BY SIMON EBEGBULEM
BENIN CITY — ABDUC-TORS of the wife, daughter and driver of Justice Bode Rhodes-Viviour, of the Supreme Court, have been ranked as ‘hardened kidnappers’ by security agents and are suspected to have international links.

They are described as such due to their doggedness in keeping the family of the Supreme Court Judge in an unknown destination two weeks after they were abducted around Okada area while travelling from Lagos for a wedding in Edo State, despite the pleas  by Nigerians for their release.

Vanguard learnt that the search for the family has intensified in the three states of Edo, Ondo and Delta. It was also gathered that the suspected kidnappers are insisting on a ransom of N200 million.

It was also gathered that the suspected kidnappers operate in a sophisticated form by ensuring that they are not traced to any particular area.

However, security operatives are working 24 hours to ensure that the victims are freed safely.

The Edo State government had last week appealed to the kidnappers to release the victims unhurt so that they would be able to rejoin members of their family.

Meantime, the Nigerian Bar Association in Edo State has reiterated its appeal for the release of the victims and urged the kidnappers to see them as their own relations.

Lamenting the incessant kidnap of its members in the state and other parts of the country, the NBA recalled that; “Just recently, another legal practitioner in the state, B.O.Osagie was kidnapped.

“The Benin branch of the NBA implores the security agencies to ensure that the wife of the Supreme Court Justice, Mrs Rhodes-Viviour, daughter and driver are rescued forthwith from the abductors”.