Released Mike Ozekhome recounts his ordeal in kidnappers den
Ozekhome, who had grown a beard, said he was driven on a rough road for about four hours to a jungle far removed from civilisation blindfolded, after he was captured close to Benin City about 3pm on August 23, 2013.
According to Ozekhome, the abductors took him to an uncompleted building in the bush while a colony of mosquitos descended and fed on him and other hostages like barbeque in the camp.
According to him, from the moment of his abduction on August 23, he and 12 other victims were blindfolded by the gang in the camp.
Ozekhome also said any time they wanted to speak to their abductors, they must face the ground, as looking at them (kidnappers) could hand the offender instant death sentence.
“Every 24 hours of the day, we had death sentence hanging on our head. When any of the kidnappers wanted to speak to us, we must face the wall or the ground. They treated me gently because they said they had discovered I’m on the side of the masses, that I have been fighting for the masses.
Speaking further, he explained that his psychological and physical trauma was compounded when his son, Barrister Ilugbekhai and one of his juniors in chambers, Barrister Dominic Ezerioha, were lured and eventually detained with him in the camp.
He described his abductors as highly organised and well educated, which, according to him, made it difficult for security operatives to track them down.
He said: “Even when making phone calls to the families of the victims, they travelled across four or five states so that where they make the calls was different from where their victims were kept. They discussed national issues with high intellect.
“These are graduates of various disciplines, I believe. They understand philosophy, history, political science and, as I said, they have their medical team. One of them said he had graduated for six years without a job and they argued that only 1 per cent of Nigerians have fraudulently cornered the nation’s wealth; so they raise argument to justify their actions.”
“They vowed that, in 2015, they will move against the politicians who they accused of being in the habit of using and dumping them. I asked them, what is the way out? They requested that the federal government should also grant them amnesty and that they are ready to lay down their arms if they are given amnesty just like the Niger Delta militants.
“They said they are ready to come out of the jungle to remove their masks and join the roundtable talk if there is assurance that they will not be arrested by the government.”
According to Ozekhome, the kidnappers have several units and cells across the nation. “For example, they mentioned several notable Nigerians who had been kidnapped in the past in the north, east and west, which they claimed were through their network.”
Contrary to the general belief that the kidnappers usually conduct background information about their victims, Ozekhome said his abductors told him that they just operate randomly and that they don’t profile anybody before they are captured.
“For example, they said they did not know me. They searched through my pocket. They collected everything including my card. So when they asked for my name and I told them, they said yes it is true.”
Moving forward, Ozekhome urged the federal government to declare a state of emergency on insecurity. According to him, a situation where none of us is safe on the road, in the air, on the water, in the day time or at night is a serious and monumental problem and we cannot continue to fold our hands.
He linked the problem of insecurity fundamentally to the massive youth unemployment in the country which he described as complex and gargantuan.
Consequently, he called on the government to declare a state of emergency on youth unemployment as any further delay may spell doom for the nation. He described youth unemployment as the father of Boko Haram, militancy, kidnapping and robbery.
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