Posted by John Ameh on
The former Anambra State Commissioner for Works, Mr. Ken Emeakayi, who was abducted penultimate Thursday by gunmen, has opened up on his harrowing experience in the hands of his captors.
The former Anambra State Commissioner for Works, Mr. Ken Emeakayi, who was abducted penultimate Thursday by gunmen, has opened up on his harrowing experience in the hands of his captors.
For the 10 days that he remained in captivity, Emeakayi, an influential cabinet member in the administration of the immediate past Governor of the state, Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju, received a raw deal, surviving on pure water and biscuits.
Giving the chilling details of his ordeal in an exclusive interview with Sunday Punch, the former commissioner revealed that apart from blindfolding him, the hired gunmen also gave him the beating of his life.
"I was thoroughly beaten by the four gunmen, all who carried AK-47 rifles. They tied my face with a black cloth. I don't quite know where they took me to on the first day.
"All I can recall is that I was taken from place to place and for the first two days, I was given no food. It was from the third day that they started to give me water and biscuits," Emeakayi told Sunday Punch as he wreathed in pains.
It would appear that what saved his life the first two days and the duration of the abduction was an argument that allegedly ensued among the gunmen almost immediately the politician was kidnapped.
It turned out that one of the gunmen identified him and reportedly brought up a suggestion that instead of "shooting the target until he is wasted," as they were instructed, they should negotiate and collect a huge sum of money from him.
"When I heard the argument for the first three days, on the fourth day, I decided to seize the opportunity and offered to negotiate with them.
"We got talking and in the process, they also disclosed to me those who planned this dastardly act. They asked me to buy my life with N200 million. I said okay, fine, I will comply, but I have to make contacts to be able to raise that kind of money", he stated further.
Emeakayi added that the idea of allowing him to call friends to raise the money, was rejected by them as they believed that the method might give them up. As a result, they continued to intimidate him and consulted among themselves.
Investigations by Sunday Punch showed that his ordeal, as confirmed by the police, started in the morning of Thursday, September 29, 2005.
On that fateful day, some men in plainclothes claiming to be police officers, had visited his Okija home in Ihiala Local Government Area of the state.
They had allegedly told him that they came to search his house because somebody wrote a petition against him.
"They did not show me a copy of the petition, but they wanted me to accompany them to Awka. I refused to follow them but agreed to be in Awka later that day to see the Commissioner of Police. When I went, he was not there.
"So, on my way back to Okija from Awka, somewhere around Nimo-Nneni, just before the hill, I saw a black jeep, same as the one that came to my house earlier, trailing me on top speed.
"I slowed down in my Isuzu jeep, but on getting to me, the four men suddenly alighted and dragged me out. They pointed their guns at me, beat and kicked me severely and dragged me into their own vehicle before driving off," he said.
Men of the State Anti-Robbery Squad, allegedly acting on a tip-off, rescued the politician from the gunmen on the 10th day in a forest in Nnewi.
They were said to have exchanged fire with members of the squad before they later beat a retreat and escaped through the forest.
The Commissioner of Police, Anambra State Command, Mr. Felix Ogbaudu, confirmed the rescue but admitted that he had not personally set his eyes on Emeakayi.
"I know those who planned to kill me, but I don't want to talk about that now because of my security.
"A certain politician in this state feels that I know too much, having served in government before. He is seeking for something, which he hopes to achieve in the next couple of months.
"He believes that I am the only person, who can scuttle that bid; I think that was why they went to my house searching for documents they could destroy.
"I leave the police to do their own work. I have made a full report to them; it is left to them to continue from there," he added.
Sunday Punch gathered that the abduction made headlines and generated immediate national interest because Emeakayi has been in the news since September 2002.
For almost two years, he had been detained in prison custody as the principal suspect in the celebrated murder of the former Chairman of the Onitsha Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Barnabas Igwe and his wife, Amaka, on September 1, 2002.
He was only granted bail early this year. The abduction took place just five days to the date hearing in the criminal charge of murder brought against him was to have continued at a Nnewi High Court.
The seeming coincidence was said to have generated controversy as a school of thought in favour of his prosecution had wondered whether he planned the abduction to escape a possible decision of the court remanding him in custody again.
"Is this line of thought not wicked? That a man will subject himself to denial and physical harm just to avoid going to court, how does that help my case?
"Is it not by appearing in court that the judge handling the case will have confidence that you have not jumped bail and therefore, will not issue a Bench Warrant on you? The former commissioner reacted when Sunday Punch sought his comments on the allegation.
He added, "That sitting of the court you talked about was not even a judgment day. If it were the case, maybe you could have concluded that I wanted to escape to avoid being jailed.
"But, here you have a case that is just at hearing stage and you are accusing the suspect of planning an abduction. So, how many abductions will I plan before the case is concluded?", Emeakayi asked.
Asked whether he was nursing a gubernatorial ambition, he said that even if he had the ambition, the political equation in the state today "does not favour another Ihiala man becoming a governor soon after Mbadinuju."
"The problem is what I have just told you. Some politicians, who think that politics is about deceiving people, are behind my ordeal.
"They are afraid of people like us, who are close to the grassroots and tell the people the truth.
"They framed me up in this murder charge, now they want me dead as well," he added.
SUNDAY PUNCH, October 16, 2005