Some gunmen on Monday abducted four Chinese nationals working for a Hyundai Fabrication firm at Okpoama Island, in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa.
Confirming the report, Deputy Superintendent of Police Fidelis Odunna, the Police Public Relations Officer in Bayelsa, told newsmen that the gunmen stormed the company’s site by boat and abducted the Chinese workers.
He, however, said that the police command had since deployed detectives to comb the creeks for possible clues, adding that “strategic security measures are being put in place to forestall a reoccurrence’’.
Community sources say that one of the four kidnapped men was the company’s Operations Manager, who was simply identified as Mr J.H. Kin.
Other sources also confirmed that the gunmen blindfolded their hostages and took them away in their speedboat.
The abduction, according to the eyewitnesses, was carried out in a “commando-like-manner’’, as many of the company staff who witnessed the incident watched helplessly.
The Joint Military Task force (JTF) and policemen have been deployed to the creeks to hunt down the kidnappers and secure the release of the expatriates.
However, the whereabouts of the kidnapped men has yet to be ascertained, while no group has claimed responsibility for the action.
Hyundai Fabrication Company fabricates metal materials used by the Brass Liquefied Natural Gas Company (BLNG).
Investigations reveal that the local communities have been at loggerheads with the company over its failure to employ youths from the area.
– NAN