ayelsa
State-born Agba who denied being a kidnapper, had gone to the said hotel in
Eket to collect the N3 million he had negotiated for the pirates from the
fishermen when the police apprehended him.
‘I’m a
middleman. I am just an Ijaw man and a middleman to the Ijaw fishermen and the
pirates. So, there are certain groups of fishermen that normally contribute
money to the pirates to make sure they do their businesses smoothly. When the
pirates had a meeting with the fishermen, they said I am the one that would be
negotiating the monthly payment. The fishermen said if they negotiate directly,
the pirates will charge them too high, but if I intervene, the pirates will
bring down the levy because I am an Ijaw brother. On that fateful day, I went
to collect the money to settle the pirates so that they would allow the
fishermen do their business. It was in the process that I was arrested".
Denying
being a kidnapper, another member of the gang, 23 year old Friday Sunday Paul,
from Eastern Obolo Local Government Area, whose duty it was to convey victims
on his motorbike, said on the contrary, he was kidnapped by the group members.
“I was
riding my bike along Afaha Uqua Road junction when three guys stopped me. Two
of them climbed the bike and told me to take them somewhere. On getting there,
one of them put his hand in my trouser and said I must take them to where they
were going to. They used a gun to threaten me, saying they were going for an
operation. I am not one of them. I was set up"he said
Ekenu,
who is from Oron Local Government Area, said: “I came
in from Lagos to meet my friend, Tony. I am an artist. When I arrived Oron, he
asked me how much I came with and I said I did not come with any money. He
called his friends and said they should take my shoes, watch and phones. When
they went outside the room, I escaped through the ceiling and ran to the police
station. Unfortunately for me, along the road, they picked me and took me to
the police station, saying I was a kidnapper. It is for that reason that I am
here. I do not understand any of these.”
Refuting
their claims, the spokesperson of the Akwa Ibom Police command, Delia Nwawe,
said they were members of the same gang who were arrested following each
suspect’s confessional statement.
This one na original gobe
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