Police confirm release of abducted Rivers monarch

THE Rivers State Police Command has confirmed the release of the kidnapped traditional ruler of Ikuru town, King Aaron Miller, in Andoni Local Government Area of the state.

According to the command’s spokesman, Nnamdi Omoni, the monarch was released on Saturday night at a forest in Abissa community in Akuku Toru Local Council Area of the state, where he was held captive for five weeks.

Omoni said: “His release was as a result of a robust synergy with the navy through collaborative efforts. Both agencies from inception, worked relentlessly to ensure his release.”

It will be recalled that gunmen had invaded King Ikuru’s palace while he was having a meeting with some of his kinsmen, shot sporadically before he was abducted on February 21, 2021. Same day, a senior lecturer in the Department of Linguistics and Communications Studies, Dr Jones Ayouwo, also king Ikuru’s kinsman, was abducted along Bori, Khana Local Government area of the state, while returning from a bible translation event in his native Andoni, but the don regained freedom two weeks ago. Omoni said: “The monarch was abducted on February 21, 2021 from his home town in Ikuru and taken to an unknown destination. However, the police in the wake of the incident, deployed strategically and mounted unassailable pressure on the Kidnappers.

“In one of such pressures, the king’s clothes and hat were recovered at a creek, while one Wariboko Basoene was arrested. In the course of investigation, the suspect who made useful confessions to the police finally led the operatives to a forest in Abissa, where the monarch was eventually rescued unhurt.”

Narrating his ordeal in the hands of his abductors, the royal father expressed gratitude to God for his release. Earlier, the state police boss, CP Eboka Friday, who led his officers to the residence of the monarch, commended his men for the feat.