July 12, 2016, will for life remain engraved on the memory of Mr
Ebuka Aniekwe, a legal practitioner in Onitsha, Anambra State. On that
day, the young lawyer who hails from Isingwu village, Nkpor in Idemili
North Local Government Area of Anambra State was kidnapped by Fulani
herdsmen in Oji River area of Enugu State close to a joint checkpoint
set up the Nigerian Army and Police, on his way to a customary court,
where he was to hold brief for his colleague.
On the fateful day Aniekwe left his house with no premonition of what
lay ahead of him on the road to make an appearance at the court. For
five days, he slept in the forest where he was subjected to inhuman
treatment by his abductors. With long stick associated the Fulani they
nudged or beat him like they would do to their cattle, forcing him to
drink dirty, muddy water. Rain fell on him, and the drench dried by
sunshine.
His ill-treatment was made worse by the inability of his family to
provide the initial N50 million ransom demanded by his abductors. At
some point, his abductors set him on a hill and prepared to slaughter
him as a sacrifice after making some incantations before a sudden,
dramatic turn of events.
After days of endless wait for his return, his newly married wife began
wearing black clothes to mourn him as it is customary in Igbo land
thinking that he had been killed.
The lawyer, however, told Sunday Sun that he was particularly sad that
his abduction took place near Police College, Oji River Maximum Prisons
and a few poles away from the joint checkpoints of the Nigerian Army and
Police.
But how the police in Oji Police Station recovered his file intact
dumped deep in the scary forest without catching any of his abductors
the very day he was released (as he was informed on the telephone on his
arrival to his home) has remained a puzzle to him. He told Sunday Sun
that the police equally asked him to bring mobilization money so that
they could chase after his kidnappers. While not accusing any of the
Nigerian security agents of any complicity in his ordeal, Aniekwe said
that the police hierarchy needs to investigate his claims and provide
some answers to his posers.
Anikwe recounts his ordeal:
Abducted near Oji Police College
On the 12th of July, 2016, a friend of mine who is also a lawyer, C.J.
Okeke, asked me to go and hold his brief at the Customary Court, Achi in
Enugu State. I had to proceed from Nkpor that morning. I left my house
as early as 06:30am. But due to the bad road, I was not able to get to
Oji until some minutes past 9am. When I got to Oji River junction by Old
Road, I had to stop and pick another bus to Achi. Unfortunately, the
taxi I wanted to join got filled and I waited for some time for another
one to load but time was already of essence because I needed to be in
court by 9am.
From there, I hired a commercial motorcyclist. On my way, just after the
Police College and Oji River Prisons, just few poles away, a group of
Fulani herdsmen came out from the bush. They were about seven in number
and were all wearing black. The ring leader pointed a pump action rifle
at me. Before we knew what was happening he fired a shot at the front
tyre of the motorcycle, perhaps, to signal to us they were actually not
joking. We got down, shivering in the process. They searched me and
collected all the money I had and my documents; in fact, they collected
everything on me except the clothes I was wearing. At a point they also
collected the suit jacket I was wearing. I was only left with the shirt I
was wearing. Another motorcyclist who rode into the scene was shot but I
don’t know whether he died or not.
Thereafter, they ordered us to enter the bush. One of them was in front
with a gun while another was behind us and also had a gun. Then the rest
followed behind. Soon after they ordered us to run. It was the longest
race of my life. I had to run for about 35 minutes, non-stop. We ran
deep into the forest. When we got a place I perceived was their
rendezvous, the seven of them were joined by another set of Fulani
herdsmen, making a total of 16 herdsmen. I was able to count them
because I was not blindfolded. All of them were armed with different
weapons and ammunition. Some were with guns, machetes, dagger, and what
have you. Each time we slowed down while on the run due to exhaustion,
they flogged us like cow with that heavy stick they use in rearing
cattle. It was a terrible hit. In fact, we were practically reared like
cows. As they were hitting us, they were making signs and gestures as
they used to do to their herd of cattle. They were speaking the native
language throughout. It was only three of them that were enlightened a
bit. They were the ones communicating with me in English.
While running, we got to a point where there was a river. It was obvious
to me by the surrounding signs and footprints that they had often been
moving through that route. There was no bridge across the river but they
had felled a tree over it, which served as a bridge. I guess it’s an
extension or arm of Oji River. The seemingly endless journey continued
from there. I think I was kidnapped about 09:25am and we got to where we
settled down around 11am.
When we had settled down they started beating and torturing me. They
threatened to kill me if I didn’t tell them who I was. I told them who
I’m. They searched my bag and files but they could not understand what
they were all about. I had to explain to them what they were and my
mission with those documents. They kept asking how much I had in the
bank and all that. Luckily for me, I didn’t have my ATM card with me.
