Gunmen have reportedly abducted an Anambra businessman and the Managing Director of People’s Bookshop, Pius Egwuekwe, from his home at Umuchu Community in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State.
The incident, this paper gathered occurred late on Friday after the businessman returned from Zaria to celebrate Christmas.
A community source said that Egwuekwe was ferried away by the gunmen in front of his house and taken to an unknown destination and no contact has been made since his abduction
He was said to have driven down from Zaria by his driver to his village in Ibughubu Umuchu to celebrate the Yuletide with his kinsmen.
It was gathered that following the incident, the community had been thrown into panic as nothing has been heard about the whereabouts of the businessman for three days, as the victim was said to be touching the lives of many people in the community by attending to their needs.
The source said, “His driver drove for several hours from the North and on getting home to enter his gate, some armed men accosted the driver at gun point, they opened the vehicle and forcefully took him to an unknown place.
“The matter was reported to the police, who moved into action, but their actions have not yielded any result yet as the victim has not been rescued and no suspect has been arrested till now.”
Some members of the community are suspecting that an insider may have leaked the information of the victim’s return to the village.
When contacted, the President-General of Umuchu, Mr Charles Ezeabasili, who confirmed the incident to our correspondent, said the kidnappers were yet to get in touch with the community.
“The kidnappers are yet to establish contact with the family members. We are waiting for them to call and probably mention their ransom. We are also being careful so as not to take action that could lead to the kidnappers killing him,” Ezeabasili added.
The state police spokesman, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, when contacted, confirmed the incident and said the police were on top of the situation.
“There is no tension in Umuchu please. There is a reported case of abduction and investigation is still ongoing please,” Ikenga added.