June 29, 2022, will forever remain indelible in the memory of 56- year- old Kenneth Odoemena , a business man in Imo State , following his near death experience in the hands of kidnappers.
That fateful Wednesday, he left mechanic village in Okikwe, where he had taken his car for repairs, heading back to his home town in Umuna. Time.was 5.30pm.
He drove on the Okigwe-Owerri road in the company of a relative he met at the mechanic workshop. On approaching Amuro town, close to the Imo River bridge, a strange sound that signaled danger ahead was heard. But they ignored it and kept driving on the rough terrain .
Then, all of a sudden, they ran into some armed men operating on the road. By the time it dawned on them that they were not just robbers but kidnappers, it was too late for Odoemena to make a U-turn.
Though he put up some bravery by attempting to escape, that attempt was greeted by volleys of bullets from the armed kidnappers which riddled his vehicle..
The abduction
Explaining how he found himself in the kidnappers den, Odoemena said, ” a Catholic priest narrowly escaped the kidnappers before our arrival. We met a commercial bus which they demobilized and used to block the road . Someone was killed in that Toyota Hiace bus.
“My attempt to maneuver through a tight space attracted some gunshots .
They were five, all dressed in black trousers, black T-shirts , black jackets and black caps.. All of them were shooting. Bullets ripped through my car into the seats. Fortunately, not one of them touched both of us. We were forced to stop the car and they dragged us out .
“Just then, another commercial bus belonging to Peace Mass Transit drove into the operation. The criminals shattered its glasses with their gun butts and machetes. It was a fully loaded bus but they picked only three passengers from it: two men and one lady and ordered the driver to leave with the bus immediately. Thereafter, the three passengers , my relative and I were marched into the thick forest beside the Imo River”.
Shoot – out with soldiers
Coincidentally, a contingent of soldiers heading towards Owerri for the Army Day celebration swooped on the operation, as the victims were being led into the bush.
The soldiers were said to have opened fire in the direction they went , in a bid to rescue the victims. The shooting according to him , lasted close to 30 minutes but the kidnappers did not yield.
Rather, he said, “ the soldiers stopped shooting apparently because of the vulnerability of the hostages. The soldiers took my vehicle to Owerri.
“ While in the bush, the kidnappers ordered us to lie down amidst the heavy rain. Their commander came to where we were with two rifles in his hand and boasted that he had killed one of the soldiers. He also warned that if anyone attempted to rescue us, they would shoot all of us and escape.
“We remained in that position until 1am. They marched us back to the road where we were kidnapped, we trekked backwards towards Okigwe. In their attempt not to take us through Amuro town, we veered into a very deep swamp . On reaching a spot, we noticed flashes of torch light from the top of some palm trees . Those light flashes were obviously from private security men. We had to return back to the road the way we entered the swamp and proceeded towards Amuro.
“Their commander continued to warn that anyone who attempted to escape would be shot. Once in a while, when they sighted a vehicle approaching, they would force us to take cover .
“When we got to Amuro, we saw a pickup van with its lights off. The kidnappers were so afraid that they opened fire on it.
“About a kilometer after Amuro, we diverted right, into a road leading to Arondizuogu. We passed through people’s compounds but none questioned who we were.
“We trekked for about 20 kilometers. At a certain place we saw some members of a vigilante group In front of a building that looked like a mini factory. We had to pass behind an uncompleted storey building to avoid being noticed by them
”We trekked for several hours until we got to the middle of nowhere, deep into the jungle. Everyone, including the kidnappers was exhausted by then. Their leader ordered that we rested a little. There was a tree beside where we stopped. One of them went behind the tree to bring out a bunch of firewood , an indication that they used that route regularly.
The torture
“ We got up, moved about two hours and arrived at the center of a very dense rain forest, where they started interogating us.
We were subjected to both physical and psychological torture. They beat us with large clubs, gun butts, machetes.
“ When it got to my turn to be interrogated , they said I was a member of the Eastern Security Network(ESN) because of an identity card of the Police Community Relations Committee they found on me. They said ECN members killed their cows and their people. They told me that if they released others, they would surely kill me. I was the most tortured.
