 |
| Ebikeme |
THE Movement for the Emancipation of the
Niger Delta (MEND) has insisted that contrary to the claim that no ransom was paid
for the release of the son of the Ijaw National Leader, Ebikeme Clark,
that N500m had been disbursed for his freedom, by the Emmanuel Uduaghan-led Delta State government.
MEND, according to info pieced by SHOWBIZPLUSng, said Ebikeme’s abduction was
stage-managed by the victim himself and disclosed that the Delta State
Government paid the ransom, which was shared among those involved in the
fraud.
A statement signed by the militant
group’s spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo, specified that the ransom was released
from the Delta State Government’s security vote.
MEND alleged that the kidnap victim, who
was released on Sunday, was following the footsteps of his father,
Chief Edwin Clark, who formulated the idea of the Niger Delta Amnesty
Programme that had made him and few thugs billionaires.
The statement read, “MEND has confirmed
that the kidnap of Mr. Ebikeme Clark, the son of Chief E.K. Clark, was
actually a clever orchestrated fraud masterminded by the victim, who
stage-managed his own abduction.
“A ransom of N500m was paid by the Delta
State Government from its security vote and was shared amongst all
those involved in this scam.
“Mr Ebikeme is following in the
footsteps of his father where the Senior Clark is amongst those that
hatched the fraudulent Niger Delta Amnesty Programme which has only made
billionaires of a few thugs and himself, at the detriment of millions
of impoverished indigenes and the peace and security in the region.”
The militant group also accused the
Delta State Police Command of conspiring with some unscrupulous persons,
who were desperate for funds to maintain a private jet, to deceive
Nigerians with a phantom abduction and release of a ‘hostage’.
The statement added, “It is rather
unfortunate that in a desperate bid for relevance and extra funds to
maintain a private jet, certain unscrupulous persons, including the
Delta State Police will conspire to deceive Nigerians with a phantom
abduction, release of the so-called hostage, influence over kidnappers
and arrest of suspects and denying the payment of a ransom which has
already been shared,” MEND added.
The Delta State Commissioner for
Information, Mr. Chike Ogeah, in his response, described the allegation
as an absolute lie,an idle, wicked and unnecessary rumour.
Ogeah, who responded through a text
message to our correspondent, said MEND’s allegation against the state
government should be disregarded.
No comments:
Post a Comment