SIMON EBEGBULEM, BENIN CITY

Mr Ikpomwonsa Edebiri, a member of Edo State Football Association, was kidnapped penultimate Friday, along the Warri Sapele Road, while on his way to Benin City to watch the semi-final match between  Enyimba and Ocean Boys football clubs. He was picked up by armed men suspected to be kidnappers in a village between Warri and Sapele few days after the burial of his mother in Benin City. However, he was released the evening of the following day after a horrible experience in the hands of his captives. He shared his experience with Vanguard Metro.

How I was captured
It was on the 26th of August, in the early hours of the evening, I was on my way to Benin from Warri, to watch the football match between Ocean Boys and Enyimba, the FA Cup Federation Cup semi finals. While I was heading to Benin, somewhere around Mountain of Fire Ministry, just before you get to Sapele, a village they call Okwuabude, I saw some vehicles in front of me trying to make a U-turn.

It was raining at this time. Because of the presence of other vehicles in front, our driver was unable to turn immediately. That was when these guys emerged from nowhere and came to us. They stopped the driver, brought out their guns and shattered the back window of the vehicle.

Then they  forced all of us  out and started maltreating us, hitting us with their gun. After ransacking the bags and taking all my documents, they came back to inform me that their boss wanted to see me. That was how I was taken to the bush and I was surprised because I did not know that it was a kidnap situation.I initially thought it was robbery incident.

Ikpomwonsa Edebiri after his release from the kidnappers' den.

But as soon as I was led into the bush, they told me they were kidnappers. We trekked from 6:30pm to 10-11pm. That was when they stopped and said I should think of how to get money for them. We all sat down; I tried to explain to them that there was no way I could make contact since I was still in the place they have kept me.

The bush was swampy, about four feet deep. That night they gave me my phone and said I should call a number. Immediately I told my people that I had been kidnapped, they collected the phone and switched it off. Throughout that night it was raining heavily and I begged them to allow me make more contacts. But they said no, that they have to sleep until morning.

Negotiation
So in the morning they started negotiating with my people. They agreed on an amount to be paid them but  warned my people that when bringing the money, they should come with a motor bike and should let them know the kind of clothes they were putting on. So when eventually the guys came, they collected their phones and the money and that was how they left me.

At a point, I became thirsty, because they told me that they were not going to establish contact with my people until Monday; this was on a Friday. But I was so lucky they started establishing contact Saturday morning. And at that time, I was really very thirsty. I could not drink the swamp water because of its colour and smell which clearly indicated it is not safe for  human consumption.

So I had to rely on what we call traditional bush sugar cane. There were lots of this kind of sugar cane in this particular place where I was kept. So that was what I was chewing to be able to get the fluid that I needed. That was how I survived without water in that forest.

Their complaints
While there, I saw about six young men but I knew they were more than that operating within that environment. I noticed that these people are all young men between the ages of 20 and 30 years. The way some of them spoke gave the impression that they have some level of education.  And honestly, they have a solid network, well organised from what I observed. That is why if we want to stop this menace, we all, including security agents, must be sincere and dedicated.

The boys all complained about unemployment, how leaders squander money in the name of governance. They complained about virtually everything. They said with the way our leaders are handling issues in the country, the only way they can survive is to engage in such illegal activities.

From what I also observed, kidnapping  is not something you will just leave for the police alone, everybody has to be involved to stop this madness. At a point they became very nice to me; they told me point blank that they needed money to survive since government could not provide jobs for them. So I think the problem is as a result of a total breakdown of societal values.