Agony In South-East As Kidnappers Lay Siege To Communities

Tales of woes have continued to persist in the South-East geo-political region due to the unending spate of kidnappings in the zone.

No week passes by without tales of people being kidnapped in different parts of the five states that make up the zone.

Stories abound of innocent travellers who were caught in the web of dare-devil kidnappers and taken into bushes where they were kept. At the same time, the abductors demanded ransom from their families.

Some kidnapped victims got lucky and survived the ordeal after paying the ransom and lived to tell their stories, while others who were not so lucky; paid the ransom and were still killed and their dead bodies and personal items littered the bushes where they were kept.

Consequently, these forests where they were kept became terror zones for the villagers.

Some of these forests have been nicknamed ‘Sambisa forests’ by the villagers.

Some communities have been abandoned and deserted, yet in some others, people are always on the edge and live in constant fear. Life in the region has become brutish, as people in every state in the zone have tales of woe to tell.

Security agents had on many occasions combed the forests and bushes for these kidnappers and on many occasions, exchanged gun battles with them. Some of the kidnappers were termed unknown gunmen and in many other cases, there were herdsmen who invaded and occupied some forests and bushes in Igbo land. They kidnap and terrorize people.

A cross-section of residents of the region agreed that forests and bushes in their areas were not safe, as they had been occupied by criminal elements who turned them into places for torture, killing, maiming, rape, shrines, and all manner of evil activities.

Source:- Vanguardngr