Thirteen is widely regarded as an unlucky number. But fourteen became the unlucky figure recently for Eze Obi, 36, a notorious kidnapper and his gang members when he was positively identified by a young, teenage lady, their 14th victim, while he was having a good time somewhere in Umuahia, capital of Abia State.
As soon as she spotted him, she raised alarm and he was promptly arrested and handed over to the police. He thereafter led operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Aba, Abia State Police Command, to the hideout of his other gang members. The rest, as they say, is now history.
In a related development, another gang of kidnappers, three, in inexplicable circumstances, over a period of time, lost all their victims to escape bids, without receiving a dime as ransom money, when pressures from security operatives were brought to bear upon them, time and again. Worse still, they got entrapped in a police dragnet. As you read this, they are cooling their feet in police custody as they wait to have their case formally charged to court after investigation.
A kingpin and his gang members’ deceitful operations
Obi and his gang members pretending to be strangers who did not quite know their way around town, on May 10, 2020, kidnapped 19-years-old Chioma Uche on Bank Road, Umuahia, and took her to an uncompleted building in Ntigha, Isialangwa, Abia State, which they were using as their hideout. There they robbed and raped her before allowing her to go home much later in the day.
“The notorious kidnapper/rapist, with his syndicate’s mode of operation sometimes posed as foreigners and hanged around bus-stops to tell lies of having dollars to sell,” Mrs. Janet Agbede, Abia State Commissioner of Police, told Saturday Sun. “Claiming to have some currencies to share out and to produce more with some chemicals, they lured their victims and deceived them into following them. They would cajole and convince them to enter their Keke (tricycle). Thereafter, they would zoom off to their hideout. But on other occasions, they would pretend to be asking for a direction to, sometimes, non-existent places. On May 10, 2020, they used the second tactics to whisk Chioma away to an uncompleted building where the suspect and his gang members dispossessed her of some money and other valuables before taking their turns to rape her.”
Victim tells her own side of the story
Confirming the incident, the victim took over the narrative from Agbede. “It was on May 10, 2020, while I was waiting at First Bank junction that I suddenly felt a Keke stopped behind me. Someone from the inside asked if I know Umuahia Road. While I was trying to answer him, another gang member came down from the Keke, grabbed me and dragged me into the tricycle. I started struggling to free myself from them inside the Keke. But suddenly they showed me a small gun and warned me to cooperate with them; otherwise they would waste my life. They took me to an uncompleted building and asked me to give them N50, 000. I started to negotiate with them. They collected my phone and forcefully removed my clothes and had sex with me. They didn’t use condom. I was bleeding, crying. They gave me N500 for transport. They kidnapped me around 9am but released me at about 5pm.
“I reported the case to my parents and they took me to hospital. On June 3, 2020, I saw one of the suspects somewhere in Umuahia. I held him and beckoned on the people standing nearby and told them what he and his gang did to me. They arrested the suspect and took him to a nearby police station. I can recall that before we reached the uncompleted building where they raped me they asked me to give them money to use to buy some chemical to wash their money and get more of it.”
Suspect admits crime, tells how he was nabbed
Confronted with the allegation, Eze Obi readily admitted, in a chat with Saturday Sun, to committing the crime. “We are five gang members of kidnappers,” he explained. “We specialize in kidnapping females by posing as foreigners who can reproduce, with some chemicals, currencies like dollars. We used it to lure ladies to our hideout. We tell them that we have the chemical, which we can use to wash the currency and produce more copies of them. It is in the process that we rape them in the uncompleted building. Chioma is the 14th victim of our antics. Usually, ladies fall in love with us when they see dollars.”
On how he ran into troubled waters, he said: “I was arrested when she identified me on Aba Road and shouted. Immediately, people rallied round her and had me arrested and handed over to SARS. It was from there that I took the SARS’ operatives to arrest some of my syndicate members.”
Police’s angle to the story
The SARS Commander, Johnbull Obiogwu (Superintendent of Police) added that in the aftermath of Obi’s arrest, they raided their hideout in Ntigha Ngwa where the suspects always took their kidnapped female victims to before raping them. He said that following the directive from Mrs. Agbede, the Commissioner of Police, “we spent four days in the criminals’ hideout and arrested three suspects and recovered two AK-47 rifles, a pump action rifle and 30 rounds of ammunition.”
Agbede assured that with the new security operation sweep ordered by her, the days of criminals are numbered in the state. On what prompted her to move against Obi and like-minded criminals, she stated that the command received several complaints in May 2020 over some group of kidnappers who specialize in kidnapping and raping women. She immediately ordered the SARS Commander and his operatives to storm their hideouts after Obi was identified by one of their victims, arrested and brought to the police station. Following his confession and revelations, on June 3, 2020, the operatives did so.
“I have visited the scene at Ntigha Ngwa which was the kidnappers’ hideout,” Agbede said. “I had discussion with the community leaders and the youths. And, we are going to have a serious stakeholders meeting with them to enable them know the importance of community policing.”
Community leader praises police
One of the community leaders, Mr. Emmanuel Dike, who spoke to Saturday Sun, on the matter, thanked the SARS operatives in Aba for terminating the criminal enterprise of Obi and company. “We never suspected that kidnappers were using one of our uncompleted buildings to hide their victims. When we went to the building, we saw ladies’ clothes, bras, pants and ladies’ shoes. We also saw wraps of Indian hemp. We have informed our vigilance group. The youths are now ready to co-operate with SARS operatives to provide better information.”
