0
0
and even death, on us. For, it was clear
“Every day at the detention centre, there were
threats from the kidnappers that they would
kill us and “chop” us up into pieces of meat,
and send our body parts in plastic bags to our
families. They said they would carry out their
threats, so that the Nigerian State would know
there is no security in the country”
to me, from the fierceness of their looks, the
high pitch of their threatening voices and the
type of dangerous guns they wielded, that
they meant every word of their threat to kill
us instantly, if we moved an inch further. In
front of us was a white Hilux bus, whose
occupants appeared to have been kidnapped,
immediately preceding ours. I was later to
discover over four hours later when we were
evacuated by the fringes of a forest, that the
occupants of the Hilux bus were Mr Athanasius
Ugbome, an APC Chieftain and his friend,
Mr Maka Omorogbe, who had just returned
from Canada.
My driver and I were forcefully dragged out
of the vehicle, and the kidnappers demobilised
the SUV by shooting at and deflating one of the
tyres. Thereafter, my driver and I were taken
into another waiting vehicle, a Saloon car. I
did not see my driver, for the next four hours.
I was later to discover that the Kidnappers
had thrown the driver into the booth of their
get-away vehicle. My kidnappers, during the journey, roughly
frisked me, collecting my physical cash, com
plimentary cards and my ring, wrist watch
and chain. I was sternly warned to either lie
down flat on the floor of the vehicle, or sit
up, calmly, with my eyes tightly closed, like a
passenger on a normal journey. The kidnappers
threatened to blow off my brains, if I “tried
anything funny”. As the journey progressed,
the kidnappers who probably had been going
through my complimentary cards and contact
list, asked me for my name, occupation, how
long I had been in my profession, my place of
origin and such introductory and preliminary
questions. I told them my name, that I am a
Lawyer, that I have practised law for 32 years.
To their question as to how many companies
I operate, I told them I only practise law, as I
am not a businessman. Their leader’s answer
was that they would know my true identity
if I lied, through media reports the following
day. The kidnappers, apparently satisfied
with my preliminary answers, and that they
had caught a “mega” fish, stated that my
complimentary cards corroborated my names,
qualifications, titles and profession. The leader
told me laconically, “you are a honest man”.
The Killing of Four Policemen on a Rescue
Mission
Having driven a few metres from the scene of
my kidnap, my kidnappers began discussing
amongst themselves about their exploits in earlier
kidnaps, when suddenly the driver sighted
two on-coming vehicles which he perceived to
be on their trail, and soon discovered that the
two vehicles in question were Police vehicles.
They resolved amongst themselves to engage
the Policemen in a gun duel, because, according
to them (kidnappers), there was “no retreat,
no surrender”. They promptly disembarked
from their vehicle, marched towards and laid
ambush for the Policemen who, not apparently
aware of the kidnappers and their fire power
and capacity, innocently ran into the kidnappers
who bloodthirstily gunned down the four
innocent Policemen in cold blood.
After the gun duel, I heard the kidnappers
boast of their earlier exploits and triumphs
over Policemen and members of SARS, (Anti
Robbery Squad), whom they triumphantly
claimed to have always killed like flies, with
none of them (kidnappers) dying, or even
sustaining any injury whatsoever. The four
heroic Police officers that were brutally murdered
are ASP Sunday Paul Ajaka, Inspector Sunday
Ewesiihini (driver), Inspector Michael Apada
and Inspector Bakari Kong. May their dutiful
souls rest in perfect peace, Amen.
Kidnappers’ Abode and Rules of Engagement
After the tortuous journey that spanned over
four hours through a labyrinth of roads, bush
paths, highways, and swampy terrains, my
driver, myself and some other persons who were
earlier kidnapped, Ugbome, Omorogbe
and their drivers – were brought to a
squalid and decrepit building where
we were promptly locked up. The
kidnappers later drove us in the night
to another building, using the flood
light of their vehicles intermittently in
the forest. While there, we noticed that
there was a woman who had earlier
been kidnapped with her two sons and
a daughter, and two other women and
their drivers, who were also held captive,
pending payment of ransom on them.
We were all given the kidnappers’
code of conduct, or modus vivendi. For
instance, we were warned never to look
at the face of any of the kidnappers,
as doing so would attract immediate
death. We were also warned to always
turn our backs on the kidnappers, face
to the ground, at their approach, or
whenever we were being addressed
by the kidnapping lords of the jungle.
Our interactive overseer informed us
that he was a “General”, and that our
kidnap squad was comprised of three
“Generals” who jointly carried out the
operation in which I and others were
kidnapped. This, they warned, had
made the kidnap more onerous and
our ransom much higher. The other
two male captives of the Hilux bus,
Mr Ugbome and Mr Omorogbe, were
kept with me in the same dingy, hellish,
mosquitoladen room, while our drivers
and other drivers were kept together
in another separate room.
A Rare Insight Into the Kidnappers’
Modus Operandi
My experience was most horrific, spine
chilling, psychologically traumatic, physi
cally debilitating, psychically draining,
spiritually exerting and mentally shatter
ing. This is but a near accurate description
of the experience, at the detention centre
where the kidnappers kept us. Every
day at the detention centre, there were
threats from the kidnappers that they
would kill us and “chop” us up into
pieces of meat, and send our body parts
in plastic bags to our families. They said
they would carry out their threats, so
that the Nigerian State would know there
is no security in the country.
