IN an instance of the gross insecurity that has become the lot of the country in recent times, Nigerians woke up on Friday last week to the news of gruesome murder of Mrs. Funke Olakunrin, daughter of Afenifere leader, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, by gunmen suspected to be kidnappers. Mrs Olakunrin was said to be travelling in her private vehicle from Akure to Ore, both in Ondo State, when the gunmen emerged from a bush at the Kajola section of the road and attacked her vehicle alongside others.
According to the spokesman of the Ondo State Police Command, Femi Joseph, the hoodlums, numbering about 15, attacked two vehicles, namely a Toyota Land Cruiser in which the deceased was travelling with four others, and a Toyota Camry. The four others in Olakunrin’s vehicle were also said to have been abducted before they were rescued by the police. The three occupants of the Toyota Camry were also said to have been rescued from the suspected kidnappers after they were abducted.
While the dust was yet to settle over the ugly incident, some gunmen invaded the family house of former Super Eagles coach Samson Siasia in Odoni, Sagbama Local Government Area, Bayelsa State around 2 am on Monday, and abducted his 76-year-old mother, Mrs Beauty Ogere Siasia.
It was the second time the hapless woman would be kidnapped by hoodlums, having suffered the same fate in November 2015 before she was released after 12 days in their den. Unconfirmed reports said the hapless former Super Eagles player had to part with a princely sum of N50 million as ransom for his beloved mother.
But nonagenarian Fasoranti and Coach Samson Siasia are not alone in their ordeal. Many other prominent Nigerians have suffered the same fate in recent years.
Olu Falae
Dare-devil hoodlums posted about the most instructive sign of danger on September 21, 2015 when former Secretary to the Federal Government (SFG) and former presidential candidate of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD), Chief Olu Falae, was abducted on his 77th birthday from his farm in Ilado village, Akure North Local Government Area, Ondo State, by attacked his over 200 workers before they whisked him away. Many of his workers, including the farm manager identified simply as Bruno, were said to have suffered machete cuts and had to be admitted in different hospitals around Akure.
Reports from the family said the herdsmen who abducted Falae had been having issues with the workers in the farm over grazing and destruction of the farmland by their cows. They, however, mobilised themselves, invaded the farm in large numbers and attacked the workers before abducting the politician.
The workers were said to have fled in different directions when the herdsmen started shooting into the air. They were also said to have beaten up the National Chairman of Social Democratic Party (SDP) and dragged him on the floor when he refused to go with them.
The statesman regained his freedom after three days in captivity. Some suspects arrested over his abduction said they kidnapped him in order to get some money for the celebration of the Muslim festival Eid-el-Kabir.
Mike Ozekhome
Popular lawyer, rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Mike Ozekhome, was kidnapped by gunmen at the Ehor stretch of the Benin-Auchi Road on August 23, 2013 and did not regain his freedom until he had spent 20 odd days in the den of his abductors. Reports said that four policemen who responded to a distress call from a witness and tried to prevent the kidnappers from taking him away were shot dead in the resultant gun battle.
Reports said that the kidnappers, who rode in a Toyota Hilux pick-up and a Toyota Camry car, shot at the front right-side tyre of the Toyota Prado conveying Ozekhome who was on his way to Estako, Edo State. He and his driver were subsequently abducted.
Detailing the gruesome 20-day ordeal he faced in the den of kidnappers, Ozekhome described the experience as a form of psychological torture.
“Every day at the detention centre, there were threats from the kidnappers saying they would kill us and chop us up and send our body parts to our families. They said they would make it so the Nigerian state would know there is no security. It was a horrific experience, spine chilling, physically debilitating and mentally shattering,” he was quoted as saying.
Ozekhome’s abductors initially demanded a ransom of N800 million but later reduced it to N100 million. He, however, said he did not know if payment was made for his release.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Although former finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has never been kidnapped personally, like Siasia, she has been one of the prominent Nigerians at the receiving end of the kidnapping saga tormenting the country in recent years because her beloved mother was abducted, and she was no doubt the ultimate target of the ransom-seeking hoodlums.
Kamene Okonjo, an 82-year-old retired professor, was abducted on December 9, 2012 from the palace of the traditional ruler of Ogwashi-uku, Delta State, Obi Chukwuka Okonjo. while Okonjo-Iweala held sway as the Minister of Finance. The hapless octogenarian woman was not set free until she had spent five days in the custody of her abductors. The armed gang of about 10 men were said to have seized her at the gate of the palace at Ogbe-ofu and took her away.
An eyewitness who relived the incident said: “The abductors, when they walked into the compound, were heavily armed. They were about 10. They bailed up the men fixing the interlocking tiles and asked them to lie face down. Immediately they saw her (victim) coming towards the gate with her maid to serve the workers drinks, they bundled her into a waiting Golf car.”
While there were speculations that about N12 million was paid to secure the release of the octogenarian, former Delta State governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan said that no dime was paid, adding that her captors probably decided to let her go because they were under pressure.
“The army and police have been on their trail and a lot of raids have been done. I think because of the heat, they dropped her off on the highway,” he said.
John Obi Mikel
The World Cup adventure of Nigeria in Russia last year was dampened with the abduction of the father of the captain of the senior national football team, John Obi Mikel, by gunmen while the tournament was in progress. Indeed, the incident occurred hours before Mikel led Nigeria into their final World Cup group phase tie against Argentina. It was to the credit of the Super Eagles skipper that he featured in the match without betraying any emotion even though he learnt about it moments before.
