The
spate of kidnapping in Nigeria and the involvement of youths in the
criminal act have become a source of grave concern. More worrisome is
the fact that abduction is fast becoming more than a trend; it is now an
industry thriving on funds received from the families of victims.
The
latest of their victim is popular human rights lawyer and Senior
Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Mr. Mike Ozekhome who was abducted on August
23, along the Benin –Auchi express way after a shootout which left four
police men dead.
Following weeks of negotiations for ransom, Ozekhome was finally released.
Strangely
Mr. Dominic Ezerioha, a lawyer in Mike Ozekhome’s Chambers was also
abducted on September 6, while trying to negotiate the freedom of his
boss. Mr. Ezerioha and Mr. Ozekhome’s son, Ilugbekai, also a lawyer,
were both saddled with the responsibility of delivering the ransom to
the kidnappers.
Mr. Ezerioha recounted his ordeal in a chat with
Vanguard Metro, VM. His words: “The situation was very tense; the
kidnappers kept calling me. We tried to negotiate with them and after
such negotiations I will call my contacts who gave me tips on how to
negotiate with them. They (kidnappers) were convinced that I’m close to
Mr. Ozekhome and that I should bring the money. Unfortunately, when we
got there, I was kidnapped because they believed that they could get
some money by so doing”.
Describing
his trauma, Ezerioha narrated thus: “I died seven times and I woke up.
We drove in a Jeep with the ransom to the place where they directed us
to. When we got there, they promptly kidnapped us and took away the
vehicle we came with. They drove us, blindfolded, for about two and half
hours until we arrived at the destination, a building located right
inside a thick forest. That was where we were kept”.
Mr. Ezerioha
who spoke at Mike Ozekhome’s house at Igando in the Ikotun area of
Lagos state, told VM that he was yet to see members of his family. “I am
on my way to the airport now to see my family. When I get to the
airport, I will go to Abuja to see them.”
The visibly elated
lawyer gave glory to God for making their release possible. “The
atmosphere since our release has been very nice. My stay with the
kidnappers was a very strong omen. We give God the glory,” he said.
Asked
to explain his relationship with Mr. Ozekhome he declared: “Chief Mike
Ozekhome is my mentor, my boss and my father. He is a man of the people;
he is a man who touches the lives of people. Even while the abductors
were holding him, he touched their lives. He told them the right things
to do as human beings. He is solidly a nice man”.
He
threw more light on the negotiation process but could not state
categorically confirm the amount paid as ransom. “When we were there, a
lot of negotiations were going on. As I am talking to you now, I don’t
know what happened but I know that ransom was asked and ransom was
paid. But we don’t know how much; maybe at our convenient time we can
address the press on it.”
Source
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