…Recounts ordeal
…Fears over wave of abductions
The Traditional Ruler of Ishiala Umudi Autonomous Community in Nkwerre Local Government Area of Imo State, His Royal Highness Eze Joel Udenkwo has regained his freedom after escaping from his abductors.
The royal father popularly known as Udekings, who was kidnapped Friday last week in Owerri, where his electronics shop is located, was said to have escaped from the hands of abductors in a manner reminiscent of a miracle.
Eze Udenkwo, who was said to have escaped Monday night, told newsmen in Owerri that the kidnappers had taken him to ” a forest in Okwu village in Ikeduru Local Government Area where he was tied with a rope and kept at a place waiting for their N200 million ransom.”
The monarch was said to have further hinted that the ransom was later reduced to N12 million adding that while the his abductors were still waiting for the said N12 million to be sent, one of the abductors fell asleep while the other went to smoke weed.
“It was when I noticed that the two men were nowhere around me that I carefully untied myself, quietly crawled and left the scene.
“I meandered through the bush and found safety at a nearby house where I called out the occupants whom I narrated my ordeal to and begged them to help me call a monarch around the community after identifying myself as a monarch. Meanwhile, this was happening around 10 pm.
“On getting the monarch of the place, he then linked up with the Chairman, Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers who called in the police and the DSS who came and took me away,” the monarch narrated.
Meanwhile there is growing apprehension on the part of the citizens of Imo State following what many see as a recent upsurge in kidnapping incidents in the state.
A couple of weeks ago, residents of Orji area of Owerri were thrown into panic as gunmen reportedly killed an auto mechanic identified as Valentine Enwerem. The inside was said to have occurred at a place called U-turn after Nkwo Orji market junction on Owerri-Okigwe Road.
After shooting the said mechanic dead, the hoodlums kidnapped the three persons he was carrying in a vehicle.
The incident sparked fear among residents in the area following sporadic shots by the as the gunmen were making their way out of the scene.
