The corpse of former president Goodluck Jonathan’s nephew was found floating along a creek in Otuoke Friday, according to witnesses. The deceased, Mr. Samuel Oki, 35, was abducted along with Jonathan’s foster father Inegite Jonathan on Wednesday.
Armed gunmen suspected to be kidnappers, abducted the 72-year-old Inegite Jonathan on Wednesday, but the kidnapping of Oki was not noticed until several hours later.
The discovery of Oki’s decomposing body by Otuoke community members has increased fears for the safety of the 72-year-old victim whose location is still unknown.
The villagers who were seen discussing the sad incident speculated that the young man must have been killed because he tried to resist the kidnappers.
Some said they heard a gunshot on Wednesday, at about the time the kidnappers were fleeing across the waterways.
According to them, divers and local fisherman had recovered the body and anchored it by the riverside to prevent it from being carried away by water currents.
The body has since been deposited at a morgue in the area.
As regards the older man, the kidnappers are yet to make contact with the family of their hostage since Wednesday’s abduction.
This is the second time Inegite Jonathan has been kidnapped. On February 28, 2014, he was kidnapped and later freed by security forces on March 10, 2014.
One resident described the 2014 experience as “traumatic” and that Mr. Jonathan had been beaten and kicked by his abductors.
Asinim Butswat, the Bayelsa State Police Public Relations Officer, confirmed the incident and said that the police were trailing the kidnappers.
“On February 17, 2016, at about 3:30am, seven unknown gunmen abducted one Inengite Nitabai at his residence in Otuoke, Ogbia Local Government Area.
“A massive manhunt has been launched by a combined team of Marine Police and Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Command, to rescue the victim and arrest the abductors. The investigation is ongoing,” Butswat said.
Nancy Dickson, 26, the younger sister to Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson, was abducted in December 2015 and has been held captive for more than fifty days.
The Governor had, in his first term in office, signed the anti-kidnapping law that prescribes death sentence for kidnapping.
Despite it, there has never been any conviction and kidnappings continue to thrive in the state.
-Vanguard