Gunmen abduct NPC commissioner in Rivers, demand N500m ransom

Gunmen have abducted Gloria Izonfuo, Bayelsa state federal commissioner of the National Population Commission (NPC).

Confirming the incident, Grace Iringe-Koko, Rivers state police spokesperson, said Izonfuo was abducted on Sunday with her driver and maid at the Ogbakiri junction on the east-west road.

The NPC commissioner and her aides were said to be returning to Port Harcourt after a trip to Brass in Bayelsa.

Iringe-Koko said a police tactical team has been deployed to rescue the abductees.

According to NAN, the abductors demanded N500 million in ransom for the release of the victims.

Izonfuo was formerly head of the civil service in Bayelsa and has been at the centre of pre-census activities in Bayelsa in the last two weeks.

There have been several cases of abductions across the country in the past months.

On April 17, Okey Wali, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), was abducted by some gunmen after his convoy was attacked along the east-west road in Obio/Akpor LGA, Rivers state.

That same week, a couple was abducted along the Osogbo-Iragbiji road in Osun state as they were returning from a church programme.

The couple, however, escaped their abductors’ den.