Onyemaechi, Delta ex-lawmaker, regains freedom

Two weeks after her abduction, Onyemaechi, Delta ex-lawmaker, regains freedom

Two weeks after she was abducted from her Church in Asaba, the Delta State capital, ex- lawmaker, Hon. Joan Onyemaechi has regained her freedom.

There was wild jubilation on Saturday (today, August 10),when the news of Onyemaechi’s freedom from her captors was announced by one of her aides.

The people of Ubulu-Uku, her own town, had been in mourning since her abduction and had embarked on a prayer programme for God to intervene and help them secure the release of their illustrious daughter.

Following the release of Onyemaechi, a former Delta State House of Assembly and House of Representatives member and immediate past Commissioner in the State, her community, Ubulu-Uku, in Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State, has been celebrating her freedom.

A police officer who would not want to be quoted, not being authorised to speak to the press, told reporters in Asaba: “The way and modus operandi of her abductors showed it was a highly organised crime. The brigands stormed the church, killed her security aides, moved her to the riverside, where they set ablaze the SUV they came in so they would leave no trace.”

Distraught community people who spoke with our correspondent expressed sadness that some online publishers had cashed in on her predicament to generate traffic in their bogs, by feeding their readers with fake news and unpalatable stories that caused serious tension for the community.

Delta State Police Command has confirmed that Ada Anioma, as she is fondly called, has been released by her abductors in a statement by the Public Relations Officer (PPRO) SP Bright Edafe.

But he did not give any details.

There was pandemonium Tuesday, July 30 evening, in Asaba, Delta State, as gunmen abducted the former House of Representatives member and immediate past Commissioner for Technical Education in Delta State.

Hon. Onyemaechi was also the former director-general, Delta State Capital Development Agency.

The gunmen stormed the King Jesus and I Church, along the popular DBS Road in Asaba, where Onyemaechi was worshipping, and shot dead a policeman and her driver in the attack.

Two others, including a policeman, were also injured before the victim was taken away.

The abduction saw the gunmen shooting into the air on the church premises, causing pandemonium as they whisked the victim away.

The kidnapping has caused fear and many are confused as to the motive of the gunmen.

While some argued that it was politically motivated, others were of the opinion that ‘Unknown Gunmen’ from the East had entered Delta State.

The Ubulu-Uku people at home and in the diaspora have been in jubilation since her release.

A community leader, Mark Okolie, described the impunity with which the gunmen stormed the capital city, abducted a highly placed personality like Mrs. Onyemaechi, and went away with her unchallenged by security agencies as shameful.

Okolie appealed to the Delta State Commissioner of Police Olufemi Abaniwonda to rijig the security architecture of the state to ward off gunmen from taking over the State.