Gunmen have abducted Mr Iti Watson, father of Mr Alfred Watson-Belemote, member representing Brass Constituency II in Bayelsa State House of Assembly.
The victim, who hails from Okpoama Kingdom of Brass Local Government Area, was reportedly whisked away while conveying the corpse of his late wife, Comfort (Belemote’s step mother) from Okpoama mortuary to Egweama, the deceased’s maternal home, for burial.
A source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “Watson is a respected chief in Okpoama Kingdom. His wife died and her corpse was deposited at the Okpoama mortuary.
“On Saturday, he was taking the corpse to her maternal home at Egweama, which is about seven minutes’ away from Okpoama, when gunmen attacked them. The gunmen were four and they operated on a 75 horsepower boat. The chief was travelling with the casket bearing his wife’s corpse on a 115 horsepower speedboat. The gunmen shot four times at them and forced them to stop.”
The source said when the assailants approached the boat, they inflicted machete cuts on the driver, stole handsets and other valuables belonging to the passengers in the boat and whisked away the aged Watson to an unknown destination.
Confirming the incident, the lawmaker asked the kidnappers to release his father unconditionally, alleging that the abductors “were within the community.”
He vowed that he would not pay any ransom to them, adding that efforts were being made to locate his father and the kidnappers.
Belemote said, “I am asking them to release my father unconditionally because the abduction was done by people within. How can they kidnap an old man who was going to bury his dead wife?”
Spokesman for Police in Bayelsa Butswat Asimin confirmed this in Yenagoa on Saturday. Asimin said the police had mobilised to fish out the perpetrators.
“The Police Anti-kidnapping Unit and other relevant security agencies have been mobilised to track down the kidnappers”, he said.
The victim, who hails from Okpoama Kingdom of Brass Local Government Area, was reportedly whisked away while conveying the corpse of his late wife, Comfort (Belemote’s step mother) from Okpoama mortuary to Egweama, the deceased’s maternal home, for burial.
A source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “Watson is a respected chief in Okpoama Kingdom. His wife died and her corpse was deposited at the Okpoama mortuary.
“On Saturday, he was taking the corpse to her maternal home at Egweama, which is about seven minutes’ away from Okpoama, when gunmen attacked them. The gunmen were four and they operated on a 75 horsepower boat. The chief was travelling with the casket bearing his wife’s corpse on a 115 horsepower speedboat. The gunmen shot four times at them and forced them to stop.”
The source said when the assailants approached the boat, they inflicted machete cuts on the driver, stole handsets and other valuables belonging to the passengers in the boat and whisked away the aged Watson to an unknown destination.
Confirming the incident, the lawmaker asked the kidnappers to release his father unconditionally, alleging that the abductors “were within the community.”
He vowed that he would not pay any ransom to them, adding that efforts were being made to locate his father and the kidnappers.
Belemote said, “I am asking them to release my father unconditionally because the abduction was done by people within. How can they kidnap an old man who was going to bury his dead wife?”
Spokesman for Police in Bayelsa Butswat Asimin confirmed this in Yenagoa on Saturday. Asimin said the police had mobilised to fish out the perpetrators.
“The Police Anti-kidnapping Unit and other relevant security agencies have been mobilised to track down the kidnappers”, he said.
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