PORT-HARCOURT: Sometime in early December 2013, a Maritime Security Agency [MSA] personnel, Godspower Megbuliofo was forcibly taken away from his home in Port- Harcourt, the River state capital by armed uniform men and since then he has not been seen.
His family believe his abductors were either operatives of the Nigerian Navy or armed militants operating in the Niger Delta region.
Prior to his abduction in December 2013, Godspower Megbuliofo was a member of the non- commissioned maritime security agency serving in the volatile oil 0il -rich Niger Delta region.
The MSA which was privately funded at the time , was established to complement the effort of the Nigerian Navy in combating criminal activities such as piracy and armed banditry , oil theft, pipeline vandalism and the frequent kidnapping of expartriates working with multinational oil companies in the Niger Delta region.
However, despite the imperatives of its establishment at the time , the MSA became a subject of controversy as top Naval brass denounced the agency as an illegal security outfit.
Attempts to legalize the activities of the agency through the instruments of the National Assembly were unsuccessful on a number of occasions.
Consequently, personnel of the MSA became targets of attacks both from the Naval headquarters and militant groups operating in the Niger Delta region.
Several MSA personnel have reportedly been arrested , detained and brutalised by Naval operatives or kidnapped, tortured and killed by militants.
But despite the challenges and threats of imminent death. Godspower Megbuliofo and other brave MSA personnel , either buoyed by the spirit of patriotism or sheer bravado, continued to defy the odds .
According to family sources, Godspower Megbuliofo was constantly harassed by naval operatives and also hunted by militants who sought to conscript him and others into their groups.
” On one occasion he was beaten by Naval officers in front of his home. They accused him of providing information to militants in the creeks;’ a family source who chose to be unanimous told our correspondent.
An elderly member of the family, Pa Francis Megbuliofo alleged that their son ,Godspower Megbuliofo was also being cor’erced at the ti e of his abduction to join the militants.
” The leaders of one of the militant groups had threatened to kill him if he refused to join the militant group. But we also know that naval officers were suspicious of his activities at the time he was abducted in 2013 and till today, his whereabouts remain unknown”, the octagenarian said.
‘ The NIGERIAN OBSER ER learnt that some armed men clad in military fatigue stormed his home in the Rumoru area of Port Harcourt some time in December 2013 and dragged him into a waiting van. ” He was beaten and tortured as they forcibly took him away”, a family source said.
He said that though the Joint Military Taskforce has denied any involvement in Gods’power’s abduction, operatives of the Joint Military Taskforce have continued to harass and threaten his family members and close associates.
An elder of the family,Pa Alfred Megbuliofo was alleged to have slumped and died recently after a police team raided the family home.
”We are worried because our lives are under constant threats from Naval and police authorities. We have not seen our son Godspower since he was forcibly taken away from us. And now, we are been harassed daily. Nobody is safe and we have all gone into hiding”, the family source further stated.
For now, the family is speculating that Godspower may have been kept incommunicado by Naval authorities or perhaps, killed by militants. His life they said, contiinues to hang precariously in danger despite the uncertainty of his whereabouts.
