•How we kidnapped 3 US returnees, killed 1, collected N40m ransom in Ebonyi –Suspects
From Wilson Okereke, Afikpo
•Suspects alongside arms, other items recovered from them
The police in Ebonyi State have arrested two suspects for abducting some United States returnees in Afikpo, Afikpo Local Government Area of the state.
Michael Eziulo and his sister, Linda, both indigenes of Afikpo were on New Year evening abducted along Ndibe Beach Road in the area. Their sister, Chinyere Eziulo, who also returned from the U.S alongside the duo for Christmas and New Year celebrations, was slain by their abductors during the incident.
The abductors demanded N100million ransom which they reduced to N40million and it was paid in dollars and naira, before they freed their captives.
• Eziulo
However, luck ran out of the criminals as the police in the state arrested two of them – Njoku Michael and Mohammed Ndokitwa in connection with the incident. They were trailed to Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where they were already lavishing the huge ransom on ostentatious lifestyles.
The two suspects were among 17 suspects paraded before journalists on Tuesday, at the police headquarters, Abakaliki, for various offences, including kidnapping, murder and armed robbery.
One of the suspects, Njoku, from Abia State narrated how they allegedly perpetrated the act. He told of how a certain Fulani herder, who he called Alhaji, lured him into the criminal act without knowing what he was going into.
•CP Ogbodo
According to Njoku, who claimed to running a petty provision kiosk somewhere in Abia State, Alhaji had asked him to join him to Afikpo in Ebonyi State and bag cow dung, promising that he would make at least N40,000 in three of four days if he worked diligently.
He said: “We kidnapped one man and one woman in Afikpo, Ebonyi State. They paid us N40million and we divided it. We were four persons that carried out the kidnap but it was only two of us that were captured by the police and we don’t know where the others are.
“We didn’t kill anybody, the lady that died was out of fear, we didn’t shoot anybody. The person that involved me in the kidnap of these persons in Ebonyi didn’t disclose it to me. The man that involved me is a Fulani man, he is my customer. He buys things from me in my shop where I sell provision.
“The man came to my shop on 13th December, 2023 with his cattle. I told him, Alhaji, you have many cattle now o! He told me, yes, the cows are his. I pleaded with him to lend me N50,000 and promised to pay him back in February this year. He told me that he had no money and promised to get back to me.
“Five days later, the man came back to me, he didn’t come with his cattle this time around. He told me that he wanted to carry me to work in Afikpo, Ebonyi State and I had never been to Afikpo before. I asked him the type of work he wanted to carry me to do and he told me that it’s manure work, that he wanted me to bag it and if I work hard, I will earn N30,000 or N40,000 in four days. I said okay and called my brother to be taking care of my shop so that I will follow the Alhaji and go for that work.
“I followed the man to Afikpo and we got there on New Year eve. He bought me food and lodged me in one hotel. In the morning, he stopped bike and told me to join him in the bike and he took me to a thick forest and said he was coming back. He went and brought two of his brothers and kept them with me. He didn’t tell me what we want to do and it was evening period.
“He left us and came back with a bag. When he turned it on the ground, it was a gun and a cloth. I asked him what we are going to do with gun, he asked me, ‘I think you said you are looking for money; this is the time we are going to look for the money.’ He finished preparing himself and told us to follow him; we got to a bush path where he ordered us to stay in a corner.
“When we were in the bush, he saw a jeep (SUV) coming and shot in the air. The vehicle stopped and he attacked it and opened it. There were two women and one man and he ordered them out of the vehicle and told them to follow us. He was at the front directing us and we followed him to a thick forest. We trekked for two hours before we got to the thick forest.”
Njoku said he got 30 dollars from the N40million ransom and that the ransom was both in dollars and naira.
Acting police public relations officer in the state, Joshua Ukanu, on behalf of the Commissioner, Augustina Ogbodo, disclosed during the parade of the suspects that one Friday Igwe and Nnabugwe Ebube were responsible for the murder of three parishioners of Immaculate Catholic Conception parish, Nkwagu in Abakaliki.
“On 24/12/2023, armed men invaded the premises of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Nkwagu and killed on Cyril Obinna Mbam, Nwifuru Chukwuebuka Mathew and Alo Onyedikachi Solomon and made away with a black Toyota Corolla belonging to late Obinna Cyril Mbam.
“Operatives of the command swung into action and apprehended Friday Igwe and Nnabugwe Ebube and recovered the Toyota Corolla. The apprehended suspects have provided leads for further arrest,” Ukanu stated.
Recall that the remains of the three victims were laid to rest, on Friday, January 12, at their respective family compounds.
Daily Sun reported that the assailants invaded the church as the Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. JohnPaul Eselu was conducting the Holy Mass, killing the choirmaster of the parish, Mbam, Aloh and Nwifuru while many others were injured.
It was gathered that the attackers, who targeted Mbam, had invited him out of the church building and shot him dead. Then, Aloh and Nwifuru, both security guards in the Catholic Church known as Men of Order and Discipline (MOD) attached to the parish, attempted to stop the assailants from escaping through the church gate and were shot in the process. The killings were the first in the history of the parish and the entire state.
Bishop of Abakaliki Diocese, Most Rev. Nworie Chukwu described the incident as sad and disheartening and prayed for the repose of the souls of the victims. He urged the faithful to pray for unity and progress of Ebonyi State and Nigeria.
Their bodies were interred after a burial mass conducted by the bishop at the Nkwagu parish.
An obituary by the church read: “Our holy martyrs shall live forever.”
Mbam was said to have been married with children while the other two young men were single.