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…Says my abductors tortured me, demanded N15m ransom
From Wilson Okereke, Afikpo
The Idodo axis of the ever-busy Enugu-Abakaliki Expressway has become a safe haven for kidnappers with cases of travellers being kidnapped by gunmen reported on a daily basis.
A middle-aged woman, who pleaded for her name not to be disclosed was abducted on Friday, April 5, by suspected herdsmen along the notorious area, but later released after ransom was paid. She narrated her ordeals to Sunday Sun.
The staff of Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike Ikwo (AE-FUNAI), Ebonyi State, resident at Kpirikpiri Abakaliki, regained her freedom after three days in captivity.
Recounting her ordeals, the woman disclosed that she was abducted alongside other passengers in a vehicle going to Abakaliki from Enugu at about 3:00p.m on that fateful Friday.
According to her, their abductors contacted her husband and demanded N15 million for her freedom after taking her and other victims into a thick forest where they kept their victims.
She revealed that a group of boys in their early 20s carrying dangerous weapons blocked the expressway and ordered the driver and all the passengers out of the commercial bus that was conveying them.
“Our abductors immediately led us into the thick forest where they forced us to contact our families to pay ransom for our release. When we got to their hideout, we realized that there were other victims in the place.
“They were making outrageous demands from our families. They called my husband who is a civil servant to raise N15 million to secure my release. We were kept there for days.
“The most agonizing part of it is that they neither gave us food nor water and yet we went through serious beating in a bid to force our families to respond to their demands. Thank God that we were able to meet their demands and I’m back to my family.”
She expressed concern over the inability of the Enugu and Ebonyi state governments to collaborate with the military, the two State Police Commands and the Department of State Service (DSS) to flush out the hoodlums from their hideout.
She said: “It is very unfortunate that almost every two to three days, kidnapped victims are brought into the hideout, yet the Ebonyi and Enugu state governments are yet to show concern to the plight of their innocent citizens.
“It is now dangerous to ply the Enugu-Abakaliki express road. Something urgent needs to be done to stop the incessant kidnapping of mostly Ebonyi and Enugu indigenes using the express road.
“Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State and his Enugu counterpart, Peter Mbah must find a lasting solution to the ugly incident along the road. The kidnapping rate along the axis has taken a different dimension and must be stopped.”
When contacted, the Ebonyi State Police Public Relations Officer, Joshua Ukandu, a deputy superintendent of police, said that the Enugu State Police Command was working assiduously towards flushing out the hoodlums.
He said that the Ebonyi command under CP Augustina Ogbodo had reached out to its counterpart in Enugu State, adding that recently, Gov. Mbah gave a matching order for the hoodlums to be flushed out.
