The police in Bayelsa and the State Security Service (SSS) have intensified search for the clan head of Okordia in Ikarama community, Yenagoa Local Government Area, Richard Seiba, who was abducted on Saturday morning by gunmen.
Local media reported that Security operatives have been combing the bushes and creeks for the 70-year-old monarch.
The community and family members of the monarch were said to have panicked as the gunmen had yet to contact them two days after the disappearance of their traditional ruler.
“We have been calling the phone number of our paramount ruler but it is not connecting. We learnt that when the gunmen came, they seized his phones. We are beginning to question the motive behind the abduction and we hope that our monarch is still alive,” a community member said.
Meanwhile, the Commander of the Niger Delta Joint Task Force codenamed, Operation Pulo Shield, Major-General Johnson Ochoga, and the Governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson, on Sunday evening, visited the palace of the abducted clan head of Okordia.
The governor was represented by his Special Adviser on Security, Lt. Col. Bernard Kenibai (retd), and other top government officials.
The state’s Director, SSS, Andrew Iorkyar, the Area Commander of the police and the Chairman of Yenagoa Local Government Area were among the delegates.
The delegates inspected the scene of the crime and held a brief meeting at the palace with the victim’s family members.