Four days after a reporter with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Port Harcourt Zonal Office, Chidiebere Onyia, was kidnapped, the state Police Command has assured that she would soon be set free.
Spokesman of the Command, Nnamdi Omoni, gave the assurance yesterday in a telephone chat with The Guardian while giving updates on the whereabouts of the journalist, who is a breastfeeding mother.
Omoni said reports from personnel of the Command’s tactical unit, who were mandated by the Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mukan, to ensure Onyia’s safe and quick return have received a green light. x
Meantime, journalists in the state, who are disturbed and sadden by the ugly development, have taken to their different social media handles, calling for the quick release of their colleague.
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Dennis Naku, Port Harcourt
The Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mukan, has vowed that personnel of the command will track down and apprehend the abductors of a reporter with the Nigerian Television Authority in Port Harcourt, Mrs Chidiebere Onyia, who was kidnapped by gunmen on Tuesday.
Similarly, the state council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists has demanded Onyia’s immediate and unconditional release.
Onyia, a mother of three, was said to be returning home from work in company with some of her colleagues when the gunmen intercepted her around 6.30pm.
Mukan, who expressed bitterness over the development, said the police had already spread their dragnet wide to apprehend the criminals.
The Rivers State Police Command on Wednesday confirmed the abduction of a reporter attached to the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) in Port Harcourt,
Gunmen have abducted a reporter with the Nigerian Television Authority, (NTA) ,PortHarcourt, Zonal Office, Chidiebere Onyia, in Rivers State.
Onyia, a nursing mother, was allegedly kidnapped at a gunpoint around 8 pm on Tuesday along the railway line, Woji in Obio/ Akpor Local Government Area of the state on her way home after work.
It was gathered that a gunman had ordered her to wind down at the traffic and when she did, he ordered her to drive to the corner and park.
According to an eyewitness, the hoodlum while displaying his gun followed her and also directed her to step out of her vehicle and move to a waiting Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV).