‘Police played no role in my release’ – Monarch recounts ordeal at kidnappers’ den

A traditional ruler in Imo State, South-east Nigeria, has refuted claims that the police in the state rescued him from kidnappers.

The traditional ruler, Samuel Ohiri, was abducted by some gunmen on 6 January from his palace in Orodo, a community in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State.

Mr Ohiri, who is the traditional ruler of the Orodo Community, was released after 12 days in captivity.

The police in the state had claimed that their operatives rescued the monarch when they raided the kidnappers’ hideouts in a forest in the state.

But speaking to reporters on Friday, Mr Ohiri said, contrary to the claim, police operatives did not rescue him from the hoodlums, TheCable reported.

The monarch said that although police operatives might have made efforts to rescue him, the kidnappers only released him after his family paid ransom to them.

“Contrary to what the police said about my release, there is no hiding the fact that the police (in the state) never played any role,” he said.

“I actually do not want to speak on this but I am doing it just to set the records straight. It was my relationship with God and the help from my family people that made it possible. Although, that was after we paid the ransom.”

‘I saw hell in the kidnappers’ den’

Mr Ohiri, while recounting his experience, said he saw “hell” in the hands of the kidnappers.

“I came back home to celebrate Christmas and New Year with my people in Obi-Orodo. Then, on the 6th of January, I decided to visit one of my old boys and senior students of Emmanuel College Secondary School in those days,” he said.

“When I was coming back after visiting my friend around 8:30 pm, I met able-bodied men in front of my palace gate who came in their vehicle.

“They double-crossed me and forced me into their vehicle. My cousin’s brother smartly introduced himself as my driver and they set him free. They now blindfolded me and zoomed off to an unknown destination.

“I was first kept in an uncompleted building before I was transferred to another location. Within the 12 days I spent in their den, I saw hell.”

Bitterness for traditional rulers, politicians in South-east

Mr Ohiri said the hoodlums did not hide their bitterness for traditional rulers and politicians in Nigeria’s South-east, but that luck smiled on him.

“It looked so much as if they (kidnappers) had some scores to settle with the traditional rulers and politicians, but luckily for me, their leader came out and ordered them not to torture me, that I am a decent man,” he stated, suggesting that they could have killed him.

“Negotiations began between my people and the kidnappers which eventually resulted in setting me free after we paid the first and second ransom.

“They later took me and another victim to Eziama Obiato, a community in Mbaitoli Local Government Area, along Owerri-Önitsha Expressway at night after I spent 12 days in their dungeon,” the monarch said, without saying the amount of money his family paid as ransom.

“And from there I found my way back to Owerri at the Assumpta Cathedral Roundabout where my people came and conveyed me back to my palace.”