THE relative peace in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, has ruptured as students and staff of the University of Uyo have been raising dust over the kidnap of a female lecturer of the university, Dr (Mrs) Justina Udotong, by yet to be identified abductors.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Uyo chapter, has threatened to make the system ungovernable for all if its member is not released within the next 24 hours, just as the kidnappers demanded a N100 million ransome from the lecturer’s family.
Issuing the threat during a protest parade by members of ASUU and some students of the institution, the union chairman, Comrade Anyim Nnwachukwu, stated that their struggle was not against the state government or the school authorities, but their colleague’s abductors and security agencies.
He lamented that Dr Udotong was about the 10th member of the union that had undergone torture in the hands of kidnappers and called on authorities concerned to make sure the lecturer was released before tomorrow morning, failure of which they threatened to take actions that might not palatable to the system.
“Our protest today is to establish our displeasure over the kidnap of our colleague, taking cognisance of the fact that in the past, we have had scores of our members kidnapped. We have noticed that for whatever reason, our members have been the target of kidnappers.
“Congress met and resolved that in 24 hours, if our member is not released and we do not have any positive report, congress will meet again and will take a decisive decision that may be very negative to the smooth running of this institution,” the chairman maintained.
The Commissioner of Police, Akwa Ibom State command, Mr Umar Gwadebe, who confirmed the kidnap.
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