According to reports, Mikel’s father, Micheal Obi, and his driver, Ishaya John, were abducted on the Makurdi-Enugu Road while travelling from Jos on June 29, 2018. Their abductors were reported to have demanded N10 million as ransom, but the police in Enugu State were on hand to rescue the former Chelsea midfielder’s father, his driver and the Toyota Prado jeep they rode in.
A statement via the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, Ebere Amaraizu, said: “It was gathered that Pa Michael Obi and his driver were abducted along Makurdi-Enugu Road on his way from Jos in his grey-coloured Toyota Prado jeep with registration number: MUS 604 CG and taken to an unknown destination through the thick forest part of the area.
They were, however, rescued about three days later by operatives of the Ninth Mile Division of the command in a forest in the Udi area of Enugu after a gun battle between the police and the kidnappers.
Charles Soludo
Former governor of Central Bank, Prof. Charles Soludo had a taste of the bitter pill of kidnapping on October 28, 2009 when his 78-year-old father was abducted by gunmen. Although it was widely believed that the abduction of the father of the former CBN governor, who was contesting the governorship seat of Anambra State was politically motivated, Pa Simon Soludo’s abductors demanded N500 million as ransom.
Pa Simeon Soludo, was kidnapped by gunmen from his country home in Isuofia, Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State. Reports said it was the second time the septuagenarian father of Soludo would suffer attack from assailants, having lost an eye in January 2006 after he was attacked and left for dead in the same village.
He did not regain his freedom until November 4, almost one week after he was abducted. The circumstances of his release were not clear, but reports said he was escorted back home by the Anambra State Commissioner of Police after he was set free by his abductors. It was not also clear whether a ransom was paid to the abductors after scaling down the ransom from N500 million to N300 million.
Oluwole Rotimi
Not even army generals are saved the trauma of kidnapping, a menace that has held the country by the jugular in recent years. That much will be admitted by former governor of old Western State, Gen. Oluwole Rotimi (rtd), whose wife was abducted in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital on December 10, 2012, a day after Prof. Kamene Okonjo, mother of former finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was kidnapped.
According to reports, Titi Rotimi was kidnapped around 6:30 pm in front of her company, AOK Logistics Limited, located on Old Ife Road in Ibadan. She was said to have been abducted by four armed men while she was leaving her office at the close of work. The then spokesman of the Oyo State Police Command, DSP Ayodele Lanade, said the victim was driving away in her black Mercedes Benz car when she was blocked by her abductors.
Two security men attached to her company were said to have removed the barricade on the gate for her car to drive out of the office complex. In the process, two armed men approached and ordered her driver to stop the car at gun point. A green Nissan Primera suddenly reversed and blocked her car while she was ordered to get into the Nissan car.
The hapless woman was not released until 17 days after she was kidnapped, and it was in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State. It was not clear if any ransom was paid before she was set free.
Elisha Abbo
For newly elected senator representing Adamawa North Constituency, his foray into the National Assembly has been a baptism of fire. Just as he was smarting from the outrage that attended his attack on a nursing mother in a sex toy shop in Abuja, gunmen numbering about 13 invaded his family home in Mubi, Adamawa State, killing his uncle, David Ella, before they bolted with his stepmother who had just been delivered of a baby 11 days earlier.
Narrating the incident, Senator Abbo said: “About 13 men armed with AK-47 rifles invaded my family house around 1 am on Saturday and shot my uncle dead.
“They dragged my father and brothers out of their rooms and went after my stepmother when they were told that my biological mother was dead. They took the poor woman away and left behind her 11 day-old child.
“My stepmother is still with the kidnappers now. The kidnappers have called me, using a Cameroonian MTN number, but they had yet to demand a ransom.”
He the queried: “Of what use is the army barracks and the mobile police base in Mubi when they cannot go into the bush and dislodge the kidnappers?
“The kidnappers are using the ransoms they are collecting to fund terrorism in this country. That’s just the truth.”
Iyabo Anisulowo
Former Minister of State for Education and the senator who represented Ogun West Senatorial district between 2003 and 2007, Senator Iyabo Anisulowo, was kidnapped alongside her security aide in Igbogila area of Ogun State on April 26, 2016. She was abducted in a commando fashion by four armed men as she was returning with three others in her SUV from her farm at Sawonjo community in Yewa-North Local Government Area around 6 pm, and she ended up spending seven days with her captors.
An aide of the ex-minister who witnessed the incident said: “They ordered the three of us who were with Mama (Anisulowo) down from the vehicle. They collected our phones and beat us with machetes. The men spoke in both English and Yoruba. Mama kept asking them what they wanted, but they did not answer. It was around evening we discovered the abandoned SUV around Iganokoto.”
She was, however, rescued on May 3, 2016, hours after the Ogun State Police Command promised to pay N5 million reward to any informant who could offer useful information that would lead to her being rescued.
Reliving her ordeal after she regained her freedom, she said she lived on water only for days, adding that she had forgiven her captors.
She said: “We fell down many times and the silencer (exhaust pipe) of the bike burnt me but they didn’t allow me to cry. They said I should shut up because they didn’t want anyone to see them. I was confused because I never thought such a thing could happen, especially in my area.”
Although her abductors demanded the sum of N100 million for her release, it is not certain if any ransom was paid in the end.
