By Patrick Obia
Good-spirited youths in Nyangasang Community, Calabar Municipal Local Government of Cross River State have foiled, and apprehended some gang members of kidnappers as well as rescued their victim – Mrs. Caroline Bassey.
The incident which happened at about 11.30 am on Saturday 4th November 2023 was masterminded by kidnappers who came in a Toyota Camry car and pretended to rent chairs from the victim.
They succeeded in tying one of the victim’s aides and putting him in the refrigerator before driving out of her premises with her own personal car.
However, luck ran out of them as the alarm for help was raised, and as the kidnappers were driving out of her premises, a dare-brave Good Samaritan blocked them and in a bid to abandon their Camry vehicle, two of them jumped out of the vehicle to join their colleagues in the victim’s car as they were trying to reverse having noticed the blockage but one of them wasn’t successful as the dare brave Good Samaritan knocked him down with his Toyota Hilux vehicle, allowing neighbors and some youths to apprehend one of the kidnappers.
The State Security Adviser South, Commander Patrick Odiong, and the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) Federal Housing were immediately contacted and their swift reaction and coordination with other security outlets yielded fruits as the kidnappers were eventually intercepted along the Akamkpa axis.
Mrs. Bassey is the twin sister of Dr. Joseph Bassey (Former Permanent Secretary Min of Health).
An eyewitness said “we hope with the arrest of these kidnappers, more useful information will be extracted from them with a view to making Calabar unsafe for criminal activities.”
A source added: “It’s important to add that, this dare-brave Good Samaritan (one of a kind) chased the kidnappers up to Odukpani junction, all in a bid to rescue the victim but lost track of them because of the near-dead speed they were applying but thankfully, the security network along the Calabar/Itu and Akamkpa axis were equally activated immediately which led to the rescue of the victim.
“Surprisingly, this chap is not a security operative but truly deserves accolades.”
The rescued victim – Mrs. Caroline Bassey is seen in the video giving testimony and narrating her ordeal.
