After days of uncertainty, the Delta State Police Command has confirmed that female politician and a former Commissioner in Delta State, Hon Joan Onyemaechi, alias ‘Ada Anioma’ has been released about nine days after she was whisked away from her church in Asaba, the state capital.
The commands’ spokesman, Bright Edafe, did not give details about the release but it was learnt that Joan Onyemaechi was safe somewhere in Asaba.
Although it was widely reported on Thursday with the story of Ada Anioma’s alleged freedom after more than one week in the mysterious kidnappers’ custody, the police said that it could not confirm the victim’s release.
However, the influential female politician was said to be receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital, amid reported jubilation in her country home of Ubuluku in Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State.
“As we speak there is wild jubilation at her hometown, Ubulu Uku following the news of her freedom,” an online report had stated earlier.
However, when contacted, the police spokesman had told THISDAY that the police could not confirm the alleged release of the former commissioner.
“The story/report is not confirmed”, the Delta State PPRO told THISDAY flatly.
Nonetheless, it could not be ascertained if any ransom had been paid for the freedom of Hon Joan Onyemaechi (formerly Mrakpor) and if indeed she had regained her freedom because the abductors had allegedly demanded as much as N1billion in ransom, a claim which the police also earlier declined comment.
An earlier news report “broken” by an Abuja-based online newspaper, but whose publisher hails from Delta State, had claimed that the victim had been killed by her abductors and her remains and those of two other unidentified ladies had been found at the Anambra State bank of the River Niger.
However, the said discovery turned out to be false, forcing the said newspaper to pull down or delete the report, which sources it attributed to a high-ranking official of the Delta State Government.
Joan Onyemaechi was kidnapped on July 30, 2024, from her Church premises on DBS Road Asaba, killing the victim’s driver and police orderly and injuring others before escaping with her in a speedboat stationed at the bank of the River Niger.
