Gunmen kidnap Channels TV reporter in Imo

The Imo State correspondent of Channels television, Mr, Tope Kutiyi, was on Monday abducted by gunmen at his Owerri residence. The incident occurred at about 3a.m., on Monday, when eight armed men broke his apartment and took him to an unknown destination.

An associate to the victim told the Daily Times that his abductors demanded a sum of N15million as ransom.

The gunmen were said to have climbed over the electric fence before having access to his bungalow.

Governor Rochas Okorocha, in a swift reaction, called on the abductors to immediately release the reporter, describing the incident as unfortunate.

Okorocha who spoke through his Chieti Press Secretary Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, said that, “The youngman is only a reporter who cannot be said to have been kidnapped because of money.

To us those behind the kidnap know why they decided to inconvenience the reporter and the family. They must have done that to blackmail the state government, having been commended for fighting and reducing cases of kidnapping and heinous crimes to the barest minimum.

“Those holding the reporter should please release him to reunite with his family. A reporter cannot afford to pay to any ransom. He must have been a victim of mistaken of identity.”