The Governor of the South West Region, Bernard Okalia Bilai, has given 72 hours to pirates to release the Divisional Officer (DO) of Idabato abducted earlier this month.
He has ordered a shut down of all activities in the Subdivision to pressure the Nigerian-majority population into giving up the abducted DO.
Accompanied by the Senior Divisional Officer of Ndian and other officials, the Governor was at Idabato on Tuesday, October 8, on a fact-finding mission that comes nine days since the DO was abducted.
“I gave the population of Idabato, who are 95 percent Nigerian, to release the DO of Idabato,” Governor Bilai said in an interview.
“It is well established that the DO was kidnapped with the complicity of some so-called Nigerian businessmen who refused to comply with the laws of the Republic in their illegal activities.
“They refused to pay taxes and once the Do wanted to carry out his job – representative of the state – first of all to fight the illegal activities and second to request the payment of taxes, he has been attacked, kidnapped and carried to Nigeria. It is well established that he’s now in Nigerian territory.
“We have received all the indications. So I came to tell the Nigerian community that they should release the DO of Idabato. I gave them 72 hours and while waiting, all the activities here in Idabato and the surrounding areas are closed.”
The Governor’s decision reinforces a recent order form the SDO of Ndian, suspending the movement of boats in the area as part of measures aimed at securing the DO’s release.
The new administrative measure will see all business activities closed, transportation halted and social events suspended, according to the Governor.
Authorities say armed pirates from Nigeria abducted Ewane Roland, the most senior government official in Idabato Subdivision, alongside Etongo Ismael, a municipal council worker, on October 1.
Idabato, which shares maritime borders with the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is part of the oil-rich Bakassi peninsular that has been prone to pirate attacks for years.
The Government believes the pirate gangs are controlled by Nigerians, who constitute a majority of the area’s inhabitants.
