Soldiers free abducted Bayelsa lawmaker’s wife

Bolaji Ogundele, Port Harcourt - 26.03.2008

Mrs Dorothy Otele, the wife of a member of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Hon Franklin Otele, who was abducted in Port Harcourt last week, has been freed from hostage by troops of the Joint Task Force (JTF) on Tuesday.

It was gathered that the brains behind the criminal act, whose name has not been made public, has been arrested and is being interrogated by the State Security Service (SSS).

According to a reliable security source, Mrs Otele, who was abducted from her beauty salon along Ada George Road, Port Harcourt, last week had been kept in a hideout by the hoodlums around Eneka area of the city.

He said the JTF had identified where she was being kept and had gone on the drawing board to fashion a way of setting the lady free. He said the area was placed under surveillance and within 72 hours, the troops have successfully released her.

"We had given them the hope that we were going to pay them ransom and they played along with us. It was a very sensitive operation which almost claimed the life of one of our men.

"We had infiltrated the area and our men were moving into the place when the militants suddenly realized that they were in danger and started shooting.

"The operation took us 72 solid hours and when our men entered the place it was real war. We had arrested two of the militants but during the shootout which ensued later, they escaped. But we were still able to arrest the mastermind of the kidnapping.”