Former Super Eagles Player and Coach, Samson Siasia has said that only the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari can come to his aid in the efforts to rescue his kidnapped mother, Completesports.com reports.
The Olympic Bronze medal winning coach at the Rio 2016 games said this in an interview with a sports show of Lagos-based Top Radio.
“It is only the Presidency that can help me rescue by kidnapped mother,” Siasia told the Top Radio sports program.
“The Minister of Sports promised to get back to me since two weeks yet no response.”
Mrs Ogere Beauty Siasia, 79, was kidnapped on July 15 2019 at her resident in Odoni Community, Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State , but all efforts to rescue her from the abductors have been futile. She was abducted alongside a 66-year old Florence Donana and her teenage grand-daughter.
It can be recalled that Mrs Siasia was kidnapped in 2015 and was later released after ransom was paid.
Samson Siasia played 51 times for the Super Eagles of Nigeria scoring 13 goals. He was a member of the Super Eagles squad that won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia and participated in Nigeria’s first ever FIFA World Cup at USA 1994.
He led Nigeria’s U-20s, the Flying Eagles, as Coach to a silver medal place finish at the 2005 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Holland. He was also the Silver medal-winning coach of Nigeria’s U23s at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
Siasia has also been striving to prove his innocence following a recent worldwide ban imposed on him by world football ruling body FIFA for an alleged involvement in a match-fixing plot.
By Olaleye Idowu
7 Comments
What I don’t understand is when Mikel Obi suffered the same fate with his father a couple of years back, Jonathan immediately intervened via the DSS. A couple of similar presidential orders/intervention like that on high-profile kidnap cases. But this president it appears doesn’t give a hoot! Leah Sharibu is still in the den of Boko Haram close to 2 years now. Yes, I’m digressing a bit to politics! Siasia is a national hero, a former coach of the national team, gold-winners, among several other global recognitions. Why is the presidency not giving his predicament an attention? Even Donal Trump does directly interfere when regular citizens are held for some reasons in other countries such as the case of A$AP Rocky.
Bayelsa state still has a governor, what has the governor done so far? The state governors are the chief executives of the states.
I wonder why everybody wants the presidency to be involved in everything.
Really @Dipsy? But there were also governors in the past too when kidnap victims were rescued as a result of presidential intervention, as Siasia is pleading for now. The president intervened directly and didn’t say the governor is there. Don’t you wonder why Siasia is pleading for presidential intervention and not asking for intervention by so-called ‘chief executive’ of Bayelsa state? Is the chief executive (governor) in charge of the police, DSS, army or any of military or paramilitary force? Doesn’t know what he’s saying. Don’t you think he would have explored that option and the governor must have let him know that the real help can come from the presidency? So, what point exactly are you trying to make?
The point I made above is that Jonathan intervened a couple of times with almost immediate positive result. He too was a president with the workload of any president? Yet, he was “involved in everything” including intervening in the kidnap of high-profile persons or their relations. So, how does intervening a case of national embarrassment as this dragging on to close to 2 months now amount to “the presidency doing everything”?
And, oh, before I forgot, the past administration also helped rescue Okonjo Iweala’s mother, among others. In this era, everyone is OYO (on your own). I’m sure Kalu had to pay himself to rescue his mother last time. My brother, say the truth when you see it. Don’t let your political leaning to distort that.
president should involve in everything is a father of nation
So it was Bayelsa State he represented in his football playing days?
They say when it rains, it pours. Problem is just raining on Siasia like a thunder storm at the moment. What kind of country is this, where people will kidnap a 79 yr old woman for money? At that age, she is likely on meds. Can you imagine her being without her meds, in deplorable conditions, all this time, just because some waste-of-space miscreants want to make money? I hope somebody comes to her aid asap! The callousness and wickedness that can make someone come up with such evil, and then carry it out, is indeed mind blowing. What about the OGAS AT THE TOP in government whose corruption and thievery has forced people into kidnapping, armed robbery, 419 and other vices? Come to think of it, what if the people we are begging to to help resolve this kidnapping case are actually behind it, waiting to collect their share after the ransom is paid? Horrible, scary thought. God help us all.
@KEL, sorry the presidency so busy at moment fighting Sowore, don’t forget same presidency is seriously tied down with Ruga project.i don’t know what these fools wants from Siaone, these animals should be kidnapping politicians and their families, why Siaone.As someone suggested I think the Governor can help if he wants to, only one problem those state executives are just too busy with Ghana must go. At this point only God can see u through Siaone.