23 college workers kidnapped in Rivers

•Provost seeks Fed Govt’s help 

Twenty-three workers of the Federal College of Education (FCE) (Technical) at Omoku, the headquarters of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, have been kidnapped.

One of them is presumed dead in the kidnappers’ den.

The Provost, Dr. Bassey Ubong, spoke yesterday at the permanent site of the institution in Omoku when he hosted Education Minister Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau.

The minister was at the college on an impact assessment visit.

Shekarau, accompanied by the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Julius Okojie and other personalities, inaugurated the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) micro-teaching centre of the college.

Omoku hosts Nigeria’s largest land-based crude oil deposit with many multi-national firms and oil servicing companies operating in the community.

FCE (Technical) is a degree-awarding institution in the area, which started academic activities in 1988/’99 at the temporary site in Omoku.

Ubong said: “Certainly, we have challenges. These include funding in the main. Our most critical problem is insecurity. Between 2010 and now, 23 of our workers and some of their family members were kidnapped. One person is presumed dead since he did not come out with the two other persons who were with him.

“We, therefore, appeal to you (Education Minister) for four things: full perimeter fencing of Campus 2 (permanent site). Our students are frequently attacked and robbed of their valuables. We need Federal efforts to end kidnapping in Omoku community.

“We need financial support to enable us develop an Entrepreneurial Village on Campus 2. This will be highly appreciated, as this will be used by the students, workers and the community as well as financial support to commercialise some of our research outputs, such as windmill for power generation, innovative motor vehicle water level indicator and battery water production. The first two are TETFund-sponsored research projects that have been successfully concluded.”