16th June, 2024
Ben Umudjoro
Some time ago I read somewhere that officials of government were complaining that the stories of kidnap are grossly overhyped in the mainstream and the social media. The truth is that kidnapping cases are underreported. Daily stories abound of kidnapping that probably only the relatives of victims know. I have a personal experience I would like to share.
On the 18th of May, 2024, my wife was journeying from Agbor to Uromi. The public transport she was in was attacked and eight of them were kidnapped.
I pulled all the strings I knew in the police force, after all, my dad was a police officer. Each of the top officers I asked for help was quick to direct me to the Anti-kidnapping unit at Asaba, the capital of Delta State. Only one of the officers, Mr Bode (a DCP) was empathetic. He made calls to Delta. He gave me the name and number of an ACP in charge of crime in Delta.
That officer told me he was going to give my number to another officer in the Anti-kidnapping squad and that I should expect his call. That call never came and so I sent a message to him and he graciously sent me the number. I put a call through to him. The man asked a few questions and dropped, never to hear from him again.
Another of my contacts gave me another number. The officer is said to be second in command of the Anti-kidnapping squad in Delta State. The question which all the officers I called usually asked was, “Do you have the phone number the kidnappers were contacting you with?” On each occasion, I supplied the number immediately.
Two days on, nothing was happening and all I could do was to keep begging the spokesperson of the kidnappers to reduce the ransom from N10 million they were demanding for my wife alone.
The third day I pleaded with them to accept N2.5 million. The steel voice that responded to my plea, was fearful. “Look, we don’t have time for this nonsense. We will just kill your wife and go back to the road to pick others who can deliver”, said the kidnapper. My wife’s hysterical plea wasn’t helping matters.
Since I couldn’t raise N10 million, my only resort was to get the police to help rescue them.
In the afternoon of the second day of my wife’s ordeal, I got a call from a man who said he was directed by his boss to speak with me over the kidnap of my wife. Again, he asked for the kidnappers’ contact number and as quickly as I could, I sent it to him. That was some hope I thought.
In the evening of the same day, I called the officer’s number to know the progress he and his team were making. He told me he had been able to track the number and that the call was coming from a forest in Nnsugwa village near Ogwachukwu. In fact, he mentioned the name of the forest.
However, he said, they needed to wait till daytime to move in. Do you need some logistics? I asked. No, he answered.
The head of Security of a top oil company confirmed to me that the officer was right; that he tracked the call to that location. He even sent me a picture of the track chart.
The next day I called at about 7 am to find out what was going on. To my surprise, my phone was blocked. I used another phone but as soon as the man realised I was the one on the other end, he terminated the call. So I was left with the option of paying the ramson but how can I raise 10 million Naira? I keep musing.
I put a call through to a cousin who is a top vigilante corp in Delta State. I told my story so far. He sympathized with me but there was not much he could do since the area was not within his jurisdiction. He told tales of corruption in the Anti-kidnapping squad in Delta State.
He said, “Some of the officers have been there for over fifteen years. They are never transferred or they ensure they are not transferred. I need not talk of collusion between the officers and those busy kidnapping.”
He advised that I continue bargaining with my wife’s captors.
Suddenly, on the fourth day, the kidnappers agreed to the N2.5 million. Was it the prayers, the ebo, as my wife would later attest to? There was a sudden change of heart. They wanted the money delivered along with eight portions of rice from a known eatery in Uromi. Half a carton of malt drink and two packets of Benson cigarettes for their party, I guess. Like well-trained security officers, they asked the bearer to taste the food first before vanishing with their loot back to the forest.
To the glory of God, my wife was released. My wife’s tales should form another write-up. For four days they were fed palm filled with dry Garri per day, water from a nearby pit. A pregnant woman among them reportedly started bleeding. That didn’t evince sympathy from their captors. She lost the pregnancy as we later found out.
I thank all those who helped with prayers and financial support. Those who gave counsel on how to go about the negotiations. May God bless you all. I have decided to write officially to the Inspector General of Police to do something about the Delta State Anti-kidnapping Squad so that lives can be saved.
*Benjamin Umudjoro is a Lagos-based lawyer.