A kidnap victim, Mr Emenike Soronnadi, 50, has recounted his ordeal in the hands of his abductors, urging Federal and State Governments to urgently address issues of insecurity to safeguard lives of citizens.
Soronnadi, a husband and business man, was kidnapped on April 20, and held captive for 11 days before his release on May 10, 2020.
The victim told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt that he was abducted from his wife’s shop in Woji, Obio/Akpor Local Government Council, Rivers.
According to him, three men fully armed with AK47 assault rifles and shooting sporadically into the air forcibly took him away from his wife’s shop.
“I left my house around 5:40p.m to my wife’s shop in Woji town. At about 7:40p.m, three men stormed into the shop, shot into the air and whisked me away.
“The heavily armed kidnappers blindfolded and forcefully took me into their waiting car and drove away. They told me to cooperate with them otherwise they will shoot me.
“After about 30 minutes of driving, they transferred me into another waiting car. We later arrived to a community in Gokana council. There, I was kept in a house.
“Around midnight, they took me on a motorbike through a bush path to their camp. While still blindfolded, my abductors chained my legs and threatened to kill me,” he said.
Soronnadi further said that his abductors later told him that they were paid by someone to assassinate him.
However, he said the gunmen promised that they would not kill him on one condition that he pays them some millions of Naira as ransom.
The victim said the kidnappers requested phone numbers of his wife and friends, promising that he would not be tortured if family and friends should cooperate with them.
“The house that I was kept in was so unhygienic that I lost appetite to eat. I only took water until days later when they gave me garri and salt to drink.
“Later, they also gave me rice and red oil to eat. I could not eat other compromising foods that they were eating in the camp.
“After few days, I started plotting my escape, but later jettisoned the idea. I think some villagers living around the camp knew about the place and somehow profited from it,” he added.
Soronnadi said that on the day of his release, one of the hoodlums came into his cell around 7p.m, removed the bound on his legs and ordered him to put on his cloths.
“Thereafter, the kidnapper asked me to pray for him. He took me to a motor park in Bori town in Gokana; gave me back one of my phones and left.
“Unfortunately, I could not find any vehicle at the motor park going to Port Harcourt due to the lockdown and restriction of movements in the city.
“So, I called my wife, who immediately contacted my sister-in-law, a navy officer. My wife’s sister later picked me up and we arrived home around 11p.m.
“I am so grateful to God, my wife, my pastor, Chibuzor Chinyere of Omega Power Ministries and some friends for putting pressure on security agencies to secure my release from the kidnappers’ den,” he said.
The businessman wondered why he had remained a target by criminals after about 15 men broke into his house in 2013, tortured and shot him and his wife on their legs.
He said that he was worried with the level of insecurity in the state, urging the Federal Government to quickly address insecurity in the country.
He said the matter was reported to the police while he was held captive, saying the police was yet to invite him for debriefing after his release.
The spokesman of the Police Command in Rivers, DSP Nnamdi Omonim, who confirmed the incident, said no arrest had been made yet.
He said the police had launched full investigation into the matter and was currently on the trail of the kidnappers.
