Kidnap Victim Recounts Harrowing Escape in Rivers State

A man kidnapped in Rivers State has shared his chilling ordeal after narrowly escaping from his captors. Speaking at a police briefing following the arrest of suspected kidnappers, the victim described his abduction and the terrifying moments that followed.

According to the victim, he was ambushed at gunpoint and forced onto a motorcycle while his vehicle was seized. He was taken to an uncompleted building where he was stripped and blindfolded using his own clothes. Later, the kidnappers moved him to a remote hideout near a river.

“They blindfolded me after one of them noticed I was looking at their faces. My hands and legs were tied, and they left me there. The mosquitoes were unbearable,” he recounted. “Around midnight, I realized that if I stayed, I might not survive.”

Mustered with determination, the victim used his knees to loosen the blindfold and untie himself. He then escaped through a small window and swam across a river for over two hours before finding refuge in a church.

The kidnappers pursued him, searching the area on motorcycles. To evade capture, the victim hid in cassava fields whenever he heard them nearby. By dawn, he managed to reach a main road and found help.

Interestingly, the assailants did not immediately demand a ransom but instead checked his phone and bank account for money. “They asked how I would bail myself. I told them they could hold my car as a guarantee while I found the money,” he revealed.

The victim’s story highlights the dangers posed by criminal activities in Rivers State and the resilience of those who endure such ordeals.