Enugu Kidnap Victim Recounts Experience In Captivity

Mr Fidelis Okeke, not real name, is among the four persons kidnapped two weeks ago at Api-Opi in Nsukka local government area of Enugu State. He was returning to his village at Eha-Alumona when he was attacked, alongside his family members. He was forced out of his car, and whisked away. He stayed four days in their captivity. He regained his freedom after his friends and well-wishers paid his ransom.

Okeke, who said he is yet to overcome the trauma he passed through, called on security agencies to rise to the challenge of the incessant kidnap cases along Nsukka/Ugwuogo/Enugu road.

He told THE WHISTLER that, “God saved me from the hands of the kidnappers. I was kidnapped at Opi, very close to my community. The attack was shortly after I had passed military and police checkpoints. There is a crossbar along the sloppy part of the road, which also makes driver slow down by a bend.

“I got there, and the kidnappers suddenly appeared. They were well armed with sophisticated guns. Two of them appeared in my front. I looked back and saw two persons again, carrying AK47 rifles. They were positioned to shoot me in case I attempted to reverse. They shot at my car’s radiator and the tryes as well. I was with my wife and two of my kids. They dragged me into the bush. One of them attempted to drag my wife and our two kids to the bush, but one of them told him to leave them alone.

“The person that was dragging me was a Fulani guy. He was looking terrible, very slim. While they were dragging me, they also kidnapped three other guys, who happen to be from my place as well. They took us into a deep bush. Rains and sun beat us badly. If they suspected that they might be trailed, they changed locations. It was an exercise of moving from one spot to the other. They took our phones.”

On whether there could be conspiracy with security operatives along the road, he said, “I won’t discuss that matter, but security operatives should be interrogated on the kidnappings going on there. I can’t say anything about that, but let there be serious interrogations among those security men manning those checkpoints. We were kidnapped and there was no security intervention despite that the scene of the kidnap was not far from police and military checkpoints. I thought the gunshot would have alerted the security personnel that there was danger, but nothing happened.”

He said among the six persons that kidnapped them, he could only guess one of them to be an Igbo person. In his words, “Others are Fulanis. Only one person was speaking Igbo. It was a terrible experience.”

On the ransom paid, he said, “They used the phone of one of us to be contacting our relatives and friends. After four days in captivity, we paid N13m to regain our freedom. One of us paid N4m while the remaining three paid N4m each.”