A kidnap victim, Nneka Leonard who was fortunate to be released alive while others were killed, has narrated in detail the horrific ordeal in the kidnappers’ den.
She explained that she lost a friend and was traveling from Lagos to Port Harcourt for her friend’s memorial when she was kidnapped on Saturday May 15.
According to her, she boarded a night bus from Maza Maza in Lagos to Onitsha. On getting to Onitsha, she took a bus to Owerri and in Owerri, she boarded a bus going to Port Harcourt, not knowing that the male passengers were kidnappers.
She said there were 5 ladies and three guys in the bus from Owerri to Port Harcourt.
In the course of the journey, one of the guys brought out a handkerchief, she felt a hand on her nose and dozed off. On waking up, she saw her hands and legs were tied in a strange location and she started shouting.
At this point, she said she was beaten up by 6 hefty men for refusing to stop screaming. She was stripped naked by their boss and he searched her bag and took everything.
She was told that the only thing that would save her is if she calls her people. She said a naked photo of her was taken and she was told to put in her fingerprint so they could open her phone.
When they noticed she didn’t have data on her phone, the boss asked them to use her phone to buy as much data online as they wanted.
When they finally recharged and subscribed with her phone, they sent her photos to her relatives, called them, and demanded ransom.
She explained that the kidnappers told her one day after her kidnap, on Sunday, that her relatives were making efforts to pay the ransom.
They then informed another kidnap victim that her family members were not making any move, and there and then, they made a call to an “Alhaji”, to know if he’s interested in buying the woman’s body parts.
Narrating the call, Nneka Leonard said: “They said, ‘Ah, Alhaji, fresh meat dey oh. How we go take do am? Which part you need?’ The Alhaji say ‘breast, I need her second to the last finger, I need her eye, I need her ear’.
“So he said, ‘OK, how much are you looking at?’ and he said, ‘Ah, Alhaji, if you can give us 4 million, we’ll kill it now now now and send it to you’.
“The Alhaji started pricing. He said ‘let me give you people 3 million, it’s OK’. They said ‘done’ then cut the phone.
“They carried the girl immediately. They had a very, large, big table, but it’s an iron table. So, they took the girl.”
She said the girl started begging, telling them that she has no one and is an orphan and an only child.
Nneka continued: “They said ‘who only child help?’ Immediately, they cut her head, started piecesing her, in my presence.
“So, after some hours, they came back again, they took the other girl, they cut her, they called and found out the part they needed gain. That one said ‘her private part, breast and eye’, that is the only thing he needed that night.
“They had to carry the second girl again to kill in my presence.”
She said only 3 out of the 5 of them kidnapped from the bus were left at this point.
On Monday morning, they took the third girl. Nneka said the buyer wanted just her head so they decapitated her, leaving two of the women.
Later on Monday morning, at about past 11, Nneka explained that the kidnappers arrived and told her she’s lucky because her people have paid and they will be releasing her. They also told the other woman that she will be released too as her people have paid and the kidnappers told both of them to go for thanksgiving when they regain their freedom because they are fortunate to have people willing to pay for them.
Nneka said that if she had stayed a day earlier, she would have died because they weren’t given food and she was left naked for the period she was in captivity.
She was put on a bike later that day, late at night, and was dumped in the middle of a dangerous road.
Because of how she looked, those who saw her on the road ran away from her. Only one man approached her and offered to help.
Watch as she narrates the horrific experience:
Discussion about this post