•Bandits
One of the 16 kidnap victims rescued in Kogi State, Victor Anyichie, has recounted how his abductors allegedly beat him almost to death after he told them his family could only afford N500,000 ransom.
Anyichie and the other victims were abducted last Sunday when armed men attacked commuters along the Ojuwo-Ajengo-Memarebo and Ojiwo-Itobe roads in Ofu Local Government Area of the state, reports Daily Trust.
They were rescued on Monday during a joint operation involving the Nigerian Army, Navy, police and local vigilantes along the Ajaokuta-Anyigba road in Ofu.
A local hunter was killed while a police officer sustained injuries during the operation.
Speaking at the Kogi State Police Command headquarters after his release, Anyichie said the kidnappers demanded varying amounts of ransom from the victims, ranging from N2 million to N100 million.
He said he became the target of the abductors’ anger after telling them that his family could only raise N500,000.
“I happened to be the only one who collected every beating of my life in their hands. They would say, ‘You, N70 million; you, N100 million; you, N50 million; and children, N2 million.’
“I told them my people could only raise N500,000. Suddenly, they descended on me, beating me mercilessly. Those goons really beat the life out of me.
“I was lucky I survived it. If not for the grace of God, they could have gone further, which might have resulted in something else,” he said.
Anyichie said he noticed some members of the gang in a red Toyota Yaris posing as passengers shortly before the attack.
He said the vehicle overtook their bus and blocked its path after their driver failed to respond to a signal from another vehicle to move ahead.
“Our driver tried to enter the bush, but unfortunately, six of them emerged, shooting sporadically. Their leader had an AK-47, another carried a pump-action rifle, while the third had a pistol,” he said.
According to him, the kidnappers constantly moved the victims from one location to another and appeared to have informants monitoring their movements.
He said the abductors had taken them back to the location where they were initially captured when security operatives engaged them in a gun battle.
Anyichie said all the passengers survived the operation except the local vigilante who was killed, while one passenger sustained a deep cut on his hand.
‘They threatened to sell us to ritualists’
Another rescued victim, Ngozi Stephen, who said she served as an interpreter because of her fluency in Hausa, said the kidnappers demanded N70 million from her and threatened to beat her when she pleaded for a reduction.
She said she was spared physical assault, possibly because she was serving as an interpreter, but the abductors seized the victims’ phones and switched them off.
“At some point, they were even threatening that if we were not able to provide the money, they would just sell us to ritualists and all that,” she said.
Ngozi said the kidnappers fled after hearing gunshots from the security operatives, leaving behind bags containing phones and laptops taken from the victims.
“We were able to get back our phones. We were also able to get back the laptops. Thank God. We are now safe,” she said.
‘I bled throughout the night’
Another victim, Daniel, said he sustained an injury while trying to escape from the kidnappers.
He said shortly after they were abducted, he spotted an opening and ran into a nearby bush, but one of the kidnappers chased him and attempted to cut him with a knife.
Daniel said he raised his hand to protect himself, resulting in a deep cut to his vein.
“That is when the cutlass landed here and cut my vein. So, I was bleeding throughout the night,” he said.
He said the bleeding eventually stopped after he applied herbs to the wound the following morning.
Daniel said one of the abductors identified himself as Peter, adding that the gang members spoke Igala, Fulani and Hausa so that the victims could not understand their conversations.
He expressed gratitude to the security operatives for rescuing them, but lamented the death of the local hunter during the operation and commiserated with his family.
The Kogi State Commissioner of Police, CP Naziru Bello Kankarofi, said the victims were rescued during a joint operation involving personnel of the police, Army, DSS, vigilantes and hunters along the Itobe-Achigili-Anyigba highway.
He said efforts were being intensified to rescue other victims still being held by the abductors in the area.
