By Odita Sunday
Operatives of Inspector General of Police, Intelligence Response Team (IRT) have arrested one of the suspected kidnappers who sometime in April 2020, invaded the home of Rivers State based magistrate (names withheld) at Rumuagholu area of the state and abducted his daughter.
The suspect simply identified as Gift Tasie, 22, who is also an alleged member a dreaded cult group alongside four others currently at large robbed the family before dragging their daughter to their hideout.
She was said to have miraculously escaped from her abductors few days while they were still negotiating with her family.
According to police sources, the IRT team based at its annex office in the state were able track the suspect to his home and still on the trail of the others who are at large.
Recounting the horrifying incident, the magistrate told the police that about four armed men accessed his home through the roof at the back around 3.am. Three of them who were armed with guns ordered him and his entire family to lay faced down.
“They tied and blindfolded them and tied their hands and legs together. They then took time to raid the house of every available valuables including phones, money, jewelries, electronic devices, clothes and shoes”, the source said.
According to the magistrate, the invaders spent more than an hour scouting for valuables before packing all they got inside one of his cars and abducted his 25-year-old daughter. They also withdrew N100,000 from his abducted daughter’s account through her ATM.
“On the second day, they contacted him and demanded N10million as ransom. They started negotiating and the kidnappers who refused to accept the amount offered switched off with a promise to call back the next day. Luckily, his daughter escaped and ran back home”, he said.
On how she managed to escape, the magistrate told the police that her daughter was on her monthly menstrual cycle at the time she was picked. She cried begging her abductors to help her get relief over the pain she was experiencing, which they offered to buy her a bottle of hot drink.
According to him, “One of the kidnappers volunteered to go to town and buy it and when he wasted a lot of time, the second person decided to go and check on her.
The only one left to guard her after waiting for another 30 minutes also decided to quickly check on the others. On sensing that she was alone in the forest, she started screaming and when no one heard her. She started praying, shouting the name Jesus and promised herself that if after shouting the name Jesus about 100 times, she will try to escape.
“After some minutes, she untied herself and started running back to the road, where a ‘good Samaritan’ gave her transport fare back home”.
She told her father that she was held at Rukpokwu forest in Obi Akpor Local government.
On his alleged role, the suspect, Tasie who is a native of Emohua local government of Rivers State said his responsibility on the day of the attack was just to watch the area while the other gang members entered the house.
“I am an orphan, so I dropped out of school as soon as my parents died. It was because I needed to survive that made me to join bad gang led by one Ihekazi Igwe. He started by initiating me into their cult group.
“On the day of the incident, I joined them at an agreed location at Omagwa. When I got there, Ihekazi, Ibuchi , Bright and Sampson Aaron were already on ground with their guns. We drove to the house and I was only given a matchet to hold and watch out for vigilante boys. After about an hour, they drove out with another car and inside the car was a girl. When we got to the bush, they shared all the valuables that was gotten and I was given N10,000 and a wrapper. I was asked to go home because I live with my sister and if she does not see me in more 24 hours she could raise an alarm.
“When I called them the next day, they told me that they asked the family to pay N4million. I was waiting to be called to collect my share when Ihekazi called and said that she escaped. I wanted to use my share to start up a business. I am sorry, it was poverty that led me to crime,” he said.
Suspected kidnapper of magistrate’s daughter in Rivers nabbed by IRT
May 31, 2020
Operatives of Inspector General of Police, Intelligence Response Team (IRT) have arrested one of the suspected kidnappers who sometime in April 2020, invaded the home of Rivers State based magistrate (names withheld) at Rumuagholu area of the state and abducted his daughter.
The suspect simply identified as Gift Tasie, 22, who is also an alleged member a dreaded cult group alongside four others currently at large robbed the family before dragging their daughter to their hideout.
She was said to have miraculously escaped from her abductors few days while they were still negotiating with her family.
According to police sources, the IRT team based at its annex office in the state were able track the suspect to his home and still on the trail of the others who are at large.
Recounting the horrifying incident, the magistrate told the police that about four armed men accessed his home through the roof at the back around 3.am. Three of them who were armed with guns ordered him and his entire family to lay faced down.
“They tied and blindfolded them and tied their hands and legs together. They then took time to raid the house of every available valuables including phones, money, jewelries, electronic devices, clothes and shoes”, the source said.
According to the magistrate, the invaders spent more than an hour scouting for valuables before packing all they got inside one of his cars and abducted his 25-year-old daughter. They also withdrew N100,000 from his abducted daughter’s account through her ATM.
“On the second day, they contacted him and demanded N10million as ransom. They started negotiating and the kidnappers who refused to accept the amount offered switched off with a promise to call back the next day. Luckily, his daughter escaped and ran back home”, he said.
On how she managed to escape, the magistrate told the police that her daughter was on her monthly menstrual cycle at the time she was picked. She cried begging her abductors to help her get relief over the pain she was experiencing, which they offered to buy her a bottle of hot drink.
According to him, “One of the kidnappers volunteered to go to town and buy it and when he wasted a lot of time, the second person decided to go and check on her.
The only one left to guard her after waiting for another 30 minutes also decided to quickly check on the others. On sensing that she was alone in the forest, she started screaming and when no one heard her. She started praying, shouting the name Jesus and promised herself that if after shouting the name Jesus about 100 times, she will try to escape.
“After some minutes, she untied herself and started running back to the road, where a ‘good Samaritan’ gave her transport fare back home”.
She told her father that she was held at Rukpokwu forest in Obi Akpor Local government.
On his alleged role, the suspect, Tasie who is a native of Emohua local government of Rivers State said his responsibility on the day of the attack was just to watch the area while the other gang members entered the house.
“I am an orphan, so I dropped out of school as soon as my parents died. It was because I needed to survive that made me to join bad gang led by one Ihekazi Igwe. He started by initiating me into their cult group.
“On the day of the incident, I joined them at an agreed location at Omagwa. When I got there, Ihekazi, Ibuchi , Bright and Sampson Aaron were already on ground with their guns. We drove to the house and I was only given a matchet to hold and watch out for vigilante boys. After about an hour, they drove out with another car and inside the car was a girl. When we got to the bush, they shared all the valuables that was gotten and I was given N10,000 and a wrapper. I was asked to go home because I live with my sister and if she does not see me in more 24 hours she could raise an alarm.
“When I called them the next day, they told me that they asked the family to pay N4million. I was waiting to be called to collect my share when Ihekazi called and said that she escaped. I wanted to use my share to start up a business. I am sorry, it was poverty that led me to crime,” he said.