Local Government Council which has also remained mute more than two weeks after.

The social media community, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), the Bonny Improvement Association (BIA), the Obolo Youth Coalition (OYC) and other well-meaning groups and individuals have, however, sustained the clamour for the release of the abductees.

A resident of Bonny, who simply identified herself as Davina, expressed dismay over the situation, wondering what the state and local governments were actually saying to the families of the kidnap victims.

“I don’t get it. By their silence are they saying that the families of these abducted men are on their own? No word from the Governor, no word from the Local Government Chairman, nothing from anybody.”

“How can we, the citizens, be so abandoned to our fate by the government we voted for? Imagine for two weeks, these poor men have been abandoned to the mercy of these criminals. Is this fair?”

Another resident, who prefers anonymity, said he did not expect less from the government, pointing out that Nigerians have long before now been abandoned to cater for themselves.

“Have you seen anyone who was rescued from the hands of kidnappers in Nigeria by government before? From Falae to many others, is it not either their families paid or they escaped or the kidnappers freed them and they came back and police see them and claim they rescued them?”

“It’s unfortunate, that things are like this but if you ask me, I am not expecting Governor Wike or our (LG) Chairman to do anything oh. Nothing come out from their side. Just watch, once the kidnappers demand money now, the family pays, next thing police will go and pick them up and bring them to their families as if they rescued them.”

A security source, who craved anonymity as he was not authorized to speak on the matter, however, differed, saying efforts were ongoing to track the whereabouts of the kidnappers, stressing that security issues are not discussed in the public domain.

An official of the State Government, who also craved anonymity, hinted Kristina Reports that “the Governor has already been briefed on the situation and has personally reached some of the victims’ families on the phone”, revealing that “His Excellency has given the security agencies the mandate to fish out the hoodlums who abducted those men and rescue their victims and quickly bring the issue to a close”.  

Kristina Reports’ checks with the families of the victims of the victims reveal a state of gloom and disenchantment, though many family members are holding on to God to bring about the freedom of their kidnapped relatives.