Some groups have raised the alarm over the alleged plot to kidnapsome principal officers of the University of Calabar, UNICAL, in Cross River State.The groups under the aegis of Academy and Combined Concerned Workers of the university raised the alarm after some senior staff and students were kidnapped and some ransom paid recently before the victims regained their freedom.
The groups at a joint press briefing in Calabar Wednesday disclosed that hoodlums have been threatening to kidnap some principal staff of the institution and if they can’t get them they will
Groups Cry Out Over Plot To Kidnap UNICAL Topshotsgo after their children or wards.
According to the groups, they had to take action to prevent a repeat of similar incident when some senior staff and their children were kidnapped.
The groups wondered why the varsity’s principal officers are facing a similar threat again at this crucial period when the University community is preparing for its 30th convocation ceremony.
Speaking earlier, the Chairman of The Academy, Dr Sampson Uzuanke,said they got information that some disgruntled elements, working with some forces outside the university, have hatched plans to kidnap top officers ortheir children or wards.
Uzuanke, who is also the Acting Head of Department of Modern languages, disclosed that further information at their disposal have shown that those behind the dastardly plot had gone ahead to recruit cultists and hoodlums to cause mayhem within the academic community.
According to him, such threats can no longer be taken lightly as the group in collaboration with other concerned workers of the university andsecurity agencies would go to any lengthto ensure that those behind it are arrested and made to face the wrath of thelaw.
Decrying the kidnap threat,the secretary of The Academy, Dr Ayuk Achu, said the intention of the plotters is to not only disrupt the impending 30th Convocation Ceremony, but to further portray the foremost institution in bad light.
Achu maintained that UNICAL is noted for its peaceful co-existence and academic excellence, and warned that students and the majority of the staff would not allow any person or group of persons undermine the security of the institution this time.
Speaking in a similar vein, the Coordinator of the Combined Concerned Staff of UNICAL, Comrade Johnson Inyang, appealed to students and other unions within the university community to rise up to the security challenges and not allow themselves to be used to foment trouble.
Inyang, a senior staff in the Faculty of Arts, also called on security agencies within and outside the university to rise up to the occasion and save the university from further embarrassment.