Posted by By George Onah on
FOUR men who were accused of kidnapping nine workers on an oil service company in Cross River State have been remanded in prison custody by a Calabar chief magistrate Mrs. Onyebueke Adie.
CALABAR - FOUR men who were accused of kidnapping nine workers on an oil service company in Cross River State have been remanded in prison custody by a Calabar chief magistrate Mrs. Onyebueke Adie.
Docked on charges of conspiracy and deprivation of freedom of the nine men, the alleged culprits,Prince Asuquo-Asuquo, Francis Okon-Effiom, Nta Ani and Edet Bassey were refused bail on security grounds.Mrs. Adie who acknowledged that the offences of the men were bailable, however, stated that, granting bail to the accused persons was at the discretion of the court.
The detained men who claimed to be members of the Niger Delta Council of Cross River State chapter, allegedly hijacked a bus conveying the workers who were travelling from Port Harcourt in Rivers State to Calabar in Cross River State on May, 19, this year.
All the nine workers were later taken from the scene of the kidnap, along the Cross River State-end of Itu Bridge. The men were later freed unharmed, following which the kidnappers were rounded up by the police and charged to court.
In a separate development the wife of the Cross River State governor, Mrs. Onari Duke has commended the collective support so far received, from traditional rulers towards the struggle for the eradication of HIV/AIDS, in the state.
The governor's wife made the commendation at the on-going statewide sensitization campaign on HIV/AIDS, in Calabar South Local Government Area. Onari spoke on the need to involve traditional rulers in the current fight against HIV/AIDS,stating that the various institutions in the state constitute stakeholders in the struggle to eradicate the disease.
She called on parents and guardians to sensitize their children on the dangers posed by thisdisease 'which is fast spreading across the globe".