Kidnappers to Victim: We’re in Lagos because wealthy Igbos are shunning home
•Boast ‘We’ll soon take over Lagos, Police cannot stop us’
•‘We were getting ‘akara’ money in the East’
A Lagos businessman who was abducted in Ago Palace Way, Lagos two weeks ago has been released after paying N30 million as ransom. He was kidnapped by four hooded men who cornered him, midnight, as he was going to enter his car, packed in the garage.
His abductors called a day after, demanding a ransom of N100 million but family members and friends were able to raise N30 million before he was released.
The middle-aged Chief Executive Officer, CEO, of his company who pleaded passionately that his name should not be used because the kidnappers threatened to come back for him if he spoke on the incident told Crime Guard that he was taking a big risk by narrating what he suffered throughout the two weeks he spent with his abductors.
“I felt that I could only talk about the trauma and psychological torture they subjected me to so that it will arouse consciousness and alert security agencies over what to expect in the coming days,” he stated.
According to him, I saw hell in the hands of those kidnappers and they were boasting that they will soon take over Lagos and the police cannot match their firepower.
“They abducted me that weekend as I was coming out from my bar to enter my garage and drive off. They came with an SUV and as they were flashing their light, I pulled out my car and was heading towards the main gate when a mini bus popularly called Keke blocked the main gate. I thought they were avoiding the bad portion of the road but while I waited, the SUV blocked my car.
“They came out from their car, one of them was flashing what looked like an identity card, shouting DSS while another started releasing gun shots at the same time, pulling me out from my car. They pushed me into their car, forced me to lie low and sped off. We continued moving while they tied a cloth over my eyes. Notably, when we raced for some minutes, one of them who I suspect to be their informant and probably, a force man, got down from their car. I said a force man because of the way he spoke to them while we were leaving my bar.
“We moved for interminable hours until they got to a spot. They stopped and led me into a building like a flat and chained me on the legs. Then, they started beating me with different weapons, some as strong as iron, some like the normal sticks. They warned me that if I try to remove the cloth over my eyes, they would simply ‘waste me’. So, I was just receiving severe beatings and torture with my eyes covered. To me, it was as if a stone would fall on my head any moment and kill me. I was crying like a baby.
“For the period I was there, almost two weeks, they were feeding me with an apple and water daily. Earlier, they wanted to know what I would eat but I was afraid of being poisoned and I told them just apples.
“The beating and torture continued until I heard another of their victims who was kidnapped, raising his voice. He was boasting and telling them; “Is it not money you want? Don’t beat me. I will give you money.” On hearing this, they calmed down and I used the opportunity to open the scarf they used blindfolding me slightly. I saw three of them. It is like they divided themselves into groups. Those that target their victims are different from those that guard the victims and those that negotiate for ransom. This is because the moment the man said ‘I will give you money’, they made frantic calls while at the same time going through his phones.
“The story took another dimension when they saw only N10m in the man’s account and they rebuked him and quickly transferred the money into their account. Unfortunately for the man, as they were complaining that the money was not commensurate with his boast, alert was received in the man’s phone and from the way they jubilated, it must be a huge sum. They did not waste time in releasing the man. I saw that there were other kidnap victims chained in the room. Some were chained in both hands and legs while some, like me, were chained only on the leg.
“After that, as I quickly covered my eyes, they turned towards me and started telling me that they have now landed in Lagos and would go to any extent to get all they wanted. They said that while they were operating in the east, they did not know that they were just getting akara money. That now in Lagos, they were making real money.
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