Oba Goriola was abducted in
his palace at about 8.30pm on Saturday, July 16, by some gunmen suspected to be
Ijaw militants who attacked the community in two speedboats.
The Oniba of Iba community,
Oba Goriola Oseni, who regained his freedom from kidnappers on Saturday, says
he ate concoction prepared with bitter leaves while in captivity.
The monarch told Punch
Metro in his palace on Sunday that he slept in a shanty built on water during
the 21 days he was in captivity.
This is just as two of the
suspected kidnappers said they collected N15m from the monarch’s family, adding
that the money was collected in two batches.
The state Governor,
Akinwunmi Ambode, who also addressed newsmen after the parade, said the
government would continue to intensify security in the state.
On Saturday, however, at
about 7pm, the monarch returned to the palace, accompanied only by community
youths who sighted him after he came out of a boat he had paddled.
Goriola told one of Punch
correspondents that when the negotiation for ransom initially fell through, the
kidnappers
He said, “On that Saturday,
at about 9pm, I was listening to news in my bedroom when I heard gunshots.
“When I came into the
sitting room, the gunmen were shouting, ‘This is the king’. I was in shorts and
was about to enter a bathroom. They killed my palace guard, carried me into
their speedboat and drove away into a swamp.
“The kidnappers asked if I
had seen them before or we had done business before and I said no. They told me
while driving away that they were contracted to kill me, but they had changed
their mind. They said I should cooperate with them. I told them they should
rather cooperate with me and treat me like their father.
“The hideout was a shanty
built on water. There were about six shanties on the water. They covered my
eyes while we were in the speedboat. I fainted at a point, but they still
dragged me.
“When we got there, they
allowed me to take my bath. On Sunday, they assured me that they would take me
back to the palace. Around 5pm on the third day, they called my family members.
They were Ijaw youths; they spoke the language and prepared bitter leaf
concoctions, which we ate.
Any time they brought up
the matter of ransom and my family members begged them, they would start
arguing in the shanty. They would carry guns and start threatening me. But
their boss instructed them not to manhandle me.”
Goriola said after the
first ransom was paid, the gang split into two and a fresh ransom was demanded
by the new group.
He said, “My children paid
the first ransom. The ringleaders among the kidnappers spent the money and did
not share it with the other members and they became angry. One of the
ringleaders said he was going to the city and asked what he should buy for me.
I asked for sausage roll. I did not know he was running away.
“On the second week, about
12 gunmen showed up and said they would now start a fresh negotiation. They
said if my children did not cooperate, they would abandon me in the creek and
run away. They maltreated me and made me sleep on the floor. They removed the
mattress and the bedspread.”
The monarch explained that
the kidnappers brought out idols and made him swear he didn’t have more money
than he claimed.
He said later, some of his
family members brought the second ransom, adding that despite the payments, he
was made to sleep on the floor and was bitten by mosquitoes.
He said, “When they
eventually got both ransoms, they asked me to go. They brought me in a
speedboat. When they heard one of them had been arrested by the police, they
said they would take me back to the creek and I persuaded them not to, saying I
would tell the police to release the suspect; they agreed.
“When they got halfway,
they said the boat was faulty and asked me to find a canoe for myself. I found
one by the bush and got into it. I paddled myself to the land.
“When I came to an
expressway, I saw some youths playing football. They seemed not to know who I
was. I asked them which way was to the king’s house. When I crossed the road,
some youths saw me and ran to embrace me.
“I told the gunmen in the
creek that it was God who permitted them to kidnap me, because I am not an easy
prey. I told them I was putting on only shorts and that was why they could
abduct me. And they said they knew.”
The monarch’s son, Saheed
Oseni, told Punch Metro on Sunday that the money paid to the kidnappers was
sourced without the involvement of the state government.
Saheed said the traditional
ruler was hale and hearty, adding that the family was grateful to God for his
safe return.
Punch
God punish all those wicked soul
ReplyDeleteThank God they did not kill you like chicken
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