By 2pm, they had moved beyond Benin Bye-Pass. Just after the river that flows across Ekiadolor, they suddenly heard gun shots. That was how, the man who simply identified himself as Celestine; a business man was abducted by kidnappers.
Close to tears, he shared his experience at kidnapers den with journalists in Lagos during the week. “We were forced to stop. There were two cars in front of us; a white Hilux Jeep and one Toyota Camry. But I can’t say anything about the cars behind us because I really didn’t know.”
“We attempted to escape, by making a u-turn however, there were gunshots in front and at our back. There was nothing we could do other than to surrender. Before, I knew what was happening, somebody hit my head with wood. We were taken to a thick forest about 50 kilometers from the main express road before Okada.”
“When we were being moved into the forest, I thought they were armed robbers. Without being told, I removed my wrist watch, money, phones and other valuables. Later they told us that they were not robbers but kidnappers. We were ordered to face other direction so as not have face to face contact with them.”
The experience according to him was horrible. The kidnappers placed a N10 million ransom on him. Celestine said he was thought unforgettable lesson with other hostages at the kidnappers’ den. A father of three, from Edo State, said that he and other kidnapped victims were in Infinity Jeep before they were ambushed.
He was abducted alongside a couple with three kids whose ages range from a year and three months to 11 years.”
“We spent almost two nights in the kidnappers’ abode. The three children were traumatised. They kept crying and pleading with the abductors that please don’t kill our mummy. Don’t kill our Daddy! Our Daddy will give you money.”
“Sometimes the kidnappers would beat the woman in the presence of her children and husband. Each time, the children hear gunshot, it was something else.”
The kidnappers gave Celestine, a staunch catholic, and other hostages different meaning of morning devotion they were used to. “When they woke us the following day, the first thing they shouted was morning devotion. As a Christian, I wanted to say praise the Lord Jesus Christ but I soon realised the morning devotion simply means giving us the beating of our lives every morning.”
“They beat us until I was unconscious. It was after that I started calling my relatives to come to my rescue.They placed N10 million ransom on me and threatened to kill me if that was not provided.”
“At about 9:30 pm, they moved us like slaves within the farm in the forest. They harvested plantains and even cooked for us. Within five minutes, they boiled rice and forced us to eat it. I couldn’t even chew it. I had to swallow it in order to have strength.”
Though, he didn’t state what others pay to secure their freedom, he said his relatives eventually raised over a million naira to secure his release from the kidnappers.
“We were eventually released on December 30, 2013. The kidnappers collected a total sum of N3.6million to set us free,” said Celestine. While we were held hostage, I realised that the kidnappers have a network. They were calling Benin, asking for different network recharge cards. They had boys everywhere working for them.”
“I thought they would release us easily but they didn’t release us until about 8:30 pm that day. They called one of their friends in Benin. The man came with a car and took them away, leaving us there. A good Samaritan picked us on our way with his car and dropped us at Isele-uku.”
DAILYINDEPENDENT
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