Paul Osuyi, Asaba
Queen Elizabeth Erebulu, the kidnapped mother of the Pere (King) of Kabowei kingdom in Patani Local Government Area of Delta State, Shadrach Erebulu Adou III, has finally regained freedom after about 27 days in captivity.
Also set free by the abductors is the Queen Mother’s sister, Mrs. Okee Yawoma.
The royal victims were taken into hostage by the same set of gunmen on April 17 at separate locations. While the Queen Mother was seized at Patani, her sister was abducted at Adagbiri community in Bayelsa State.
A family source said the victims were released on Sunday.
Unconfirmed source indicated that the distraught family coughed N11 million to free the hostages, who as at the time of filing this report, were receiving medical attention at an undisclosed facility.
It would be recalled that the kidnappers had demanded N250 million ransom before they could free the two victims but later reduced it to N150 million following negotiations.
It was learnt that the king’s mother and her sister were subjected to inhuman treatment as they were kept by their captors under a tree deep inside the creeks sharing boundary between Bayelsa and Delta States.
They were said to have been kept under the situation all through their 27 days in captivity, a development that has angered the young monarch.
Community sources claimed that the revered Adou III is displeased with the development particularly as it is a taboo for anyone to plot evil against members of the royal family.
Adou III, a lawyer, is said to have declared spiritual war against the kidnappers as he had gone into seclusion to invoke the gods of the Kabowei kingdom on those behind the crime.
It was learnt that the young monarch pronounced that anyone involved in the abduction of his mother and his aunt particularly indigenes of Kabowei kingdom should immediately confess within a period of 21 days or be ready to die in mysterious circumstances.