The Oniba of Iba community, Oba Goriola
Oseni, who regained his freedom on Saturday, has narrated his traumatic
experiences in the kidnappers’ den.
The monarch said he was forced to eat a
concoction prepared with bitter leaves and forced to sleep on the floor while
in captivity.
Oba Oseni told Punch on Sunday that he slept in a
shanty built on water during the 21 days he was in captivity.
The traditional ruler said when the
negotiation for ransom initially fell through, the kidnappers forced him to
sleep on the floor for days and exposed him to mosquito bites.
He said, “On that Saturday, at about 9pm, I
was listening to news in my bedroom when I heard gunshots.
“When I came into the sitting room, the
gunmen were shouting, ‘This is the king’. I was in shorts and was about to
enter a bathroom. They killed my palace guard, carried me into their speedboat
and drove away into a swamp.
“The kidnappers asked if I had seen them
before or we had done business before and I said no. They told me while driving
away that they were contracted to kill me, but they had changed their mind.
They said I should cooperate with them. I told them they should rather
cooperate with me and treat me like their father.
“The hideout was a shanty built on water. There
were about six shanties on the water. They covered my eyes while we were in the
speedboat. I fainted at a point, but they still dragged me.
“When we got there, they allowed me to take
my bath. On Sunday, they assured me that they would take me back to the palace.
Around 5pm on the third day, they called my family members. They were Ijaw
youths; they spoke the language and prepared bitter leaf concoctions, which we
ate.
“Any time they brought up the matter of
ransom and my family members begged them, they would start arguing in the
shanty. They would carry guns and start threatening me. But their boss
instructed them not to manhandle me.”
Goriola said after the first ransom was paid,
the gang split into two and a fresh ransom was demanded by the new group.
“My children paid the first ransom.
The ringleaders among the kidnappers spent the money and did not share it with
the other members and they became angry. One of the ringleaders said he was
going to the city and asked what he should buy for me. I asked for sausage
roll. I did not know he was running away, He said,
“On the second week, about 12 gunmen showed
up and said they would now start a fresh negotiation.
They said if my children
did not cooperate, they would abandon me in the creek and run away. They
maltreated me and made me sleep on the floor. They removed the mattress and the
bedspread.”
The monarch explained that the kidnappers
brought out idols and made him swear he didn’t have more money than he claimed.
He said, “When they eventually got both
ransoms, they asked me to go. They brought me in a speedboat. When they heard
one of them had been arrested by the police, they said they would take me back
to the creek and I persuaded them not to, saying I would tell the police to
release the suspect; they agreed.
“When they got halfway, they said the boat
was faulty and asked me to find a canoe for myself. I found one by the bush and
got into it. I paddled myself to the land.
“When I came to an expressway, I saw some
youths playing football. They seemed not to know who I was. I asked them which
way was to the king’s house. When I crossed the road, some youths saw me and
ran to embrace me.
“I told the gunmen in the creek that it was
God who permitted them to kidnap me, because I am not an easy prey. I told them
I was putting on only shorts and that was why they could abduct me. And they
said they knew.”
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