Kidnappers lose victims without receiving ransoms
In a related development, the state SARS operatives have arrested three notorious kidnappers who specialise in kidnapping people and demanding and negotiating for various sums of ransom from their relatives. They are namely: Chidiebere Reuben a.k.a Shadow, 25; Obinna Onyekwere, 25, and Ikechukwu Ogbonna, 28, of Umuwokoma Compound. They were accused of kidnapping over 10 victims. But later, one by one, all the victims escaped from captivity in various parts of Owaza forest in Ukwa West Local Government Area of Abia State where they were kept.
It was gathered that, on February 7, 2020, the trio kidnapped at his residence in the same local government, a 40-years-old man called Chinonyerem Kelechukwu Stanley of Esendioma Ukwa and took him to their forest hideout.
Following the kidnap, the victim’s relatives duly reported the incident to SARS operatives in Aba. On February 8, 2020, the kidnappers demanded for N1 million ransom. Throwing more light on what happened, Agbede said that when she learnt of the nefarious activities of the three kidnappers, she ordered Obiogwu, the SARS Commander and his operatives to trail and nab them. And, on June 18, 2020, after series of near-misses, they did just that.
Agbede explained that in March 2020, the trio kidnapped three victims, namely, Uche Chioma, Elizabeth Chukwuemeka and Godwin Collins on different days of the month and demanded for N3 million as ransom from the victims’ relatives. In April 2020, they kidnapped a 50-year-old man called Mr. John Williams and demanded for N5 million ransom. They kidnapped him in Aba and took him to their forest hideout in Owaza and there tied his hands and two legs.
The case was reported to the SARS in Aba. They swung into action and while combing their supposed hideout; they escaped, leaving their victims to also escape. On May 15, 2020, they kidnapped 60-years-old woman, Eunice Okoro, in her residence in Umuahia at about 1:30 pm. They took her to their hideout in Owaza and demanded for N2 million ransom. But her relatives negotiated to pay N1 million. During the process, the SARS operative had an encounter with the kidnappers and they, again, reportedly, escaped from the hideout, prompting the victim to also escape. Nothing was paid to them.
On June 10, 2020, they kidnapped 48-years-old victim, Augustine Mordi, in Aba town and took him to their hideout and demanded for N2 million ransom from his relatives. But they negotiated the amount down and offered to pay N500, 000. But before they could strike a deal, the victim escaped from the hideout, after spending two days.
On June 15, 2020 acting on intelligence information, the operatives combed the kidnappers’ hideout in Owaza but the trio escaped in the process. Agbede informed that the operatives however recovered four AK-47 rifles, 20 rounds of ammunition, pump action rifle and magazines of ammunition, which the kidnappers kept, in the forest.
But on June 18, 2020, luck, however, ran out on them when Ikechukwu Ogbonna of Umuachigide Umurie Asa in Ukwa West Local Government Area was arrested at Obehie market junction, Aba. Following his arrest, the other two gang members, Chidiebere and Obinna were also later arrested.
Suspects admit, confess crime
The suspects admitted committing the crime in a chat with Saturday Sun. “I hail from Obiohuru in Ehime Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State,” Chidiebere said. “I have kidnapped over 10 victims and taken them to our hideout in Owaza. But unfortunately the victims escaped from our hideout when we were expecting our ransoms. We never killed our victims. It was the operation of June 18, 2020 when some victims escaped from our hideout that prompted our arrest by men of SARS Aba. They picked us one after the other.”
“I am a resident of Umuokpara Owaza in Ukwa West Local Goveenment Area of Abia State,” Ikechukwu intimated. “I know the ins and outs of the place which we used as our hideout and this made us to kidnap several victims.”
Obinna who hails from Umuokoma Asa in the same local government explained that he is an Okada commercial rider. “I formed the three-gang kidnappers because I know everywhere in my local government,” he said. “This made our kidnapping easier. We kidnap victims from Umuahia and Aba and took them to our hideout in Owaza. We don’t kill them. I am in charge of calling the victims’ relatives on phone but it was in the process of collecting the ransom that the victims escaped from our captivity. We didn’t make much money in our kidnapping business. Most of our victims escaped from our custody.”
Victim relates ordeal
Giving details of how he was kidnapped, one of the victims, Chinonyerem Stanley, said: “I hail from Ezendioma Asa in Ukwa West L.G.A of Abia State. On February 7, 2020, three armed men with gun invaded my residence and forcefully took me to their forest hideout at Owaza and immediately demanded N1million ransom from my relatives. They called them to send the money to them or else they would kill me. My relatives pleaded with them and told them they would soon send the money.
“It was when they left me and started calling my relatives that I managed to escape from their den. I spent three days in their custody. My family did not know that I had escaped. They were still negotiating with them when I escaped. I thank God but it was a terrible experience. But I was later surprised when the SARS operatives arrested them on June 19, 2020. I came to identify the suspects. I want to appreciate the Commissioner of Police, Mrs. Janet Agbede and the SARS in Aba for their brilliant efforts at clamping down on kidnappers who have been terrorizing us in Ukwa axis. Since the arrest of the trio, kidnapping has reduced in our area.”
Agbede promised that the suspects would be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.
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