They said the ransom for my release was N50 million , that anything less would lead to my death. They used my phone to contact my younger sister in Abuja for the ransom but she said she only had one million, fifty thousand naira in her account and they told her to use it to prepare for my burial . One of them said ‘God punish you and your family with that one million and fifty thousand. You know, say elections don reach. Only your brother blocos ( private part)go fetch us five million. Don’t call this number again”.
“When they called the relative of the only lady among us, the relative said ‘which king of stupid hungry kidnappers are they?’, unaware that the phone was on speaker. They cut the call and descended on the innocent girl. They beat her so much that I had to beg them to stop because she is the same age with my daughter. In anger, they left her and descended on me for interfering.
“At one point, their leader threathened to kill one of us, to show how serious they were with the ransom, as they accused our relatives of being unserious. They dragged one of us towards a fallen tree where two decomposed bodies were covered with some sand and leaves
The leader ordered that the man dragged there should be killed with a dagger so as not to waste their bullet. In fear, the victim put a call to his relative. Begging in tears , he said “uncle, they are about to kill me o! Na die I dey sooo!!!” His uncle begged the kidnappers to exercise patience that he was still sourcing funds”.
Interaction with kidnapper
When Odoemena had the opportunity to interact with leader of the gang, he said he asked him who killed the men they saw earlier . The leader told him the bodies were victims who died out of fear and heart failure.
He said, “ I also asked him if they would like the Federal Government to grant them amnesty. He told me he was not a Niger Delta militant and that he was not a Nigerian. He said all he needed was money.
“ We were fed with cassava flour and bitter leaf. We drank muddy water .
The second night , their leader said he would not allow me to go further with them . He said he would waste me , that I posed a threat to them. He said I looked like someone who has had military training . This was because of the PCRC identity card. But my relation knelt down and pleaded with him to spare my life”.
He said they kept moving further into the Forrest until they got to the Enugu -Porthercort expressway, where they ran into some youths who were vandalizing electrical installations. The vandals, according to him, scampered into the bush in fear as the kidnappers attempted to fire some shots.
Ransom
They proceeded from there to where Odoemena recognised as Abia State University in Ope Okigwe.
Leader of the gang was said to have directed relatives of the captives to take their ransom to Odoemana relative’s place in Okigwe , from where they would put them all in a bag that would be taken to designated point on Okigwe expressway.
The leader also directed that the ransom must be accompanied with packets of cigarettes, some bitters and a pack of water, with a stern warning that they must not use cash out of the ransom to purchase the items..
Freedom at last
The victims were eventually released after spending three days in the den.
The kidnappers, according to Odoemena, “ escorted us through some cow rearing routes to a road that led directly into Ope Okigwe , from where we trekked into town. We were like pigs and some inhabitants thought we were Nollywood actors , until one of us who was limping , as a result of the injury he sustained said we had just been released by our abductors .“The people there brought water for us to drink, while women roasting corn offered us some to eat . Some commercial motorcyclists also offered to take us free , to Okigwe Catholic cathedral and Okigwe police station, from where our relatives came to pick them”.
Security summit
Odoemena was taken to the hospital for treatment from where he addressed a security summit organized by the traditional ruler of his community and other security stakeholders.
He said, “ I was personally invited to address the house and I told them what to do to forestall more kidnaps around us. I lamented that strangers should not be allowed to come into the geographical entity we call ancestral homes to kidnap us. I suggested that all thick forests around us must be brought down because the kidnappers told me that forests are a viable tool for their nefarious activities. I also made it clear that our local vigilantes can not face kidnappers who have brand new AK 47 rifles with Dane guns”.
Post-trauma
However, since the incident, Odoemena has been undergoing a post traumatic stress disorder. He said he usually feels the presence of gunmen around him and also finds it difficult to sleep at night.
In total submission to fate, he said “I don’t know if I will ever get over that. My blood pressure soared and I was diagnosed with hookworm and salmonella”.
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