24-year-old daughter of a newspaper vendor in Sapele, Mr. Billy Umoh, has been reportedly kidnapped on Jesse-Oben-Asaba Road in Delta State.
Though the Edo State Police Command has not been able to confirm the kidnapping,ad at the time of filing the report, it was learned that Hope Umoh (the vendor’s daughter) and eight others were kidnapped on Monday, when the kidnappers waylaid the bus the passengers boarded from Sapele on their way to Asaba, just before Oben, a Edo border town.
Vanguard learned that two persons believed to be the driver and conductor reportedly escaped as they were being led away by the kidnappers.
The kidnappers were reported to have led the passengers into the forest along the lonely route with Umoh’s daughter, after firing some shots into the air.
Meanwhile, Mr. Umoh has appealed to Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State, Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State and security agencies to come to his aid.
He said: “I don’t know why it should be me, I am a common vendor, who has been in this business for years, I have no N10 million anywhere.
“The kidnappers have reached out and are demanding N10 million for her. Where will I get that kind of cash, even to eat is an issue.”
He said they have been to police stations on that border route ‘’though the police have assured me of their efforts, I am still appealing to those in charge to intensity efforts.
“I have also visited the transport company, whose bus the passengers boarded, and we are not hearing anything tangible from them.”
Meanwhile, Newspapers Vendor Association has condemned the abduction of Billy’s daughter. In a statement by the association’s Chairman and Secretary, they described the abduction of Umoh’s daughter as “inhuman and heinous.”
The association charged the Edo and Delta states governors and security agencies to ensure that the culprits are arrested.