It was shock and outrage recently, as police in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) discovered kidnappers’ tunnel right inside a sitting room. The startling discovery was made by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit of the command after series of complaints from the public.
The evil men were unmasked at the AMAC Housing Estate, Angwansawa Village when the SARS team stormed their hideouts following a tip-off after the abduction of a housewife and mother of triplets, Justina Uwakwe, by a four-man gang in front of her house. Investigations revealed that Uwakwe was blindfolded with hands and legs tied and her mouth cellotaped as they drove her through the jungle to their den. She was kept in the tunnel for six days and they demanded a ransom of N25million from her husband before she could be released.
Crimewatch gathered that some dignitaries who were kidnapped in Abuja were always kept inside the tunnel, a pit dugged inside the kidnappers’ sitting room and usually covered with a slab and carpet. The Deputy Commissioner of Police, State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) FCT Abuja, Mr Usman Alkali, told Crimewatch that the command had received several complaints about kidnapping of some people in the area and as well got information that some abductors had dug a pit at the AMAC Housing Estate where they usually keep their victims. DCP Alkali said that following the series of petitions, he had ordered the Commander of SARS, Ibrahim Saidu, a Superintendent of Police (SP), who led his men to storm the village where they discovered the hide-outs of the kidnappers and engaged them in a shoot-out. Two of the kidnappers escaped while two were arrested.
He said the SARS men also discovered the underground tunnel inside the house occupied by the kidnappers and that they used a slab to cover it before they put carpets. Their victims were usually kept in the tunnel. “We were able to discover four houses including the gang leader’s residence where they built an underground tunnel and covered it with slab and rug right inside their sitting room”, he said. Our reporter who visited Angwansawa village alongside many of the residents who went to see the underground tunnel. The villagers were shocked that they are living with kidnappers. Most of the bigwigs that were kidnapped in Abuja have passed through hell in the hands of this notorious kidnappers as they were kept in the underground tunnel before they were released after the payment of ransom by their families.
Narrating her ordeals to Crimewatch, Mrs Justina Uwakwe said, “It was like a drama . I was driving my car into the compound when suddenly, I saw four men wearing masks around 7.30 pm. They told me to lie down and that I should co-operate with them. They jumped inside my car and took me away. They dragged me through the bush and told me that I should cooperate. They covered my face and tied my legs and I noticed that they took me inside one room and thrown me inside a tunnel (pit) and covered it with a slab and rug. “ I spent six days inside the pit and was being guarded by two men. I was fed with Indomie and pure water at times once a day and at times, morning and night. “They started demanding N25milion from my husband and telling him to pay the money on time. I told them that I am a mother of triplets. I started pleading with them. I prayed for them and they told me that I was very nice.
They told me they didn’t collect money from my husband. On the seventh day, they took me to the bush and told me to find my way to the house,” she said. The victim’s husband, Mr Roland Uwakwe told Crimewatch that ,” I received a call from the kidnappers. They demanded N25million. I pleaded that I wanted to go round and look for money and raised N1.5m. I quickly went to report the incident at ACO- AMAC Estate Police Post which later transferred the case to Iddo police station before the SARS took over the case,” he said. “ Someone came to me and said that he knows one of the kidnappers . I took him to the officers at SARS and immediately they swung into action and arrested two of the kidnappers in their house. “I was shocked . I saw the pit where they kept my wife inside their sitting room and she spent six days with them until she was released on the seventh day .
Her release was the work of God. One of the suspects, Chibuzo Eze, told Crimewatch that they were four in the gang and that they built the pit in their room which, according to him, served as cell for their victims during the negotiation for ransom. “It was through the kidnapping job that I built my house. We kidnapped the victim, Mrs Uwakwe and we covered her face and tied her legs and thrown her inside the pit and used a slab to cover it. She was there for six days before we released her on the seventh day,” he confessed. Another suspect, Chibeze Ike, said that they all hail from Isu Local Government Area of Imo State . “We went into kidnapping when we didn’t have money. We told the victim to pray for us .
She prayed for us and we didn’t succeed in collecting money from the husband. Our plan was that when we receive the money, we will give it to the leader of our gang who wanted to use it to travel to Ghana but we didn’t succeeded.” Reacting to the incident, the community leader Chief Thomas Kubari, expressed shock, said: “We couldn’t believe what we saw this morning. I know Chibuzo Eze very well. We didn’t know that they were into kidnapping and that they keep their victims in this community before they were exposed by the men of SARS. “They have been living in this house without paying rent for sometime and I often saw the landlord running after them for rent.
Our community thank the SARS and we don’t want them to return to this community. We are peaceful people and we don’t want criminals in our midst,” he said. The officer-in-charge of SARS at the FCT Police Command, Ibrahim Saidu (SP), said that when they got information, they immediately engaged in a rescue operation and advised the victim’s husband not to pay money to the kidnappers but warned that he should play along with them.” We stormed their house and discovered a pit built inside their sitting room where they usually kept their victims. We learnt Mrs Uwakwe was there for six days before she was released on the seventh day.”
The landlord of the house where the kidnappers lived, Mr Kanayo Obi, said that “ I only gave their sister my house, suddenly, they came around and they refused to pay me one kobo since the beginning of 2012. They only paid me six months when they moved in since then, they have refused to pay me again. I didn’t build an underground tunnel inside my house . They went and built the illegal pit and covered it and started keeping their victims there.
Source: Sun
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