By Ehigimetor Igbaugba
Calabar, – Mrs Rose Bassey, a former Accountant General of Cross River, was abducted on Tuesday along with three others at Uyanga axis of the Calabar-Ogoja highway.
They were abducted by gunmen who laid siege on that axis of the busy highway by shooting at the traveling motorists to force them to stop.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a popular evangelist in the state, Edim Edim Omin, was also shot during the process.
The evangelist, who escaped with bullet wounds, is said to be receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital in the state.
The incident is coming barely 24 hours after the state police Command said it has deployed tactical team, including Anti-Cultism and Kidnapping Squads, to that axis of the highway to safeguard motorists and commuters plying the highway.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson of the state Police Command, SP Irene Ugbo, confirmed the Tuesday’s incident and said the Command is working to see that the four abducted persons were released unharmed.
She reiterated that the Command is working to see that normalcy returns to that axis of the highway.
“It is a sad reality for us and as I speak with you, the Commissioner of Police is heading to that axis to assess the situation of things himself,” she stated.
It would be recalled that the Uyanga-Ikomita axis of the Calabar-Ogoja highway have become notorious for kidnappers in the past two months.
No fewer than 20 persons, including two medical doctors in the state, have been abducted at that axis of the highway.
The abduction of the medical doctors led to industrial action by the State chapter of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) that demanded for their release unhurt. (NAN)
