From Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
There was jubilation at the weekend after Dr. Joseph Orsar of the University of Agriculture (UAM), Makurdi miraculously escaped from his abductors, who had taken him to an unknown destination.
Orsar, a lecturer with the Department of Wild Life and Range Management at UAM, Daily Sun gathered, was abducted at about 5p.m. in his house located at the Federal Housing Estate, North Bank, Makurdi last Friday.
According to the Acting Chairperson of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), UAM chapter, Dr. Bemgba Anjembe, the abductors were said to have contacted his family and demanded a ransom of N30million to be paid before he would be released.
But while the family was making arrangement to see to his release, Orsar was said to have managed to escape from his abductors and ran into Gbagyo village in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State where the kindred head of Nnanev, Zaki Orkpe Gbagyo got in touch with one Dr. J K Ikya of the Department of Food Science and Technology.
The ASUU chairperson disclosed further that Dr. Ikya subsequently got across to the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Emmanuel Kutcha, who arranged for security men, who rescued Dr. Orsar from the village.
“As a union, we condemn kidnapping, demanding of ransom and ransom taking.
“We have contacted security agencies to investigate the circumstances surrounding the abduction of our colleague.”
Anjembe, who noted that although Dr. Orsar had earlier been suspended from the union for anti-union activities, stated that the union was empathising with him in the principle of the union, which is to defend the rights and legitimate aspirations of all citizens of this country.
While stressing that before now, UAM had always been a very peaceful place with no record of abduction, Anjembe prayed that there would never be a recurrence of such incident again and urged his members to be security conscious.
“I wish to express gratitude to the Gbagyo community as led by Zaki Orkpe Gbagyo for coming to the aid of our colleague as we await the outcome of investigation on the matter.
“I encourage our members to be at alert at all times.”
When contacted, the Deputy Police Public Relations Officer (DPPRO) in the state, ASP Matthew Oku confirmed the report and his eventual rescue, adding that investigation was still ongoing on the matter.