7 persons, including mechanic, kidnapped in Anambra in 2 weeks, N50m ransom paid

Rampaging kidnappers abducted seven persons in various towns in Anambra State who coughed out about N50m as ransom after keeping them for about a fortnight in their den at a forest in the state.

Among those who were kidnapped were a man who returned from abroad who coughed out a whopping N20million, another man said to be from a wealthy family who paid N10million ransom and an Onitsha-based vehicle mechanic who was abducted while driving an SUV vehicle belonging to a judge of Anambra State judiciary.

According to a source close to the mechanic, Evarest Maduka, he had gone to carry the vehicle for repair when the daredevil kidnappers accosted him at Ibekwe/Isiokwe Street at about 10 am on the fateful day, double crossed and pulled him out before dumping him at the back of the vehicle.

A man driving a Kia Car behind the mechanic was also kidnapped and dumped in the vehicle with the mechanic.
From there, according to the source, they moved to Abatete in Idemili North Local Government Area where they kidnapped one person, then another person in Awka the state capital.

The kidnappers went ahead to kidnap two other persons in Nnewi and Ozubulu before taking their victims to an unknown forest blind folded.

For three days, the source said, the kidnappers who collected their handsets did not call their family members as they were busy studying the contacts in the phones, while they fed only once in three days out of two weeks they spent with the kidnappers in the forests.

One of the victims who returned from abroad paid N10m but he was told to pay another N10m.

The man however made attempt to escape when one of the kidnappers who was guarding them slept off but failed as he could not swim across the river in the place they were held.

But the kidnappers frantically searched for him and chopped off one of his toes with a shovel when they recaptured him. His family later paid another N10m as they threatened to kill him if his family failed to pay the amount.

The man kidnapped from a Kia car in Onitsha who was found to be from a rich family was forced to pay N10m.

The mechanic paid through his family could only pay N400, 000 after negotiation with the kidnappers .

Others, according to our source might have paid between N1m and N5m each depending on their negotiation with their family members.

On April 4, 2024, after collecting the ransom from all the victims, the kidnappers bundled them into a vehicle and dumped them at Okija at about 5am with N5,000.

It was vigilante operatives who saw them and put them in an Onitsha bound vehicle after they narrated their ordeals to them.

The matter has been reported to Inland Town Police Station, Onitsha which has transfered it to Rapid Response Squad (RRS) at Awkuzu.