A community leader in Creek Town, Odukpani Local Government area of Cross River State, Chief Asuquo Ekpenyong Ekpe, has been kidnapped.
Sources said Ekpe, the elder brother of the former Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Chief Ekpenyong Ita, was kidnapped in his Creek Town residence in the early hours of Saturday at about 4.00 am.
Initially, rumours had made the rounds that his wife was also kidnapped, but the police debunked the claims, saying that it was only Ekpe that was kidnapped.
Source told THISDAY that Ekpe was kidnapped by some unknown gunmen who arrived in their speedboats and stormed his residence in the community in the dark hours through the creeks, when the tide of the Calabar River estuary was high.
The sources said the gunmen, whose number could not be immediately ascertained, escaped with their captive through a narrow canal, perhaps the same route they came into the community.
The source said soldiers who were drafted to the Creek Town jetty after a previous kidnap episode in the community were at still at their duty post when the latest kidnap happened.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for the state police command, Mr. Hogan Bassey, confirmed the kidnap of Ekpe. Bassey said the police was aware of the incident and were on top of the situation.
