Two Chinese nationals, Sun Zhixin and Wang Quing Hu, have been kidnapped in Ebonyi State, South-east Nigeria. The two men are workers of Tongyi Construction Company. They were working on a road project in Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State when they were forcefully whisked away by armed gunmen.
They were taken off the construction site around 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday by a group of masked armed men. PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the Chinese nationals were at a place called Ivo river when the gunmen invaded the place with arms, forced the workers out of the pit and took the two Chinese to an unknown destination.
The company is constructing the road which links the Ohaozara community called Ogwu with Ivo local government and Okpanku community in Enugu State. The police spokesperson in the state, Odah Loveth, confirmed the kidnap of the two Chinese.
She said the police have dispatched officials to rescue the victims. “The State Commissioner of Police, Awoshola Awotinde, on receiving information of the kidnap personally led a tactical team to the construction site, owned by Tongyi group of companies located at Ivo river at the boundary between Ebonyi and Enugu state, where Sun Zhixin and Wang Quing Hu, both male, Chinese nationals were forcefully taken away. “The area was combed to track down the bandits but no result, a track down rescue team has been dispatched to move on in order to rescue the Chinese nationals unhurt,” she said.
She appealed for adequate information from the general public to help the police in their investigation. She expressed shock that the company moved to such lonely site without applying for security from the police. The kidnap of the Chinese citizens occurs days after a Briton was killed in Kaduna State, North-west Nigeria, during a kidnap. Two Nigerians were kidnapped in that incident.
Pix: Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu
