3 Corps members abducted in Rivers

From TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt

Gunmen have kidnapped three members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Rivers State. Checks by Sunday Sun revealed that a female Corps member was among those abducted yesterday.

The corps members, whose whereabouts remained unknown as at press time, were forcibly whisked away from the Corpers’ Lodge in Ogonokom Community Secondary School in Abua/Odual Local Government Area of the state.

It was gathered that the gunmen stormed the lodge at about midnight, firing shots into the air to scare the residents of the neighbourhood and escaped with the victims who were yet to be officially identified.  Sources told Sunday Sun that no contact had been established with relations and colleagues of the kidnapped corps members as at the time of filing this report.

Also, no group had claimed responsibility for their abduction. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mrs. Angela Agabe, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), confirmed the incident to journalists.

She said that the Police had commenced a manhunt of the kidnappers  and that efforts were being made to secure the release of the corps members. A source within the National Youth Service Corps secretariat in Port Harcourt, who did not want to be identified, said corps members in Ogonokom community have been relocated temporarily.