They seized my phone and went through my messages looking for my last
bank alert. They saw it was a little sum of money. They threatened me
and fired a shot to show me that they were serious. While I was lying
down, one of them was hitting me with the butt of the gun. In fact,
those guys beat the hell out of me.
Abductors ask for N50million ransom
Later in the day, they phoned my mother and asked for N50 million ransom
and immediately switched off my phone. Thereafter, we relocated from
that point to another place. I later got to find out that it was towards
Udi. It was the motorcyclist that told me that we had got to Udi. So we
stopped there. In fact, it was their normal hideout because they had
cooking pots, stove and few other kitchen utensils. They cooked that
afternoon. I don’t know what they cooked because I had to lie down and
face the bush while they cooked their food and ate.
“When rain started falling the next morning, they beat me. Later, they
had to give me back my jacket so that I could cover myself. We waited
there for hours until late in the evening before we moved again. When we
got to the road, they ordered me to go up while they discharged the
motorcyclist. He went his way while we continued our journey. It was a
terrible movement. We got to an open field in the forest and waited
until night. It was very dark in the night but we kept moving until we
got to a place where I noticed people were living. It was the old road.
While we moved, rain was falling heavily. They were covering themselves
with nylon, tarpaulin and umbrella while I was left alone without any
protection. The cold was terrible. In fact, I was shivering. They smoked
Indian hemp to warm themselves up. We got to an uncompleted building
where we waited until one of them asked about the time. They told him it
was past 3am. So we then moved. We crossed the Enugu-Onitsha Old Road
and entered the bush again until we again crossed the main Enugu-Onitsha
Expressway. It was later that I came to discover that we were in Eziagu
community by the expressway. The curious thing about the whole
experience was that the bush was not a lonely bush. Tippers and other
vehicles come in to excavate sand; some people came there to fetch
firewood. From where we were, I could hear the sound of the Dolma
machine felling trees. I also saw freshly cultivated farms. So it was
not a lonely bush but they knew the terrain very well. They were well
coordinated, very organized. They gave signs as if they were trained by
the military. They were very tactical. Any slightest noise, they would
respond to it.
I did not eat. If not for the little meal I had in the morning the
previous day, I didn’t know what would have happened. On Tuesday, they
called my people but the money they demanded could not be raised. And
each time they called and the money was not ready, I would receive
another round of beating. While they would be talking with my people on
the phone, they would be beating me so that they would hear that they
were actually dealing with me.
That second night, I slept inside the bush. Mosquitoes dealt with me
mercilessly. They took my bag. But it was later that I discovered that
my bag was recovered by the police.
On Wednesday morning, they blindfolded me. I don’t know what they did
afterwards but each time they called my people and got negative response
on the availability of the ransom, they would beat me. Later that
Wednesday, they reduced the ransom from N50million to N10million but yet
we couldn’t raise the money. These hoodlums dealt with me. They beat me
silly. They threatened to kill me if my people failed to cooperate.
During such threats, they would all point their guns at me. The one risk
I ran was that the guns they were using were automatic, so any mistake
somebody would be dead. Throughout this period, it was raining heavily. I
never had the opportunity of brushing my teeth or eating anything. But
that Wednesday night, they bought akpu and egwusi soup for me. I don’t
know where they bought it but what they normally did was that in the
morning, about seven of them would stay back while the rest leave for
the town. Later in the evening, they would converge and discuss in their
native language which I don’t understand. The entire episode was an
epic movie of sorts.
Prepared for sacrifice on a hill
One of them that could speak English language a little always told me
that kidnapping for ransom was their job. He said that if my people
brought the money, they would free me but if not, they would kill me and
dump my body there and nobody would know. I kept praying and believing
God that something positive would happen. It was only on that Wednesday
that I ate. The whole of Thursday I stayed without eating anything. So
when they saw that the money was not coming forth, they reduced it to N5
million. When my people told them that they were able to raise only
N200,000 they started beating me. They told me that if by the dusk of
that Thursday nothing was forthcoming, they would kill me.
Later in the night, they took me to a hill and commanded me to climb it.
They circled around it and began to say prayers in their local
language. They wanted to sacrifice me on top of it. Just after their
prayers they began to quarrel among themselves. I don’t know the cause
of their quarrel. After they had settled, they left the scene for a
short distance. So one of them came to me and told me that I should not
worry; that I would leave the next day which was Friday. It was a
miracle. They separated and left while the others came to me.
