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•Victim narrates experience in kidnappers’ den
From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi
The families of Titus Begi and Jonah Iorundu were recently in trouble following the demand of N10 million ransom by men of the underworld who abducted them.
Begi was kidnapped on February 18, 2024, and his abductors demanded the sum of N10 million. After several days of begging and searching for money, his cousin, Jonah Iorundu, managed to raise N300,000, which the kidnappers said he should bring to them.
However, when Iorundu went to drop the ransom, the kidnappers also kidnapped him. They called his family and held the men until more money was paid.
Narrating what he described as a horrible experience to Daily Sun, in Makurdi, the capital of Benue State, Iorundu, from Guma local government area of the state, said he saw hell in the hands of the gunmen, as they beat him mercilessly and even threatened to shoot him in his legs, unless they were given the money they asked for.
According to him, his cousin, Begi, was an orphan. His community, Mbanyiar, Mbawa council ward, in Guma LGA, had long been deserted after they were sacked by marauding herdsmen who killed his father some years ago.
He was living with his aged mother and two wives, who struggled to provide for their children.
After the last farming season, Begi sold his entire farm produce and purchased a fairly used vehicle, which he started using for commercial transportation to augment his income and provide a better life for his family. Begi, 30, had two wives and six children.
Barely two months after the farmer-cum-commercial driver began his transport trade, he was kidnapped on February 18, at Otukpa, in Ogbadibo LGA of the state while on his way from Kogi State.
Our correspondent gathered that Begi had gone to drop passengers who chartered his vehicle to Kogi State and was on his way back when the incident happened.
Iorundu said: “Begi called on Sunday, February 18, saying that some people chartered his vehicle and he was taking them to Kogi. So, I bade him farewell.
“When he was coming back, he was communicating with me that he was at Otukpa, heading to Otukpo. So, I was expecting that soon he would call me back and say he arrived safely. But when my phone rang again, it was a different story. His voice wasn’t clear and he was talking incoherently and I sensed that something was wrong.
“He said on his way back, he met three boys that stopped him, saying that they were also heading to Otukpo. He already had a passenger in the car so he stopped and picked them.
“After they entered the car, they pointed a gun at his head and ordered him to drive into the bush. They then called him demanding the sum of N20 million the first time. After sometime, they called me to give them N10 million and I told them that the boy they captured was an orphan who lost his mother in September last year as a result of herdsmen’s crisis and even the father was not alive. I pleaded with them to allow him to come home but they said they couldn’t just release him till the ransom was paid.
“They said that if I didn’t bring the N10 million, they would kill my brother. I was pleading with them not to kill him.”
Iorundu said the family was confused because there was no money anywhere. Begi only bought his vehicle this January 2024 after selling the 50 bags of rice he harvested from his farm. “He is a great farmer indeed, he sold it at the rate of N70,000 per bag and in total he got N1.7 million. He had used the vehicle for only two months.
“There is nothing left in my village to sell to raise the amount of money the kidnappers were demanding for.”
But Iorundu’s misfortune began when he finally raised N300,000 and went to deliver it to the kidnappers so they could free Begi.
“So when we kept bargaining, they called me to bring a ransom of N2 million. I told them that in the whole of my account, I had N300,000, and they told me to bring it to Awowo, which is a community located at the boundary between Ankpa in Kogi State and Adoka in Otukpo LGA of Benue State.
“When I got to Awowo, they told me where I would drop the money and as I got to the spot, I saw some leaves tied to a stick as they said. They told me to drop the money. They asked me to describe the cloth I was wearing and I told them I was wearing a black and white colour long sleeve shirt.
“Then they told me they had seen me. So, I dropped the money. They told me again to go back towards Adoka where I was coming from that my brother was behind. I was on a bike. I went back a little. As I was going, I saw two men by the road side and they asked me to stop in a harsh voice.
“When I came down from the bike and the bike rider realized the situation at hand, he left his bike and ran away. They asked me to follow them back to where I dropped the money but instead of following the main road, we used the bush path.
“As we were going into the bush, they tied a cloth over my eyes and tied my hands backwards. They started beating me seriously saying that the N300,000 I brought to them was biscuits money. They said I should ask my family to bring N1.210 million.
“Because of the way I was dressed, the men got angry and were beating me more. They said I dressed like a big man and I said we don’t have money. They said in fact that I had provoked them.
“We walked a very long distance from 7pm to 3am before we got to where they were holding my brother and the others. The following day, they didn’t release me or my brother but they asked me when my wife would bring the money. They called my wife and told her to bring money. They started shooting sporadically in the air, telling my wife that they just shot me in the leg and threatened that if she didn’t bring money, they would kill me.
“What my eyes saw there, my mouth cannot tell it all. The thing that made me cry was when they brought out some women they were holding there and started raping them. I was so pained. In fact, I cried there. They raped them before our eyes.
“The women were three: two young ones and an old woman. They didn’t touch the old woman. The kidnappers were five and they took turns to rape the women. It was only one of them that refused to join the others.
“They took me on the February 22 and and kept me captive for four days without food or water. Others were given the same treatment. They were just beating me to call my people to bring money.
“In those four days, they were just punishing us. I called my wife and my sister to find a way and bring the money before they killed us.
“On the fourth day, I told them that since I brought N300,000 and they are still holding me, that my family will not bring the money. I told them that my family have the N1.210 million but that they are scared of bringing it there for fear that they might also be kidnapped.
“So, I asked them what other ways they can get the money. I asked if they can bring their account number.
“They said they don’t give account number out. I told them to choose one person among those they have kidnapped to go to Adoka and collect the money. They gave me N20,000 to give to the person that would go to bring the money. I said that my brother they were holding should go.
“So he went and brought the money and gave them. When he returned, they removed N15,000 and gave to me to treat myself for the beatings they gave to me. They apologized and said that they treated me badly and that was when they allowed us to go. We were six: three men and three women.
“I saw them with guns and bullets. They were just there in the community. While we were there, we saw the people going about their businesses as if nothing happened. If the people were passing with firewood, they will ask us to lie down that they don’t want the people to see us.
“Apart from us, they also kidnapped another group and kept them on another side of the hill. We heard them communicating and asking their relatives for ransom.”
Iorundu called on the government to flush out all criminal elements in the state and curtail insecurity in the state.
