Date Published: 10/13/10

Gunmen abduct school principal

The Principal of Mobil Pegasus Schools Eket, Awka Ibom State, Lakshmi Tombush, has been abducted by men suspected to be kidnappers. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that a police orderly attached to the victim and her driver were shot dead and abandoned in her car on Grace Bill Road in Eket. The gunmen reportedly overtook and blocked the victim's car, abducted her and sped off in their car to an unidentified destination in the early hours of Wednesday.

Onyeka Orji, the spokesperson for Akwa Ibom Police Command, said the police have begun investigations into the affair. He expressed regret over the death of the police officer in the incident, and promised that the perpetrators of the act would soon be apprehended and brought to book. The abductors have not contacted the family of the hostage. The corpses of the slain driver and police officer have been removed from the scene of crime and deposited at the Immanuel Hospital Mortuary in Eket in Akwa Ibom.

Pegasus Schools is funded by Mobil Producing Nigeria, the operator of the MPN/NNPC Joint Venture in Akwa Ibom. The school was built to cater for children of staff of the oil giant and some members of its host.