Some gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen terrorising Eke-Affa-Ezinze road in the Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State have reportedly abducted a man who returned for Easter celebration on Sunday.
However, the relations of the victim have accused the operatives of the Enugu State Police Command of refusing to go after the kidnappers and rescuing their brother.
The abduction, they said, happened despite that the police always mounted a roadblock along the road and extort commercial buses and motorcycle riders.
They added that the police refused to hunt the kidnappers that practically turned the road into a nightmare for motorists.
Although details of the kidnap incident were still sketchy, a video seen on Monday evening showed a supposed vehicle of the victim abandoned on the road, while several policemen weilding AK-47 rifles with local vigilantes were loitering around, moments after the attack.
A voice in the video, who was narrating what happened, said, “My uncle was kidnapped by Fulani herdsmen here, as you can see his vehicle abandoned but the police have refused to go after the kidnappers.”
Lamenting, the source continued “We are telling the police to go after the kidnappers but they told us that they cannot go anywhere. The police people said they are afraid. But they keep hunting pro-Biafra agitators but they can’t go after kidnappers who have turned our area into a kidnapping spot.
“They will kidnap our people here and take them to Kogi, the police will encourage to go and pay ransom. They can’t protect our people and they don’t want the Eastern Security Network (ESN) the security wing of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).”
Meanwhile, a resident of the place, Kevin Eze, has warned that actions of the Nigerian security agencies especially the police, in which they refused to go after kidnappers on Eke-Affa road, could resort to self-help.
He noted that kidnapping happened constantly on the road.
Meanwhile, efforts to speak with the state command’s spokesperson, DSP Daniel Ndukwe on the alleged kidnap were unsuccessful as he could not take his calls or respond to a text message inquiry.