The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Delta State University, DELSU, chapter, has condemned the kidnap of one of her members, Dr Mercy Mokobia, by unknown gunmen.
Mokobia, a lecturer of Science Education in the Delta State University, was reportedly abducted on Tuesday night by suspected kidnappers, who broke into her Obiaruku residence.
Reacting to her kidnap, Chairman of the DELSU chapter of ASUU, Dr Emmanuel Mordi in a statement said; “we have received with shock the abduction of one of our members, Dr (Mrs) Mercy Mokobia from her home at Obiaruku between 12 midnight and 1am on Tuesday, April, 2013 by armed bandits who broke into her home. “They robbed the family after which they took her along on foot to an unknown destination. Her whereabout has since remained unknown. It is clear now that she is a kidnap victim because the hoodlums Thursday called a close associate of the family demanding for the payment of N20 million ransom for her release.
“Until this current incident of kidnap there was a lull in the kidnapping of our members and their spouses which had intended to give lecturers at Delsu false sense of security. “For the umpteenth time, ASUU Delsu wishes to register in strong term its total rejection of the humiliation of its members by hoodlums. Academics are not money bags but law abiding, knowledgeable citizens who sacrifice day and night, all their comfort to impact knowledge and skills to Nigerian youths so as to equip them to become useful members of the society who can perpetuate human civilization. “We call on our members to be ever vigilant and to report all strange movements of vehicles and persons in their vicinities to the appropriate authorities. This is because the attack on the Mokobias was not a surprised raid since we now know that 12 hours before the incident, okada riders were spotted in the vicinity of her home discharging some so called ‘passengers.’ “We call on the hoodlums to immediately release Dr (Mrs) Mokobia unconditionally. The host community Obiaruku also has a moral duty to fish out the hoodlums and ensure the security of our members who lives among them. “We also urge security agencies to swing to action immediately, apprehend the hoodlums, and free Dr (Mrs) Mokobia, failing which the union will have no other choice than to ask its members to stay at home in keeping with congress decision of November 23, 2011”
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