![]() Sometimes, we could hear alarm and, as soon as that was heard, they would change location. ![]() I also observed that something gave them information. I observed that only their leader spoke English, other gang members spoke either Pidgin English or Fulani. I observed certain things while in captivity. What other information would you like to share with us? You know we sustained various degrees of injury but God is taking care of that.Our doctors are doing their best, too. Even when our captors allowed us to speak to our people, they heard our people praying and ordered us to switch off the phone immediately. However, our families got the news and were praying. We did not contact our families directly, rather, we contacted the leader of the Church to see if he could help us raise the N100m ransom. What were the effects of the kidnapping on your families and church members while the episode lasted? I have lived in the North.They are pure Fulani, speaking Fula. They blamed government for their predicament, saying that it was not their wish to take up arms, but had to do that since there was no job. He also said that President Buhari disappointed them, that he is not doing what they asked him to do and that if they see him, they would kill and chew him raw. I think the Holy Spirit entered him, making him to reveal some of their secrets.Īgain, he said they were bringing in weapons, that they wanted to wipe the Igbo race and that they had taken over Lagos / Ibadan Expressway and were only waiting for signal before striking. He also said he was born in Umuahia and spoke Igbo fluently. Their leader told us that his father came from Sudan and that they brought some of them from Zamfara State. ![]() ![]() Again, a Yoruba adage says that it is the owner of stomach that knows if it is full or empty.We are men of God.What do we gain in telling lies? They are purely Fulani people. So, from their speech and your observation, where do you think they came from?Īh! Ah!! There is no insinuation, no arguement about taste. We were not blindfolded or tied but we were warned not to look at their faces, though we still managed to peep at their faces which they sometimes covered. Were you people blindfolded at any point? From there, we trecked for over an hour before getting to where our people were waiting for us. The road was blocked by the military and inhabitants of the area are not allowed into the area. Finally, they led us to an old road, somewhere around Imo / Abia boundary and left us there. When they got the money, they congratulated us but we were still not sure they would release us but we kept on praying. So, they told them where to bring the money and the route to take. People contributed and the Church borrowed to make it up because, if we should spend the night, our leader might die of stress, having trekked a lot as an elderly man. How were your people able to raise such amount within…… So, when the money was ready, they asked our people to put them in 5 ‘Ghana must go’ bags, N20m in each bag. In all, we spent almost 28 hours in the bush without food or water. Yes, they were paid N100m after we had spent 24hours. When our people wanted to reduce the money, they laid the Bishop down and wanted to cut off his head.We begged them, promising to pay. Finally, they said they would not take less than N100m.They said they couldn’t negotiate with any other person, but us. When we begged for N10m, they threatened to cut off our heads. One person would talk before the other phone is switched on for the other to talk.They told us that each of us will pay N50m but later reduced it to N40m. They switched the phones on, one after the other. They collected our phones, switched them off, until they were ready to negotiate. Their purpose of keeping us for over 7 hours was to create tension. I think they were the ones that escaped to tell people about the incident. We were five initially but they shot two, we only prayed that the bullets did not hit them where they would die, and as such, able to escape. How did they establish contact with the church for ransom negotiation?įirst, they left us for about 7 hours. Since those things are gold they took them alongside the cash we had on us, before talking about ransom. They removed everything that depicts the office of a Prelate and Bishop from them and also took my wedding ring, which I had never removed since I wedded 18 years ago.They wanted to cut my finger off and take it, put I pleaded with them to allow me remove it.
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