By Kemo Cham
The Sierra Leone government will do everything to get back its diplomat kidnapped in Nigeria, a spokesman has said.
Deputy High Commissioner Major General Claude Nelson Williams was reportedly kidnapped in the northern Nigerian state of Kaduna on Friday.
Agibu Jalloh, Outreach Coordinator at the Office of Government Spokesman in the Ministry of Information, told Politico that the government were already in touch with their Nigerian counterparts who he said had promised to get back the kidnapped official and his driver safely.
Nelson Williams is a former head of the Sierra Leone army.
News about his kidnapping first came to light via reports on social media, where it’s said that the kidnappers, whose identities are still unknown, were demanding a ransom of $40 million.
A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said he was on his way from a military graduation ceremony when he was taken in the early hours of Friday.
Jalloh however said the government hadn’t been asked for any ransom yet. He said they were in contact with the Nigerian government who had promised to get the diplomat back.
“We understand they are asking for a ransom but we don’t know what they are asking for…no one has told us,” he said, stressing that the Nigerians had assured the Sierra Leonean authorities that they were putting in place all modalities to free the diplomat.
Kaduna is in the north-western part of Nigeria, part of where the terrorist group Boko Haram is active. The group which claims to be seeking to create an Islamic state in Nigeria has previously been reported kidnapping people and demanding for ransom.
Jalloh wouldn’t say if the government would consider paying a ransom, but he didn’t rule it out either.
President Ernest Bai Koroma was due to arrive home after a three-day tour of some African countries as chairman of the African Union Committee on the reform of the UN Security Council.
Jalloh said a decision on the immediate move of the government on the kidnapping would be taken as soon as the President landed.
“We will do everything in our power to ensure the release of any Sierra Leonean, especially a deputy High Commissioner,” he said.
(C) Politico Online 01/07/16
