•‘How N5,000 recharge cards saved us •‘We thought we were going to die’
By Our Correspondents, 07.19.2010
Kidnap Saga
Following the ongoing crackdown on those behind kidnappings in Abia, particularly the recent kidnap of four journalists in the area, the state government has come down hard on traditional rulers alleged to be involved in abductions and other criminal activities.
Yesterday, the government arrested the traditional ruler of Amauba-Ime Oboro Autonomous Community in Ikwuano Local Government Area of the state, Eze Vincent Okezie Uche, who is said to have already been charged to court “for sponsoring kidnapping and armed robbery.”
A special announcement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Theodore Orji, Mr. Kingsley Emereuwa, said the royal father was also dethroned.
The government also suspended three traditional rulers namely Eze Okechukwu Atulobi of Osusu Abala Autonomous Community, Eze Nwabiaraije Eneogwe of Abayi Autonomous Community and Eze S. Onwukwe of Abala Ibeme Autonomous Comm-unity, all in Obingwa Local government of the state.
The four journalists and their driver kidnapped by gunmen in the state regained their freedom early yesterday after one week in captivity.
The journalists, abducted on their way from the National Executive Council (INEC) meeting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, at Obi Ngwa in Abia State, are Chairman of the Lagos State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Wahab Oba, Secretary of Zone G Adolphus Okoronkwo, Acting Secretary of Lagos NUJ Sylva Okereke, Lagos-based journalist Sola Oyeyipo and their driver Azeez Abdulrauf.
Oba relived their experience in the hand of the abductors, saying they saw death coming.
Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan has commended the police on the release of the journalists but called for the arrest of all the kidnappers “by all means possible.”
The Abia State government said the decision to suspend the three royal fathers followed security reports of their involvement in sponsoring kidnapping and armed robbery in the state, for which they are currently under investigation.
The government assured the entire citizenry that it “will not stop at anything to eradicate the shameful menace of kidnapping and armed robbery in the state as any person/s suspected to be behind this ugly vocation, no matter how highly placed will be summarily dealt with.”
Reliving their experience after they regained freedom, Oba said it was worse than being in hell. Speaking with newsmen shortly after they arrived Government House, Umuahia, in company with armed mobile policemen and officers from Interpol, Oba noted that the period of their captivity exposed them to the other side of life.
He said before releasing them, their captors had threatened to unleash mayhem in the entire five South-eastern states, especially Abia, in the next one month if urgent steps were not taken by the government to pacify them.
Oba also disclosed that the kidnappers threatened to make the entire zone ungovernable, while vowing to scuttle the 2011 general elections in the state.
“They made it clear that they were not going to allow any election to be conducted in the state because the government had failed woefully to make appreciable impact in the living condition of the people.
“They also told us that the Abia State government had collected a whooping sum of money meant to be disbursed to the youths in the spirit of the amnesty programme of the Federal Government but that nothing was given to them.
“The experience we had in that jungle is better imagined. These boys were wielding all manner of sophisticated arms and ammunition which I don’t think our police force really possesses. We saw our death steering us in our face but God really saved us from their hands.
“At a point, I even had to write my will albeit verbally because we thought we were not going to see the light of the day. I can’t wish even my worst enemy to pass through such a horrendous experience,” Oba said.
The full story of how the journalists were released has, however, emerged.
“Inspector-General of Police Sir, this is breaking news for you. I have with me the four kidnapped journalists and their driver who were handed over to us this morning.”With these words the Abia State Commissioner of Police Jonathan Johnson officially announced the release of the four journalists and their driver
The kidnapped men breathed their air of freedom at about 1.30 am when their abductors released them at a market place at Ukpakiri in Obingwa Local Government the same area where they were taken hostage on Sunday July 11, 2010.
By 8.45am when the released journalists were brought to the state command headquarters in Umuahia by a team of policemen, they looked unkempt and were barefooted, a sign of the ordeal they had passed through in the last seven days.
But they were full of joy and happiness for coming out of the bush alive.Oba said they were dropped at a bush in the area (Ukpakiri) but they waited till daybreak before they crawled out around 6.00am and a community leader took them to the police.
He said that all through the period they waited for daybreak, they laid still before they attracted some people around the area.Though the Lagos NUJ chairman said that they were not maltreated by their abductors, they were completely blindfolded and kept under trees and left at the mercy of the elements, with their abductors who were also drenched by rain or scorched by sun, as the case may be.
He said the kidnappers never allowed them stay at a particular place for long as they kept moving them every two hours due to the pressure from police.
The kidnappers had robbed them of their possessions and shared the booty among themselves
“They (kidnappers) collected everything we had, both wrist watches, money and shared everything. I saw my shoes; I saw my laptop computer being shared. Somebody even put on my wrist watch there in the bush,” Oba said.
The kidnappers had initially demanded N250 million ransom but Oba said the kidnappers later claimed they were not really interested in the ransom money because they were driven into criminality to protest government neglect.
Oba insisted that no ransom was paid to the hoodlums, adding that their only financial reward was N3 million they collected from them
The journalists therefore called on the federal government to adequately equip the police, to make them ready to face such people considering the kind of sophisticated weapons the hoodlums carried.
In his remarks the Abia State chairman of NUJ, Hyacinth Okoli, commended the police and the state government for their effort in ensuring the release of the journalists.
But he disagreed that the kidnappers were in the crime because they were angry with the government, saying that the kidnappers were evil in nature and had refused to key into the amnesty programme announced by government.
According to a statement by Presidential Spokesman Ima Niboro, President Jonathan said the release had brought to a close a sordid criminal incident, which he insisted must be completely stamped out of the polity.
Jonathan specifically praised the police and Nigerians for turning “sufficient heat” on the kidnappers, which made them to abandon their victims.
He directed the Inspector-General of Police Ogbonna Onovo to ensure the arrest by all means possible of the kidnappers.
The President felicitated with the four journalists, their families and NUJ.
According to him, “Even as we celebrate freedom today, let us insist that this spate of criminality must stop. In every way possible, we must say no to these vices and assist the authorities to expose perpetrators and bring an end to these vices as quickly as possible."
Onovo has also declared war on kidnappers in the South-east, vowing to make the zone difficult for any manner of criminality.
Speaking shortly after receiving the rescued journalists from the Abia State Police Command, Onovo said the police would engage the men of the underworld in a serious battle with the aim of riding the zone of kidnappers and armed banditry.
“The operation has just started with the rescue of these innocent journalists. We can no longer tolerate this in the South-east. Indeed the people are going to be denied their comfort in the process of embarking on this operation. But I want to plead with them to bear with us,” he stated.
The journalists left for Lagos yesterday through Port Harcourt Airport in Omagwa few hours after they were freed.
They left on a chartered flight marked ZS-SME from Top Brass Aviation provided by the Rivers State government, which said it was their own contribution to making the journalists return to their families safely.
Speaking on behalf of the governor, the Acting Chief Press Secretary Blessing Wikina said the kidnap was a cowardly act, which should not deter the journalists from their work.
He further asked security agencies to try and debrief those who have been kidnapped and freed so that a psychological profile of the kidnappers could be ascertained.
Oba who spoke on behalf of the journalists expressed gratitude to President Jonathan, the police, Abia State government, journalists and all the people that made it possible for them to regain their freedom and assured them that they would continue to ensure that they serve the people well.
Some Abia State officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said that no ransom was paid aside from some "small, small money they extorted from people promising to release them".
A source said N5,000 recharge cards, which the kidnappers sought for and got also helped to facilitate their release.
At the airport were police top shots including Onovo and Abia State governor who left on an Arik flight to Abuja.
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