Journalist Abducted By Gunmen In Cross River

Two persons have been abducted by gunmen in Calabar over the weekend, reports the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Dr David Ugwu, an Associate Professor with University of Calabar, was abducted at his home on Friday evening, while Mr Morris Archibong, a Staff of Cross River Newspaper Corporation, was kidnapped on his way home on Saturday.

Prof. Ugwu was picked up by gunmen at his residence at second transformer in Atimbo while watering flowers in his compound after his abductors shot severally into the air to scare residents.

A witness, Mrs Iquo Etim, said the professor was watering flowers in his compound in the evening when the gunmen arrived shooting before taking him away.

“They took him through the water. It is like they had been monitoring him for quite a while because they came in swiftly like they knew the area,” she said.

Meanwhile, a colleague of Archibong in the Cross River State Newspaper Corporation, said that he was picked up on his way home from an outing in Etta Agbor Layout, Calabar Municipality on Saturday evening.

He said nothing had been heard from the abductors and the phone lines of the victims remained switched off.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer PPRO, DSP Irene Ugbo, confirmed the incidents, adding that the police was really working hard to ensure that they got the victims back to their families.

“I am aware of the matter. We are working round the clock to make sure they are reunited with their families as soon as possible.

“We are doing everything possible to make that happen,” she said.

(NAN)