30 Gunmen Storms Palace,Kidnap monarch

UYO — The Paramount Ruler of Esit Eket Local
Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Chief Ubong
Assam, was yesterday, abducted by no fewer than
30 gunmen, who stormed his palace at 2a.m. The kidnappers took the royal father to Unyeghe
village, Mbo Local Government Area in a car,
transferred him to a waiting speedboat and left for
the high seas. The kidnap, it was learnt, might be in connection
with N2.6 billion compensation paid by ExxonMobil
to the four host local government communities,
which the youths had rejected. Although the security personnel attached to the
royal father attempted to rescue him, the
kidnappers’ superior fire power won the day. The Paramount Ruler, who was sleeping when the
gunmen struck was, according to a source, not
maltreated by the abductors. The source said the abductors were demanding
N150 million ransom to release the victim, as their
share of the compensation money, which they
claimed they joined in agitating for. A family source said: “Some of the gun shots
sounded like bomb blasts. The operation was like
an invasion.” The Esit Eket Divisional Police Officer could not be
reached, but a senior police officer that identified
himself as Ogar, said they had received distress calls
around 2a.m., but that before Police arrived, the
kidnappers had gone. Youths of Esit Eket, Onna and Ibeno local
government areas of the state, last week came out
to say they had demanded for N26.5 billion from
the oil giant due to the oil spill last year September,
but that the company paid N2.6 billion. They had alleged that some of the royal fathers in
the area connived with the oil company to shot-
change them.

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