•The victims
The four kidnap victims rescued by the Imo State Police Command’s Anti-Kidnapping Unit on Saturday have shared their experience in the hands of their abductors.
The victims, Mrs Carolyn Didia, Mrs Ego Odu, Mrs Apollonia Ezekwe, and Mr Godwin Ezekwe, were in the same vehicle when they were kidnapped on the Obosima-Ohoba road in the Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of the state on Friday, reports The PUNCH.
According to the victims, they were ambushed by the gunmen while travelling to Owerri from their community in Awarra for a wedding, adding that the kidnappers shot at their vehicle, forcing them to stop.
The driver of the SUV conveying them was said to have attempted to flee but was caught and macheted by the kidnappers.
Speaking to our correspondent yesterday, Godwin, a Lagos-based computer system merchant, said the gunmen first shot their vehicle from behind before another set ambushed them some metres ahead of them.
“I was on my way to Owerri on Friday evening at about 6 pm in a commercial vehicle with five other passengers for my niece’s wedding. When we were between Ohoba and Obosima, I saw some gunmen who started shooting at the back of our vehicle. As we drove fast ahead, we encountered another set in front and we had to stop. Our driver ran away after stopping the vehicle, but they pursued him, caught him and macheted him. We were six and they allowed two elderly women among us to go and took the remaining four of us into the bush which looked like the Sambisa forest. We trekked from about 6 pm till 3 am.
“We got to a spot and were asked to stay there. That was how they started to beat us. They asked us to call our relatives and tell them where we were and that they should send N150m. After a while, we all stayed on the spot and by 7 am, we started walking again till 12am on Saturday. The next place we got to, they discovered that people were passing there so we stopped again and they slept off in the process.”
It was then that a hunter saw us and went back to the community to inform others.”
Ezekwe said the moment other hunters came to the spot, the kidnappers became upset and shot him in his two legs. He added that the hunters rescued him and others from where he was taken to the hospital for medical attention.
In a video obtained by our correspondent yesterday, Odu, on her part, said the gunmen forced them out of the vehicle and started to beat the four of them.
She said, “I was heading to my sister’s wedding in Owerri to cook for her. The moment they ambushed our vehicle, they forced us out of the vehicle and started to beat us. I was not familiar with the area they took us to. We just kept walking till this morning (Saturday) until we were rescued.”
Another victim, Didia, lamented that they were forced to walk long distances, saying, “A tricycle was ahead of us when the incident happened but they allowed the tricycle to drive a bit far from us when five gunmen came out of the bush. They made us walk long distances in the bush as they started taking us from one point to another. That was how we moved till morning.”
The Imo State Police Command’s Anti-Kidnapping Unit in a statement on Saturday said it rescued the victims after a gunfight with the kidnappers, resulting in the death of two suspects.
The police spokesperson, ASP Henry Okoye, confirmed the rescue operation and the neutralisation of the two suspects.
He revealed that in the process of rescuing the victims, the police recovered one AK-47 rifle, 21 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, and a magazine from the criminals.
