My Kidnappers Boasted They Had Police Informants – Victim

A physiotherapist, Mrs. Uju Onotai, who was kidnapped by gunmen, said on Tuesday her captors boasted it was needless reporting her abduction to the police because they (kidnappers) had informants in the police and the military.

She said the kidnappers were confident they would not be apprehended by the police.

Onotai, who was shot on the thigh, was left off the hook after staying one week in the kidnappers’ den.

Narrating her ordeal, Onotai told City News she was tortured by her captors and was made to go for some days without food. The physiotherapist said she fainted as she was leaving the den.

Onotai, who was rescued Sunday night around Igwuruta in Ikwerre Local Government Area, said she was delivered from the kidnappers’ den by the grace of God.

“Thank God, I am alive to give testimonies of God wonders in my life. Imagine the abductors telling me in captivity that we should not waste our time to report to the police because the police wouldn’t do them anything and that they had informants everywhere, including the police and military. If that is correct, who can then save us from the hands of these evil doers?

“The Almighty God has delivered me from the hands of my abductors; no word can be used to describe the nature of torture I received. Is it the blindfolding, the gunshot injury in my thigh, the starvation, the intimidation, the mental and emotional torture, among others.

“The memory is always in my mind and I pray it erases one day from my mind. I fainted several times on my way out of the devils den. If not for God, I would have died in the forest where I was kept. I thank God that my case is not like those of the Chibok girls that are still missing,” Onotai added.

According to her, her captors wore police uniform when they accosted her.

She said, “When I finally got home, my four-years-old son could not recognize me and when he finally did, he started screaming, ‘Mummy, have the police released you?” To him, I was taken away by the police. Little did he know that the abductors were not policemen; they only dressed like the policemen, armed with machine guns.”

She urged relevant authorities to tackle the menace of kidnapping as soon as possible to enable Nigerians to live meaningful life without fear of insecurity. Her husband, who is a surgeon, expressed gratitude to God for sparing the life of his wife.