By Anayo Okoli
Umuahia—A FEMALE student of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Precious Ukachukwu, who was kidnapped recently, has escaped from the den of her kidnappers unhurt.

Precious was said to have been abducted by four gunmen operating in a black Mercedes Benz 190 car when she had gone to pick her younger sibling from school.

She was said to have spent five days in a thick forest where the abductors kept her.

She was said to have been transferred from one bush to another by the kidnappers in their bid to beat the security in the area, including soldiers stationed at Ariam in Ikwuano area.

However, luck was on the side of Precious as she was able to escape from the kidnappers who had demanded N20 million from her family, after an initial demand of N50 million.

According to the girl, the kidnappers called her father demanding for N50 million which they later reduced to N20 million.

She added that when her father told them bluntly that he and his entire family didn’t have that kind of money, “they decided to kill me and sell some parts of my body to ritualists.”

However, that decision brought confusion in the ranks of the kidnappers as there was division amongst them and in the midst of the confusion, the young girl made her escape.

She said: “It was at that point that the kidnappers started quarreling among themselves. Some said it was not their initial plan to kill me but to get money from my father. Confusion set in which gave me the opportunity to escape into the bush in the night.”

Precious said she ran throughout the night until she found herself at a beer parlour, near Umudike, the university town, where she met some men drinking, who volunteered to take her home, after narrating her ordeal.

She said her abductors told her that her mother was their target but they could not get her after trailing her for one week, hence their decision to kidnap her.

“They said that when they could not get “my mother whom they have been trailing for over one week, they decided to come after me,” she explained

Her father, Professor Ukachukwu, thanked God for saving her daughter and also commended the soldiers of Operation Jubilee, operating in the state.

“The soldiers were wonderful as they quickly swung into action in search of my missing daughter. We met soldiers on their way on another assignment and informed them of the missing child.

“The soldiers joined us at once and started ransacking the whole environ; they volunteered their vehicle to search for my daughter even abandoning their official duty they were initially signed for the day, moving up to Isiala Ngwa and Ubakala areas, while other security agencies joined them as well,” he said.