My mom’s kidnap distracting me in Senegal — Siasia

Taiwo Adelu

Chief Coach of Nigeria’s U – 23 Dream Team, Samson Siasia has cried out to Nigerians that the kidnapping  of his aged mother, Mrs Ogere Siasia is distracting his attention and focus as the country begins its campaign in the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations Senegal 2015 which kicks off this weekend.

The 72-year-old mother was abducted recently in the village of Odoni, southern Bayelsa state, by three men on a motorbike. Since then effort to rescue the woman by a combined team of security agencies in the state has failed to yield positive results.

A concerned Siasia, whose team arrived Senegal on Thursday ahead of their first match of the tournament on Sunday against Mali, said that it was so sad that this is happening at a time he is saddled with a national responsibility of leading Nigeria to African qualifying championship for Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

He disclosed in an interview on a Lagos-based radio station Friday that the psychological trauma he is passing through is a complete distraction. The former Nigerian international said that he felt sad that the search for his mother who was abducted two weeks ago is taken too long, adding that the reality is that nobody in his family knows if the woman is still alive.

Speaking on the latest development on the abduction of Siasia’s mom on Friday, Public Relations Officer of the Bayelsa State Police Police Command, Anisim Butswat said investigation is ongoing, but disclosed a not too good news, saying that he could not confirm whether Mrs. Siasia is alive or death.

“We are hoping that she is alive. We’ll not relent on our efforts to see that we rescue her alive, ” Butswat said.

Meanwhile, Siasia’s younger brother, Dennis said the security agents in Bayelsa are intensifying efforts to rescue their mother. He added that the family has been negotiating with the kidnappers who he said have reduced their demand from N150 million to N32m million which the family can still not afford.