Released journalists recount their ordeal with kidnappers

Recently, four journalists and a driver were kidnapped at Umuafouka Junction, near Ukwakiri in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State by gunmen. That was after they attended a Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, meeting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. The victims were Chairman, Lagos State Council of NUJ, Wahab Oba; Zonal General Secretary, Adolphus Okonkwo; Assistant Secretary, Sylva Okereke; another journalist, Shola Oyeyipo and a driver, Abdulrauf Azeez. They spent eight days in the hands of their captors.

On the fateful date, as one of the kidnapped men, Oyeyipo, told TheNEWS, the journalists discovered a rickety Volvo car parked in the centre of the road between Ipakiri and Obioma junction. “We thought there was an accident when we saw a car parked, we had to shout at the occupants to get out of that place. The next thing we noticed was that some men jumped out of the car, holding sophisticated weapons. The kidnappers searched us thoroughly to be sure that there was no weapon on us and carted away our belongings,” he disclosed.

The journalists were blindfolded, chained  and kept in the bush, at the mercy of the elements. They were served a meal per day–bread and water. The abductors also robbed them of a laptop, camera, recorder, personal effects, wrist watches, a Serena Space bus, and other valuables. They were also relieved of about N1.6 million in their possession. In cash and valuables, the journalists lost a total of N3 million.

Oba who spoke on behalf of the released journalists said every minute spent was of agony, pain, frustration and dejection. “We lived in the bush and were moved every two hours in the night when the police had rested their search. We were always in chains because they feared that we would escape at night and we had to beg them to loosen the chains a little,” he said. “Everyday, we knew that the police were always close on our heels but they were always frustrated because of an informant in the community who was always calling in to inform them of the presence of the police, which would necessitate our movement at short notices. Their informant was a woman,” he stated further.

Oba recalled that at a time, he thought he was going to lose his life when the kidnappers ordered him to undress, apparently to gun him down. He also claimed that the captors occasionally threatened to shoot him by pointing their guns at him, as he was regarded as the leader of the captives.

“They asked us to call our Oga and after speaking with the president [of NUJ], they collected the phone from me and told him, ‘Look, your boys have been kidnapped. You have to bring N250 million.’ They were telling us to call somebody about money, money, money. They were constantly smoking Indian hemp,” he said.

The kidnappers, as Oba narrated, later agreed on N30 million. “But I told them that we are also freedom fighters and gave them instances of how we had been writing for the freedom of Uwazuruike and that if they wanted, I would call Uwazuruike for them to confirm,” he explained.

As Oyeyipo revealed, the fear of death bothered him so much that he confessed his sins and surrendered his life to Christ, “because I was not sure if I was going to make heaven, because I never stepped inside a church for a long time! I also had a flashback on my abandoned project and my family.”

Oba explained that the kidnappers decried the poor state of administration, development and unemployment in the country. They complained about injustice and the high level of corruption. They also lamented the slow and ineffective approach to the amnesty programme for militants, especially in Abia State.

“When they released us, they said that they didn’t kidnap us because of money but because of the injustice going on in the state. They were particular about Abia, saying that the government collected money for the amnesty programme, and had failed to implement it. When we were released they said that they were giving government one month and after that, they would start shooting at people,” he stated. In fact, they stated all these in a note that they gave the journalists.

The released men claimed they paid no ransom to secure their release. They were taken to a market square between 1.30 and 2.00 a.m. and had to wait. At 6.00 a.m. policemen came to retrieve them from the market square to the state Government House.

The journalists applauded the Police for their unrelenting search. They also praised President Goodluck Jonathan for ordering that the search for them be intensified. They said government must look into the activities of kidnappers in the country and try to curb them.  In a different twist, the released journalists are under investigation by officials of the State Security Service, SSS, over the N3 million that was allegedly collected from them.

Oba has since refuted that N3 million cash was found on them. He said the media misunderstood him. “I must have been misunderstood. What I meant was that the total value of what the kidnappers seized from us would amount to about N2.5 million or N3 million. At least about N1.6 million in cash was seized from us, with a Serena Space bus, laptop, camera, recorder, personnel effects, wrist watches, among other valuables…All should be worth about N2 million,” he said.

“We got N1 million from Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Godswill Akpabio, as a fulfilment of his promise to assist us for a project we were embarking on in Lagos, while other money collected from all of us should be about N600,000,” he added.

National President of NUJ, Mr. Mohammed Garba commended the police for handling the matter professionally and  called on the federal government to take the issue of welfare and provision of equipment for the police very seriously.”

—Seun Bisuga, Additional reports by Oluremilekun Osobu and Dedeigbo Ayodeji.