Mrs. Nkechinyere Onachukwu, a woman kidnapped by gunmen suspected to be herdsmen on her farm in Amaonye Community Ishiagu, Ivo local government area of Ebonyi State last week, has been rescued.
The Executive Chairman of the council, Hon. Emmanuel Ajah, made this known to Journalists in Abakaliki on Tuesday.
According to the council boss, she was released on Monday, 24 July, following a manhunt by security agencies in conjunction with the Council security led by himself using security trackers brought in from outside the State.
“When security agents we deployed to track them were closing in on them, they were forced to release her,” the Chairman said
The Chairman also added that the kidnappers were traced to a deep forest inside Abia state before they released the woman when the heat became too hot for them to handle.
He noted that security agencies are still on the trail of the kidnappers with a view to arresting them.
He said: “Before I came on board, places like Ojukwu bus stop were like a death trap. Nobody could move around that area, But we mounted surveillance teams in that area and other flash points”
“We continue to work with security agencies and our own local vigilante to ensure we maintain security in the area. Our people can now sleep with their eyes closed”, he said.
He, however, lamented that the cost of maintaining security in the area has risen astronomically due to the high cost of petrol used in fuelling the patrol vehicles daily.
“But we shall continue to do all within our powers to ensure we maintain security because no meaningful development can be achieved without security,” he vowed.
Recounting her ordeal, the victim, Mrs. Onachukwu, said she was on her farm when she was kidnapped by herdsmen.
She said they trekked for days before they got to the kidnapper’s den inside a thick forest.
“I was on my farm harvesting cassava when I heard a whisper, I turned and saw many men from all directions coming at me, I tried to run, but they caught up with me and took me, hostage.
“As I started to shout for help, they started flogging me with their machetes and asking me to keep quiet. They dragged me into the bush”
“From there, we trekked through bushes through the night until we got to a place where they brought out a mat for us to lied down and sleep”
“The next day, we continued till we got to their camp where they had made shift huts. There they called their boss, who understood pidgin English. The rest were speaking their language”, she said.
“Their boss came, and I started begging him to let me go, but he said no, that they will deal with me, that Ishiagu people are wicked.”
“He brought a phone and asked me to call anybody I know, so I called my husband and told him what happened. And from there, they started negotiations,” she narrated.
When contacted by the Police Spokesperson, Onome Onovwakpoyeya, she could not be reached for comments at the time of this report. She did not respond to messages or take calls placed to her phone lines.
Recall that Kidnapping has been on the increase in the state in recent times.
An INEC official and a farmer were killed on a road leading into the council last month by gunmen who abducted the INEC official’s wife.
On July 10, gunmen also kidnapped a Catholic Priest, Joseph Azubuike of St Charles Parish Isu, in Onicha Local government area and about three of his companions. They were later rescued a few days later with the help of community security.