A cleric, Prince Adams, kidnapped along with his family members, recounts his ordeal in the kidnappers’ den with ARMSTRONG BAKAM
How were you kidnapped?
On April 11, 2019, my wife and I with our two children and three other passengers boarded a vehicle going to Port Harcourt, Rivers State from Lagos. When we got to Owerri, Imo State, the driver said he was no longer going. We were moved from that vehicle to another one. We took off from Owerri at 9.30pm on a Friday. We had just passed the third checkpoint when suddenly, we heard indiscriminate gunshots and our driver, all of a sudden, lost control and veered off the main road.
We didn’t know that a bullet had hit him on the forehead and he died instantly. The car somersaulted four times. All I was just saying was ‘blood of Jesus!’ And finally, it came to a standstill. We tried opening the door but couldn’t and while doing that, some people kept shooting and coming towards us. I still remember clearly how the glasses of the vehicle were shattered by their bullets. Finally, they got to where we were. They came with guns and cutlasses and started hitting the car ordering, ‘Everybody, come out!’
What happened after ordering you out of the vehicle?
Somebody hit me on my lips and immediately it was swollen and then one of them pulled my boy and wanted to cut him with his cutlass. I pulled the boy back to me and without thinking twice, I just fell on the boy and the cutlass hit me on my back. I thought it was just a robbery, but the next thing after taking our luggage, they asked us to start moving.
6'
Adams
SUNDAY FEATURES
Kidnappers said they planned to sell us to ritualists for N35m –Cleric
Published
June 2, 2019
A cleric, Prince Adams, kidnapped along with his family members, recounts his ordeal in the kidnappers’ den with ARMSTRONG BAKAM
How were you kidnapped?
On April 11, 2019, my wife and I with our two children and three other passengers boarded a vehicle going to Port Harcourt, Rivers State from Lagos. When we got to Owerri, Imo State, the driver said he was no longer going. We were moved from that vehicle to another one. We took off from Owerri at 9.30pm on a Friday. We had just passed the third checkpoint when suddenly, we heard indiscriminate gunshots and our driver, all of a sudden, lost control and veered off the main road.
We didn’t know that a bullet had hit him on the forehead and he died instantly. The car somersaulted four times. All I was just saying was ‘blood of Jesus!’ And finally, it came to a standstill. We tried opening the door but couldn’t and while doing that, some people kept shooting and coming towards us. I still remember clearly how the glasses of the vehicle were shattered by their bullets. Finally, they got to where we were. They came with guns and cutlasses and started hitting the car ordering, ‘Everybody, come out!’
What happened after ordering you out of the vehicle?
Somebody hit me on my lips and immediately it was swollen and then one of them pulled my boy and wanted to cut him with his cutlass. I pulled the boy back to me and without thinking twice, I just fell on the boy and the cutlass hit me on my back. I thought it was just a robbery, but the next thing after taking our luggage, they asked us to start moving.
I asked them where we were going but they told me to keep quiet. We walked into the forest which was around Elele Police Station for about one hour 30 minutes. Then, their leader came and they opened my bag containing laptop, ATM cards, passport, money, ‘anointing’ oil and other valuables. When they opened the bag, their leader asked me, “Please sir, are you a pastor?” I told him, “Yes, I am.”
He asked where we were coming from and I told him I was coming from Ghana with my family. He asked me how much money I had in my account, I told him I had about N370,000 or so. He asked me to tell him the exact amount but I told him I couldn’t. He asked me how much money was in my bag and I told him about N400,000. Their leader said they were sorry we were not the people they were targeting but they got wrong information but that we should just accept it like that. He said they wasted many bullets and would have to use our money as compensation. He said their plan was to sell us for N5m each to ritualists and that would be N35m for all of us. After taking our money and valuables, we walked into the thick forest for about two hours.
6'
Adams
SUNDAY FEATURES
Kidnappers said they planned to sell us to ritualists for N35m –Cleric
Published
June 2, 2019
A cleric, Prince Adams, kidnapped along with his family members, recounts his ordeal in the kidnappers’ den with ARMSTRONG BAKAM
How were you kidnapped?
On April 11, 2019, my wife and I with our two children and three other passengers boarded a vehicle going to Port Harcourt, Rivers State from Lagos. When we got to Owerri, Imo State, the driver said he was no longer going. We were moved from that vehicle to another one. We took off from Owerri at 9.30pm on a Friday. We had just passed the third checkpoint when suddenly, we heard indiscriminate gunshots and our driver, all of a sudden, lost control and veered off the main road.
We didn’t know that a bullet had hit him on the forehead and he died instantly. The car somersaulted four times. All I was just saying was ‘blood of Jesus!’ And finally, it came to a standstill. We tried opening the door but couldn’t and while doing that, some people kept shooting and coming towards us. I still remember clearly how the glasses of the vehicle were shattered by their bullets. Finally, they got to where we were. They came with guns and cutlasses and started hitting the car ordering, ‘Everybody, come out!’
What happened after ordering you out of the vehicle?
Somebody hit me on my lips and immediately it was swollen and then one of them pulled my boy and wanted to cut him with his cutlass. I pulled the boy back to me and without thinking twice, I just fell on the boy and the cutlass hit me on my back. I thought it was just a robbery, but the next thing after taking our luggage, they asked us to start moving.
I asked them where we were going but they told me to keep quiet. We walked into the forest which was around Elele Police Station for about one hour 30 minutes. Then, their leader came and they opened my bag containing laptop, ATM cards, passport, money, ‘anointing’ oil and other valuables. When they opened the bag, their leader asked me, “Please sir, are you a pastor?” I told him, “Yes, I am.”
He asked where we were coming from and I told him I was coming from Ghana with my family. He asked me how much money I had in my account, I told him I had about N370,000 or so. He asked me to tell him the exact amount but I told him I couldn’t. He asked me how much money was in my bag and I told him about N400,000. Their leader said they were sorry we were not the people they were targeting but they got wrong information but that we should just accept it like that. He said they wasted many bullets and would have to use our money as compensation. He said their plan was to sell us for N5m each to ritualists and that would be N35m for all of us. After taking our money and valuables, we walked into the thick forest for about two hours.
How were you treated in the forest?
Finally, we got to a place where we lay on bare floor and it rained that day – water was all over the place and it was cold. We all slept there and at about 6am the next day, the leader said instead of selling us for N20m, all of us should just pay N5m and we would be freed. He asked me to call anybody I knew to bail us.
Who did you call and where you able to raise the N5m?
I called my pastor so that they would back us up in prayers. I used their leader’s phone to call and I told him (my pastor) that we had an incident on the way to Port Harcourt and there was robbery.
I equally told him that after the robbery operation, they kidnapped us and snatched the phone from my hand. I had two phones and after the accident, I threw one of them under the vehicle’s seat. After the incident, police came and it was the phone they used to call my family in Port Harcourt and there was confusion all over because they were expecting us.
Punch
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