There is growing concern over the fate of nine fishermen from Ibbi town in Taraba state being held by the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) terrorists in Anambra State.
Families of the fishermen in Ibbi told Daily Trust Saturday in a telephone interview that five days after IPOB killed four fishermen, the fate of nine others they held hostage is still unknown.
They however said they received calls from some people claiming to be IPOB members demanding ransom for the release of the nine fishermen.a
One of the relations, Sule Hussein, said the families of the nine fishermen demanded to speak with anyone of the nine fishermen to be sure they are alive but the callers refused.
He said they heard that soldiers were deployed to the forest where the fishermen were being held by IPOB terrorists but still, there was no reliable information of the actual situation.
The chairman of Ibbi LGA, Alhaji Illiya Ajibo, told Daily Trust Saturday they received calls from some people who claimed to be IPOB members demanding for ransom for release of the nine fishermen but they refused to connect them to any of the nine fishermen to speak with.
Meanwhile, the Anambra State Government has said it was not aware of kidnapping of over nine fishermen by IPOB in the state.
The Chief Press Secretary to the governor of Anambra State, Christian Aburime who spoke with our correspondent via phone said the state does not have information about the kidnapping of people from Taraba State.
According to him, the police have not briefed the government of such development.
He however promised to reach out to the State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga and get back to our correspondent but yet to do so.
However, our correspondent, had earlier called Ikenga in the morning for his reaction but was yet to respond to messages sent to him on the incident.
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