It was June 12 and the nation’s democracy day, Mr. Kingsley (surname withheld) and his wife thought it wise to take advantage of the public holiday and stock up foodstuffs including crates of egg.
Unknown to the couple, the three young men standing close to the poultry farm in Igwuruta-Ali in Ikwere area of Rivers State where they normally get their supplies were kidnappers.
As soon as they drove into the compound, the young men fully masked and armed with weapons stormed in and abducted the couple. The wife was dropped at a point and ordered to raise N20million ransom while Kingsley was forced to trek for hours in the Igwuruta forest where he was kept for days.
However, during the drop off of the ransom, the police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) detectives who trailed the kidnappers to the forest arrested one of them, Adamu Muhammad, recovered the ransom and rescued the victim alive.
Victim’s story
Recounting his ordeal, Kingsley said that he buys and sells eggs on large scale and one of the poultry farms they get supplies from was at Igwuruta- Ali in Ikwere local government area, Rivers State. “On June 12, I went there with my wife and as soon as the security man opened the gate, three armed bandits who are Fulani stormed into the compound. They threatened to shoot and ordered us to lie down on the ground while one of them searched us. They took our phones and the money that we wanted to use to buy egg.
“They ordered us to follow them into the bush and few minutes into the bush, my wife was no longer stable as she was tripping and falling down. I begged them to take it easy with her, as she was a new nursing mother. They agreed to release her to go and bring their millions that the N200, 000 they took from us was not enough for them. I trekked with them for hours into the bush till we finally stopped and they did not contact my wife for two good days. During those days, I was beaten up severally. It was all about death and how they are going to behead me like the others. They opened their gun and brought out the bullet to show me that if I attempt to run that they will kill me. They said that it is only money that they want and if I misbehave, they will kill me and still collect the money. All I could do was to wait and pray.
“After two days, we moved to an area where they could access GSM network and they contacted my wife demanding for N20million. I pleaded with them that we cannot raise such an amount and they agreed to reduce it to N10million. They threatened that I will be kept in the forest until they collect the entire money.
Elders in my family advised my wife to report the matter at Igwuruta police station. It was one of the policemen there that referred them to IRT office in the state.
“Before then, the vigilante had mobilized themselves but because the bush was too thick and long, they couldn’t find me. Maybe they knew that the vigilante boys were searching for me that was why we kept moving and moving inside the bush. Anytime they want to talk amongst themselves, they will move to an area where they can access network.
“During this period, they did not offer me food or water. I don’t know how I survived in that forest. My wife told me that as soon as she got in touch with IRT operatives they immediately mobilized and followed her to the bush where she was to drop off the ransom.
They moved into the forest and I believe that they used technology and that was how they were able to rescue me. How they did it I do not know because I was too weak at the time they found me. They were about to kill me because they told me that police captured one of them who went to collect the ransom,” he narrated.
He said though his abductors were wearing masks, he could identify them by their language. “They were Fulani, they covered their nose with face masks, tied their usual blanket on their head. They were about three of them and we started from the Igwuruta-Ali bush. One of them with gun will move ahead to confirm if the area was free before we will continue. We crossed several roads to connect to different thick forests and I could hear the voices of people from a distance.”
Suspect’s confession
During interrogation, Muhammad aged 35 and the only suspect nabbed during the rescue operation told the police that they agreed to pick anyone who came to the poultry to buy eggs.
“I am from Zakki local government in Bauchi State and a Fulani man. I relocated to Rivers State in 2018 and when I got there I decided to be a tailor. I was never a cattle rearer; I was only sewing cloths for my people.
“It was Musa that introduced me to kidnapping work and before the incident I have only followed them three times to kidnap people. Two days before the day we attacked which was a Wednesday, Musa called me that there is a poultry farm at Igwuruta that different rich men come to buy egg and we can pick one of them up.
“On Friday, June 12 at about 6am, we stayed close to the poultry and waited. About two hours later, a man and woman drove into the poultry in a jeep.
We moved in and kidnapped them and were heading into the bush when his wife started crying that she is pregnant. We took the money with them and released the wife. We told her to go and find N20million if she wants to see her husband again.
“We took him deep into the bush and later contacted his wife on the third day. We kept negotiating with them for days and the wife said she was able to raise N550, 000 out of the N2million that we finally agreed to collect. Musa and I were asked to go and collect the money from her at an agreed spot. We saw her and as soon as I collected the money, someone grabbed me and Musa ran away,” he narrated.
He claimed that their weapons were buried inside the bush after each operation. “I live in one of the trailers at Igwuruta motor park with about three persons. We normally make use of pump action and the regular hunters rifle and at the end of each operation, they will be buried in the bush, because police normally raid our area when there is a problem and they might find our guns. I am not worried that I was arrested because Allah permits it,” he said.