On January 28, just hours before President Muhammadu Buhari, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, visited Abia State to mobilise for the election, chairman of the party in the state, Donatus Nwankpa was kidnapped. He was freed four days later. In this exclusive interview with SUNNY NWANKWO, he relived his encounter with his abductors, saying, among other things, that he had wild animals for company while his kidnap lasted, and that the authorities should engage kidnappers and get the best out of them. Excerpts:
While everybody was expecting to see you at the Enyimba Stadium in Aba during the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari, the news of your kidnap by gunmen broke. What really happened?
It was just one of those unfortunate situations. We finished giving people responsibilities in Umuahia and I felt that it was necessary that I should know the state of preparation at the arena,
Enyimba Stadium, where the President would be hosted. We agreed that we will be visiting the arena to see things for ourselves and make some adjustments where necessary to ensure a hitch-free exercise.
Unfortunately, as we were driving down, we ran into hoodlums immediately after the Aro-Ngwa Setraco security checkpoints. The funniest part of it is that the police were not up to 30 meters from the scene of the incident, because it was the police checkpoint that slowed us down.
When we saw these other people, we were querying why another police checkpoint within sightt and before we knew what was happening, they were hitting at us and when we tried maneuvering the situation, they shot into the car through the headlamp and started shooting sporadically which forced our vehicle to a halt.
It was at that moment that they came to our vehicle and started shooting severally on the vehicle and when they couldn’t get through, they started hitting it with iron. It is still funny when I remembered how we managed to come out of the car without much injury. It is only God that will take that glory.
Initially, we thought that they were armed robbers. They took us into the bush where they ransacked and took everything that they could find on us and later blindfolded us. While one of us escaped, they took me and the other person to a location where we later learnt that they were about seven-man gang.
They allowed the other person go to enable him treat his injury because he was badly injured. They knew that I am the APC chairman and that I was going to receive Mr. President the next day.
From there, they took me on a long motorbike ride with three heavily armed men to a heavy thick forest where I was kept under the rain and without shelter for four days. Mosquitoes and wild animals became the closest friends that I had.
I didn’t even know the location because we drove for a long time with my eyes being blindfolded. It was not until I was released that I found myself at the boundary between Abia and Rivers State, after they took me on a long ride with motorcycle. When I started asking questions, I discovered that it was a village that I know already.
The villagers assisted me with slippers and later brought me down with their motorcycle after I was released at about 9:15pm.
It was alleged that you withdrew a huge amount of money on the day of your kidnap which was supposed to be used for the hosting of Mr. President?
Let me tell you journalists, I don’t want you to give credence to idiots. Whoever that is saying that is a cursed idiot. Poverty, stupidity, mischief has led a lot of people to unintelligent analysis. I said that it is unintelligent analysis because we withdrew money donated by one of our chieftains for the rally to host the President.
The monies were disbursed for buses, welfare, protocol, security and among other miscellaneous expenses. Do I have the magical powers to turn around the money to N50 million after disbursing them?
The bank didn’t even give us the money at a go and none of the money entered my car. The money wasn’t even disbursed in my house and the one that was taken to my office was the one that was handed over to local government chairmen and support groups.
The central thing was done in the house of the rally committee chairman. The only money I had in my vehicle was just N250, 000 and when my bag was retrieved, the money was intact.
Who donated the N50 million, if there was such an amount of money? The people saying that I had N50 million in my car, who made such donation, anyone saying that I was with N50 million on the day of that ugly incident is mentally imbecile. Did I carry the money with a Ghana Must Go or a trunk bag? Like I said, none of the monies withdrawn ever entered my vehicle and bank didn’t give it to us at once.
I was part of the appropriation of the funds, but I wasn’t even in the disbursement of the funds. So why is it that people talk about money more than life?
Even with N10billion, do you think that that I would agree to subject myself to such inhuman condition. If anyone says that my abduction is a scam, they will have such a scam this year. It is insulting to me to hear that.
