Kidnapping Foiled by Alert Hunter in the Forest
By Ebere Inyama
(Imo) Whereas the Nigerian police claim that its personnel rescued four persons from kidnappers at a forest in Oforola community in Imo State on Saturday, January 4, local community guards say otherwise. TruthNigeria has learned that the kidnap victims were rescued by a local vigilante outfit, Ola Neighbourhood Guards.
Hours after the rescue of the victims, the Imo state police command issued a statement, claiming that “Operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Imo State Police Command killed two suspected kidnappers and rescued four victims in Oforola.”
However, one of the victims said that he and the other victims were rescued by Ola Neighbourhood Guards. The victim, Godwin Ezekwe, said this on a video taken as he was being treated in a hospital for gunshot wounds.
Ezekwe said he and a group were on their way to attend a wedding ceremony at Assumpta Cathedral located in Owerri, the Imo state capital, when the kidnappers attacked their vehicle and took them into the forest.
“When we got to the boundary between Ohuba and Obosima, we passed some guys and moments after, they started shooting guns, alerting kidnappers who laid ambush in front as we ran into them,” Ezekwe said.
“They marched us into the bush where we spent six hours while they searched for a road leading to their camp. But the God I am serving put confusion into them such that they were unable to find the road they were looking for,” Ezekwe went on to say.
“They beat me and forced me to unlock my phone. Then they started messaging my contacts telling them that I have been kidnapped and asking them to send money to them,” Ezekwe added.
“We continued to trek in the forests until we got to the boundary between Umuokanne and Oforola at about 7 am. Fortunately for us, a hunter who happened to be in the forests at that time sighted us and alerted the Umuokanne vigilante (volunteer community guards) security outfit,” he said.
“But the vigilante outfit based in Umuokanne refused to come to our aid. Instead they called Ola Neighbourhood Guard (Oforola vigilante outfit) who came and rescued us, and I thank God for what they did for us this afternoon. That’s because the kidnappers planned to take us to their main camp last night, but they were unable to locate the camp”, he said.
In another video obtained by TruthNigeria, one of the female victims who identified herself as Caroline Obidiya added that the kidnappers were of Northern-Nigeria origin.
“On our way, after Asaa, in a bushy area along the road, five Hausa men came out from the bush and started shooting. They stopped our car. We were seven inside the car. The driver escaped”, she said.
“The rescue operation was carried out by members of Ola Neighborhood Guards, after which they called the police to give them backup to ensure that the victims were properly taken care of,” the leader of Ola Neighborhood Guards, Anthony Ogbonna, told TruthNigeria.
History of Kidnapping in Owerri West LGA
In February 2024, TruthNigeria reported that four people, including three men and a woman were kidnapped at about 6 pm while on their way from Umuokanne to Oforola. They regained their freedom only two days later after their relatives paid a ransom of N800,000 to the kidnappers.
Earlier in February 2024, five decomposing corpses and several human skeletons were discovered in a camp used by Fulani herdsmen in Obinze community in Owerri – West county (Local Governance Area) of Imo state as reported by TruthNigeria.
The bodies are believed to be those of kidnapped victims who could not pay ransom and were found on January 25, 2024 during a raid of the forest by a team of the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service (NHFSS).
A security expert and leader of the National Hunters and Forest Security Services (NHFSS), Comdr. Charles Obieze Amadi, who spoke to TruthNigeria shortly after the incident, said “Fulani herdsmen are responsible for over 20 incidents of kidnapping that happened in Owerri West LGA, including Oforola community in 2023.”
Kidnap for Ransom spreading to all parts of Nigeria
In its Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey (CESPS) 2024, released on Tuesday December 17, 2024, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said kidnappings in Nigeria between May 2023 and April 2024 are estimated to be 2,235,954. The report added that the average amount paid as ransom for kidnapping was N2.7 million ($1,636.00) per incident, with an estimated total ransom of N2.2 trillion ( $1.3 billion) paid within the reference period.
NBS reported that the Northwest region reported the highest aggregate ransom paid: N1.2 trillion ($727.3 million) whereas the Southeast aggregate ransom paid was the least: N85.4 billion ($51.1 million).
Ebere Inyama is an Imo State – based conflict reporter for TruthNigeria
