Abducted Corps Members In Rivers State Regain Freedom

Reports reaching us has it that the 3 NYSC members recently kidnapped in Rivers state have been freed by their abductors.The corps members, Ogwuche Martins, Lijoka Richard and Nwachukwu Chinonye Esther who were abducted at their lodge in Ogonokom, Abua-Odual Local government council were released by their captors exactly two weeks after their kidnap.

Narrating their ordeal, one of the victims who pleaded anonymity detailed that he was surprised at the attack as it was never expected that such a thing could happen to them. He narrated that everything happened in a jiffy and the next minute, they found themselves on an unknown island.

According to him,”it happened after I went outside to ease myself. Few minutes later I heard a big bang on my door and some men came in with rifles. They then led me to the waterside where the boat was. They also took two other people and flew us to an unknown island.“We didn’t know weather we were still in Rivers state or not. Since that time till our release we were living in the bush. We never had our bath or washed our mouth. Though they didn’t torture us, they only threatened us to make
calls to those who could give them money to pay our ransom.”

Also speaking, another victim, who explained that they were robbed of their valuables which includes laptop, phones and some cash confirmed that they were not molested in any manner.“They pushed my door open, I knelt down immediately and started begging them please! They took my phones and my systems. They now took me with them to the waterside. They took us to an unknown destination. It took us over 2 hours to get to the island. So we didn’t know if we were still in Rivers state or not.

“On the island, there were 9 guys who change duty everyday. They threatened us in many ways but they never touched us or did anything to us. They consistently called our LI for negotiations which they started with 20 million naira.The corps members could not confirm if any ransom was finally paid for their release. They said resource persons and security operatives facilitated their release.

You will recall that some NYSC members were kidnapped in the early hours of saturday June 22nd, 2013 at Abua-Odual LGA in Rivers state. The Rivers state police command intensified search for the corps members according to the PPRO, Angela Agabe.