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Kidnappers Force Closure Of Bayelsa Schools
Several schools were forced to close down on Friday in
Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, as the wave of child abductions
reached alarming proportions.
Two kidnaps in two successive days had left many parents
and guardians bewildered and the security agencies
frustrated. Although the state Police Command said it
was on top of the situation, many parents and schools
were not convinced. The Cedar Court British School,
where a vigilant parent foiled the attempt to kidnap the
three-year-old son of an aide to the state commissioner
of finance on Wednesday morning, hurriedly closed for
the year, without the usual programmes the school
organises for Christmas.
A day after the Cedar Court incident, another school in
the Ekeki area of the state capital was not so lucky as
armed men snatched a male pupil of the primary school on
Thursday after his parents dropped him off at school.
There was great anxiety in the state on Friday when the
pupil's abductors demanded a N20million ransom to return
the child.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Iniobong
Ibokette, told our correspondent that the issue was
being handled seriously, pleading that further details
could jeopardise the investigation. He, therefore, did
not give details on the progress made by the police in
the investigation and it was not clear on Friday if the
parents had responded to the demand.
Security sources said the upsurge in the crime rate was
associated with the approach of the yuletide. Many
private schools proceeded on forced holidays on Friday
for safety reasons as the anxiety increased. The week's
incidents have again raised the issue of security,
especially for the children and families of the rich,
politicians and public officers in the state.
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