Former Super Eagles coach Samson Siasia has appealed to the kidnappers of his aged mother, Mrs Ogere Siasia, to set her free.
According to family members, the gunmen, who snatched Siasia’s mother, have reportedly called his cousin with a foreign phone number, demanding N70m to release the 80-year-old woman.
Siasia, a former Flying Eagles and Super Eagles striker, who is currently out of the country, said in a telephone interview that he has not spoken personally with the kidnappers.
“The kidnappers, I just want to say please, I beg una.. The woman don old, please release her abeg. I haven’t had a job in the last 3 years. She is an old woman; with this cold, she may not survive it. I don’t have that kind of money they are asking for,” he said.
The septuagenarian and two others were whisked away from Odoni, a riverside town in Sagbama Local Government Area, Bayelsa State.
The abductors were said to have invaded the area at about 2am last Monday.
Meantime, the state police command says the search for the rescue of the kidnapped victims was ongoing.
According to the command, its marine components had been deployed in the Odoni waterways of the Sagbama local government area of the state as part of efforts to rescue the kidnapped octogenarian and two other women, Mrs Florence Douanana, 65, and a girl, Selekire Douanana, who is 17.
The police commissioner, Uche Anozia, who visited the community after the incident, had assured that the command was doing everything possible for the victims to regain their freedom.
“The police are on top of the game to rescue the victims. I am assuring the public and the relatives that no stone is left unturned. We have deployed the marine component in the waterways in the area,” he stated.
On the stemming incidence of kidnapping, the police commissioner said the command would continue to work hard to take control of the marine landscape in the state.
“You know Bayelsa is 80 per cent water, and that means our operation is mainly focusing on waterways,” Anozie said.
