Panic is the mood among the top management staffs of Sterling Bank, a tier-two lender in Nigeria.
This follows the shocking details of the kidnap of Mrs. Nneka Enuka Ugonochie, an Operation Manager in one of the bank’s branches in Bayelsa State.
Mrs. Ugonochie, www.theoctopusnews.com reliably gathered was kidnapped on her way to the office on Friday, June 16, 2023.
According to the state Commissioner of Police, CP Romokere Ibani, who spoke on Tuesday, June 20, the bank manager was abducted while driving to her office by four gunmen dressed in military camouflage.
“She was taken around the PDP Junction of the Sanni Abacha Expressway in Yenagoa on Friday, June 16, 2023, by gunmen dressed in military camouflage,” Ibani said.
A source close to www.theoctopusnews.com, also revealed that the kidnap wouldn’t have been possible had the Sterling Bank manager not called off her security men complaining of the cost of logistics.
“She was said to have dismissed the men of Operation Puff Adder and the anti-kidnapping squad that the state police command had provided for her residence,” the source said.
This, the source revealed was even though the victim had been previously warned to relocate from her residence which is adjacent to that of the arrested kidnap kingpin, John Ewa popular as John Lyon and Emmanuel Agase.
Since the report of the kidnap reached the bank’s headquarters in Lagos, senior staffs of the financial institution have heightened their level of security consciousness with fear of being targets.
A source in the bank revealed that since the incident, most senior staff at the financial institution have been keeping to themselves, unlike before when they would easily share details of where they would be heading to after work.
“The kidnap has caused panic among staffs, they have been discussing the kidnap of the Bayelsa Operation Manager. Senior Staffs who are ordinarily jovial are now very stiff as they see themselves as likely targets,” a source in the bank told www.theoctopusnews.com.
Also, concerned individuals who spoke about the development have linked the kidnap to the yet to be arrested members of John Lyon’s gang.
There is also the theory that the kidnap might have been a reprisal attack on neighbours of Lyon suspected to have a hand in his downfall.
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