Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has issued a 72-Hour ultimatum to traditional rulers in Andoni Local Government Area of the State to secure the immediate release of three expatriates of Rafoul Nigeria Limited, who were kidnapped.

Wike, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Electronic Media, Simeon Nwakaudu, gave the Andoni Chiefs the deadline on Saturday.

Kristina Reports learnt that the kidnapped expatriates were working for Rafoul Nigeria Limited, which is the company handling the construction of the Unity Road and Bridges which connects Andoni, Khana and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas in the State.

The Governor threatened to strip the Chiefs of government recognition and suspend the Unity Road project going on in the area if they fail to secure the release of the three expatriates who were kidnapped by youths in their domain.

The Governor further stated, “Other communities across the state must take measures to protect contractors and workers executing projects for them”.

Governor Wike however buttressed that same actions will be taken in other communities if project contractors were kidnapped by community youths.

The recent kidnap incident is a huge setback for the project that has lasted over 16 years initiated by former Governor Peter Odili and continued by his sucessors, Rotimi Amaechi, who is Nigeria’s current Minister of Transportation, and Nyesom Wike, the incumbent Governor.

The Unity Road connects communities such as Baen, Kono, etc on the Ogoni axis; Nkoro, Opobo Town, Kalaibiama, among others on the Opobo/Nkoro axis; and Asarama, Ekede, Ikuru Town, Ngo Town, among others on the Andoni axis.

Andoni LGA reserves the infamous record of having the least number of government projects in Rivers State due to acrimony, insecurity and infighting amongst her elite.

The just concluded 2019 polls saw the assassination of more than four politicians in the area.