The day after we were kidnapped, they
came to us and asked, “do you have someone
you wish to contact”. I said yes, giving them
the names of my wife, and my bosom friend,
Barrister Benson Igbanoi. The kidnappers
then brought out my phones which they
had earlier seized from my Prado Jeep
after my kidnap, fixed the batteries back
and told me to scroll out the numbers of
my contacts, which I did. The kidnappers
contacted my wife and friend. They handed
over the phone to me on each occasion, and
finally I was able to speak to my wife after
three days of great suspense, uncertainty,
threats and fear. The kidnappers took me
out of our room, made me face the wall
amidst arms, and informed me that my
family must cough out to stay alive and
unhurt. The alternative, they threatened,
amidst a whopping sum of N850 million to
have me released with a dirty, resounding
slap, would be instant death.
The eerie masked men, numbering
over fifteen, made death a close ally. The
surroundings, exacerbated by the presence
of heavy guns, and I wondered where my
family would raise that kind of money. It
was fear of death, fear of harm and fear
of fear.
I politely told my kidnappers that neither
my family nor friends, had that kind of
money.
Our detention room was wet, dirty, squalid,
dingy, smelly, yet very hot. About a week
later, one of the kidnappers came to the room
and finally opened a window so that we
might get some fresh air. We were happy. We
thanked him profusely. Unfortunately, that
singular act of kindness was the opening of
a new chapter of challenge, an invitation to
a colony of angry, bloodthirsty mosquitoes
from the forest, that feasted on us over
night like a barbeque. This immediately
caused us a serious bout of Malaria. The
kidnappers told us, when we complained,
that a medical doctor would come and treat
us with drugs. The Doctor came to our
detention camp the following day, treated
us, and we started to stabilise.
On September 5, 2013, twelve days
into our kidnap ordeal, I fell very ill for
the second time. I sweated profusely,
with my cell mates fanning me with our
wet dirty singlets and boxer shorts. The
kidnappers had to bring back their medical
doctor who, after diagnosing my illness,
employing stethoscope and thermometer,
gave me two injections for malaria and
intravenous transfusion for typhoid. It was
very traumatic and frightening, as I was
not sure if the injections and transfusion
were not poisonous, even though they had
assured me, they were not. They told me
point blank they would not poison me as
they wanted me alive, rather than dead,
to be able to pay the heavy ransom they
had demanded.
In terms of their organisation and modus
operandi, I can say clearly that the kidnappers
of our society. There were apparently not less
than 25 fully armed kidnappers guarding our
camp at any given point in time, with large
cache of automatic weapons. They boasted that
they could readily take on a whole battalion of
security forces, in a battle. The kidnappers made
it clear, that they were holding me for payment
of ransom money. But, they also warned that
payment of such ransom did not necessarily
guarantee us safe delivery to our families. These youths of Nigeria threatened that
during the next election in 2015, they would
be very violent, as they would come out to
fight, unleash mayhem and kill all politicians,
whom they claimed, had impoverished them.
The kidnappers told me that if the government
inaugurated an amnesty programme, they would
readily come out and give up their weapons, and
remove their hoods and masks. Some of them
complained they had been unemployed for five
or more years, some for sixteen, after completing
their University education. The kidnappers told
me that since they could control some parts
of Nigeria, including highways, footpaths and
forests, it showed that Nigeria has broken up
into tiny units, piecemeal and instalmentally,
under control of different groups. This, they
argued, was why the prediction has been made
that Nigeria would break up by the year 2015.
Their reasoning and logic, were spine-chilling.
Media Activities and Reactions to My Kidnap
While in the jungle, the kidnappers engaged
us during nightly interactions in frenzied
dialectics in history, political science, ethics,
logic, philosophy, etc.
The Commissioner of Police had given a
marching order to rescue Ozekhome. “As we
speak, a massive manhunt has been launched
by the Police in the State to rescue the Lawyer
and apprehend the criminals that abducted him.”
The kidnappers were aware of this.
Ransom Demand
It is pertinent to state at this junction, that
notwithstanding the public outcry, pleas,
appeals and condemnation that followed my
kidnap, the kidnappers tenaciously held on to
me and even made audacious ransom demand
of N850 million! While negotiations over my
release raged, my captors upped their bargain
ing power through intense psychological and
sometimes physical intimidations, by generously
issuing out threats and ultimatums to my family
members and Barrister Benson Igbanoi, as to
the exact amount to be paid and modalities
to secure my release, while at the same time,
making it clear they will not hesitate to snuff
out my life if their demands were delayed or
not immediately met. For this reason, prayers
were intensified across Nigeria by my family,
friends, admirers, employees and well-wishers
for divine intervention for my release, safely
and unhurt.
The Further Kidnap of My Son and My
Abuja Office Based Lawyer
About 14 days after my kidnap, Barrister
Ilugbekhai Ozekhome, my son, and Barrister
cont’d on page VIII
Chief Mike Ozekhome, CON, SAN
constitute a very well organised segment
About the Author