People claimed that your abduction could have been engineered by the opposition or as a result of the leadership squabble in your party. What is your take?
I refuse to accept that. I am not a student of frivolities and triviality. I am a product of Federal Government College when Federal Government College was Federal Government College. I am also a product of Federal University who has gone through so many leadership training.
I have been a Commissioner and Special Adviser. So, I should be mature enough to separate politics from juvenile delinquency.
I said so because we ran into hoodlums and the hoodlums, as far as I am concerned were not there for me. They were there for one thing or the other. If anybody gave them information that I am coming, it is a matter of coincidence.
I am not unaware that some negative and positive calls later came when I was there. Good a thing is that I am a student of International Relations. I engaged them in positive dialogue and there were things that they told me which are personal, anyway.
For those who are clapping their chest, what Donatus Nwankpa went through is something that can happen to anybody. I have nobody to accuse. I only have one person to accuse, and that is myself, for going out in the night.
The truth is that if I even had two policemen, they would have shot them. There was police checkpoint not too far from the scene of the incident, but because of the fire power of those people, police couldn’t do anything.
For people querying why I didn’t move that night with any policeman, ask them if they have seen me as one that parades policemen just to show off because I am the chairman of APC
Have they equally asked whether the party at the national level has provided any allowances or funds for the security of their state chairmen? Am I the first state chairman to be kidnapped? Am I the first state chairman to be attacked? Am I the first state chairman to be embarrassed? They should go and find out what the allocation for the upkeep of the state chairmen is.
How many of those making such remarks have paid their dues? It is when you make provision that you request for explanation. If you do not appropriate, you cannot query misappropriation.
What was the relationship between you and your abductors?
Initially, they were confused; whether to follow those negative calls. But you know, there are people who are given grace. And I am one of those who keep telling God that the grace He gave King David, He has always given to me. Never in that thick forest did I think that I wasn’t going to come out safely. But what I didn’t want is any crossfire, so that I will not be a victim of crossfire.
I was blindfolded like every other person that they usually catch. I was chained like every other person that they usually catch. I was subjected to no food. My companions were mosquitoes, tsetse flies and other things in the bush.
Imagine someone being under the rain and being with one cloth for four days. How would you feel when people come to talk rubbish and vomit the idiocy?
I engaged them in what I called constructive and positive dialogue and queried why they should be involved in such thing. Some of them accused us, politicians; that they are products of political adventurism. They mentioned one or two governors who at one point or the other armed them.
They even asked if I will buy them guns, but I told them that if I can’t buy guns for my children, that I won’t buy guns for them. Some of them are undergraduates. They are ready to go to school.
We have to look for a way, not just the operational or punitive aspects; we should also look for a way to positively engage them in order to give them some sense of belonging. We need to reassure them that their lives are not yet over. To some of them, they have already given up; they don’t believe that they have hope again.
In the course of being there, I discovered that they have their off moment. In that off moment, you don’t talk to them, you allow them and in their sober moment, you can engage them. All we need to do is to create social programme that will recover our stray and erring youths.
Do you think that they will abandon the illicit ways if they are provided with jobs?
Some of them will. Our leaders should not do election as a do or die affair. You don’t think about whom will carry ballot box for you when you are thinking about going in for an election. When you buy them the weapons and either you win or lose, they will go away with the weapons.
When you get into government, you don’t think of how you can better their lives, but rather, you abandon them at that level that you use them as thugs, attack dogs or killers.
What is happening to the ex-militants should be extended to them. Amnesty is positive engagements in dialogue where you discover somebody’s talent. Some of them can be sent outside this country because some of them cannot do the N30,000 minimum wage job.
They need psychologists and counselors to talk to them. One of the areas that we are failing in this country is that the counseling department of various institutions is failing. We should improve the quality of counseling. Every undergraduate whether he or she likes it or not should have an appointment with a counselor. Every student in secondary schools should have time with the counselors. That is going to help us.
There were speculations that ransom was paid for your release. How true is it?
(Laughs) That is not meant for public consumption.