On Friday morning, they woke me and told me that my people had refused
to bring the N5million. They said that the game was up for me. I could
hear my heart beating as if it wanted to burst. I thought I was going to
die, just like that. I was praying in my heart.
“Something happened along the line. Suddenly, there was this courage
that came upon me from nowhere. I started blasting them; querying why
they would still keep me to suffer unnecessarily. I pointedly told them
to kill me or accept the money my family was able to raise. I told them
that I was not going to sleep in that bush again. Later, they called my
people and they told them that they were able to raise N300,000. I told
them to collect the money and let me go or they should kill me. One of
them slapped me and said ‘you are now talking abi?’ I told him it was
not about talking, reminding him the hard time I had gone through since
Monday morning. I told them if they don’t want to kill me, they should
better collect the one that was available and let me go. One of them
said ok, that they would collect it. They then called my mum and asked
her to bring it.
They instructed her to come alone with taxi. They also gave her other
instructions, which must be strictly adhered to. After all that, she
placed the money where they told her to. They picked it, counted it
before they brought me out to the main road and directed me on the
tracks I should follow to get to where my mum was. By the time I came
out, it was about 7pm that Friday.
Question marks on police, army
One thing that baffled me was that when I came out, from the point that I
came out, I looked down the road. Just few poles away and I saw joint
checkpoints of the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Police and the Oji
Junction by Expressway. It was a terrible experience because my mum was
turning around that area where there is a combined checkpoint. From
there, I could clearly see it. It was not far. That explained where they
got the food they gave me. That Friday morning they had to get cooked
noodles for me. Immediately we turned towards Old Road, we saw some
shops selling food. When I got home, my friend that gave me the brief
came and told me that the police from Oji Police Station, Enugu State
called him and told him that they recovered my file inside that bush.
They told him that they did not continue chasing the criminals; that
they just recovered the file and went back. He told me that the police
asked him to bring a certain amount of money for mobilization and
tracking.
I don’t know how they got to know about then kidnapping incident. Maybe
the commercial motorcyclist who was released or other eyewitnesses
reported to the police. But the file was recovered inside the bush. They
did not continue to pursue those Fulani kidnappers. The police in Oji
then called my colleague – who had asked me to hold brief for him at the
court – and told him to bring money for mobilization. All I know is
that the file was discovered inside the bush because I know the point
where the Fulani kidnappers dropped my files. I saw when they brought it
out of the bag and dropped it in the forest. And that very point is
very far away from the road. Very far! Strangely, everything was still
intact. Not even a pin was lost. Nothing was missing. But none of these
suspects was caught by the police. So how did that happen? Police later
called, requesting for money for mobilization. Can you imagine that?
That same day that I was released, the herdsmen called my people and
told them that they got information that they wanted to negotiate with
the police. That if they try it I would be dead. So there is suspicion
now that the police or any of the security agents in that environment
might have a hand in it. This is because I cannot explain how my
documents were found intact inside the bush. And I personally know the
distance I walked to get to that very point where my documents were
dropped in the bush. So, how were the police able to recover it with
everything intact? I am not accusing the police or any of the security
agents around there of anything but I need answers to that scenario. I
am also wondering how the villagers were cultivating inside that place;
tippers coming to excavate sand and yet that kind of thing is happening
in that area.
It was after some weeks that the Divisional Police Officer of Oji called
me and said that they picked some boys and wanted me to come and
identify them. My brother what do you want me to identify? People I saw
or the ones I did not see? You understand my point? How do you want me
to come and identify them? So I did not honour that invitation because
when they had the opportunity to do something they did not do it. This
was happening three weeks after I had been released. I learnt that they
had been kidnapping people around there. They kidnapped two Anglican
priests and collected ransom before releasing them.
I have an aunt who visits an Anglican priest in that environment for
prayers. She told me that the priest informed her that those boys were
16 in number. The clergyman said that two of his colleagues had been
kidnapped. They paid N500,000 and N400,000 respectively as ransom before
they were released. A woman was also kidnapped by those same boys along
that route. In a place where there is a police college in Oji, the
Maximum Prisons, and joint checkpoints of the police and army. You can
imagine where you are training police officers and kidnappers are also
operating in that area. Normally there should be watertight security in
that environment. But the opposite is the situation. It’s sad!
Trauma persisted after release
For several days, I couldn’t sleep due to the trauma I experienced, even
after I taking sleeping pills. I dewormed myself and took malaria
treatment. When I came out, I couldn’t differentiate between day and
night; even the days of the week. I couldn’t remember the dates. I lost
count of time. I recovered after some weeks. My wife was no longer the
way I left her. She knew that I was kidnapped but because she couldn’t
hear from me, she was unable to bear it. It was heavy for her.