Fear As Kidnappers Go On The Rampage In Anambra

No cause for alarm, says police command

At Umunze, a community in Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra State, a thick fog of fear pervades the atmosphere. This follows the abduction of a number of people from the community.

The first was the taking of Okwuchi Njoku, from a marketplace by suspected kidnappers. The victim, a lecturer in the Agriculture Department of the Federal College of Education (Technical) Umunze, was reportedly whisked away on Saturday, November 17, by hoodlums from Nkwo market, where she had gone to buy some items.

Witnesses told Daily Sun that the kidnappers accosted the victim near a petrol station where she had parked her car and ordered her out of the vehicle. On putting up resistance, the hoodlums fired at random and created a stampede in the market, wounding several people in the process. A number of people sustained gunshot wounds in the attack. The gunmen drove away Njoku in a jeep and shot their way through the busy market.

It was gathered that sympathisers gathered at the scene and alerted the police to the incident. The victim’s car was later taken to the police station. Sources revealed that Njoku was held in captivity for four days until her family paid a ransom. Although it was not clear the exact amount that was paid, a reliable source said the victim desperately called friends, relatives and colleagues to raise money for her to pay the kidnappers who had threatened to kill her if their demands were not met within some stipulated days.

Investigation revealed that despite several phone calls from the victim made to people asking for money, the security agencies in the state showed little concern throughout her ordeal in the hands of the hoodlums. A native of Umunze, who gave his name as Chijioke Nwankwo, blasted the security agencies for failing in their responsibility to protect the people of the area. He said several calls to the Anambra State security emergency line achieved no result, as no rescue effort was made to save the victim.

“The woman used her phone throughout the period she was in the kidnappers’ den. She was calling people for money. The kidnappers were also demanding ransom and threatening to kill her. With these active phone lines, the security agencies didn’t make any effort to track the location where the victim was kept or launch a manhunt for these criminals,” he fumed.

Earlier, before the abduction of the lecturer, there was another incident of a medical doctor from Umunze (name withheld) residing in Port Harcourt, who was abducted during his visit to his hometown. The man was forced to cough out millions of naira before he was released. Also in Umunze, another senior staff of the Federal College of Education (Technical), Umunze, allegedly paid millions of naira to kidnappers, who abducted his daughter. The unidentified staff was forced into silence by the hoodlums, who threatened to wipe away his family if he talked about the incident or reported the matter to the police.

As if these were not enough, penultimate week, some hoodlums stormed a residential home in Umunze, midnight, and unleashed horror on a banker and his family. It was reported that the banker and his family had retired to bed when the hoodlums cut the security wire of their home and broke into his apartment. They reportedly ransacked the house, collected all valuable items, including the man’s ATM card and PIN at gunpoint before taking him and his two-year-old son away. It was gathered that they pushed the man out of the car after a short distance, and made away with his son. They reportedly called the family a few hours later demanding ransom and threatening to kill the boy if the man failed to comply.

Residents are now worried that criminals have turned Umunze to their hunting ground. One resident, who gave his name as Okafor, lamented the people’s helplessness in the hands of criminals.

“If you keep money at home, they will break into your house and take it. If you keep it in the bank, they will kidnap you and force you to borrow money for your ransom. Victims spend up to five years paying for the money that was borrowed to buy their freedom from these kidnappers. Everybody in Umunze is living in fear,” he said.

Aside from several cases of kidnapping within the past six months, investigation showed that car-snatching and robbery have been on the increase in the area. Two months ago, two staff of FCET lost their cars to armed robbers. One of the victims, identified as Mr. Leo, reportedly drove his Lexus 330 jeep to a popular filling station in the area when the hoodlums accosted him and snatched his vehicle at gunpoint. The vehicle has not been recovered till date.

A few weeks ago, the bodies of two teenage girls were found in Umunze. The victims were stripped naked with signs of torture on their bodies. It was alleged that the two young girls were close relations abducted in a nearby state, and tortured to death before their bodies were dumped in the bush by hoodlums. The motive of the killing is yet to be ascertained and no arrest has been made in connection with the incident.

A woman residing in Umunze expressed fear on the state of insecurity in the community, which is a border town between Imo and Abia states.

She said the spate of kidnapping and robbery has become alarming in recent times and asked the security agencies to beam their searchlights on flash points in the area.

“These hoodlums operate without any confrontation by the security agencies. We live in perpetual fear. The police are not doing anything to help us. The police station is close to the market, yet when the kidnappers abducted a woman in the market, the police did not respond. Crime wave is on the increase,” she complained.

Some people in the community have started questioning the role of the police in all of these. A man identified as Kenneth said: “It is as if there is collaboration here because I cannot understand how kidnappers could come into a marketplace and kidnap somebody and the police did not do anything. The worst is that the victim used her phone throughout her captivity, yet the police could not use that to track the kidnappers’ den. It is confusing and at the same time unbelievable. But, that is where we have found ourselves now. We need help and urgently too.”

When contacted, chairman of Orumba South Local Government, Raymond Onyegu, confirmed the kidnapping incidents, though he denied that there was any car-snatching incident.

“There was kidnapping. There was really no car-snatching but there was somebody they killed,” he said.

He also said that the situation was under control, adding that more policemen as well as soldiers have been drafted to the area to maintain peace and order. He also stated that enough security measures have been put in place to ensure that life and property are protected throughout the Christmas period and beyond.

“Right now, everywhere is quiet and we are almost certain that nothing will happen this Christmas that will create any bad news. There are no chances here for anybody to continue doing that,” he said.

Efforts to speak with the Anambra State police public relations officer, Haruna Mohammed, failed as he did not answer calls to his phone. But a statement by the PPRO on behalf of the Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Garba Umar, gave a detailed account of police efforts to stamp out crime in the state.

He said that following the CP’s instruction to comb all the criminal hideouts and black spots in the state, more than 100 suspected cultists and hoodlums have been arrested, just as four locally made pistols and at least 1,000 wraps of dry leaves suspected to be Indian hemp have been recovered.

“In order to further stem the tide of crime and ensure that all Ndi Anambra, both at home and in the Diaspora, celebrate Christmas and New Year without hindrance or molestation, the commissioner of police, Anambra State Command, Garba Baba Umar, has ordered aggressive raids on criminal hideouts and black spots in the state. The directive has started yielding positive results.

“The command assures the public that it is determined, as usual, to ensure that criminals have no hiding place in the state, especially, during this Yuletide and would deal decisively with anyone apprehended, in accordance with the law,” he said.

(The Sun)