Kidnappers were giving us Gala, water – Rescued medical team

The three medical personnel, including the former Edo
State Chairman of Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Dr.
Phillip Ugbodaga, who were kidnapped recently in Imo
State, have regained their freedom.
The other two kidnap victims were Mrs. Anne Usman, a
Matron in the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin
City and Mr. Sunny Omo-Alasa, a health worker.
Narrating their ordeal to newsmen in Owerri, Mrs. Usman
said: “When we got to Orlu that night, we did not know the
right way to Uburu Ekwe. So, we hired a commercial
motorcyclist to direct us. Just a few minutes after we
started the journey, a sports utility vehicle overtook our
car and blocked us”.
Continuing, the badly shaken lady recounted that a young
man that was armed with an AK 47 rifle, clad in the Civil
Defence uniform, jumped out of their vehicle and ordered
the medical personnel to get out of the vehicle.
“Three of us were ordered into the hoodlums’ SUV. They
quickly reversed and sped off to their den, through a very
lonely road. All the efforts by residents of the community
to flag the vehicle down that night, were rebuffed”, the
woman recalled with grief.
She also recalled that as the hoodlums were driving to
their den, they were intermittently making calls to their
colleagues, urging them to be on the alert as they were
“coming with consignments”.
“When we go there, they took our bags and led us into the
bush. They ordered us to sit on the bare ground, under
one big tree. They chained our legs. From October 16 until
we were rescued, we were blindfolded. They were giving
us Gala and water”, Usman said.
Speaking also, Professor Nwauwa appealed to the Federal
Government to provide the police with sophisticated and
modern tracking devices.
“This will easily assist the police in tracking and flushing
out kidnappers, armed robbers and other criminals, even
if they are in the bush”, Nwauwa said.
He lamented that the drugs and other disposables meant
for the free medical exercise, were all stolen by the
hoodlums.
Earlier in his speech, the Police Public Relations Officer,
PPRO, Mr. Andrew Enwerem, confirmed that the
Commissioner of Police, Mr. Taiwo Lakanu, personally
commanded the special anti-kidnap squad that rescued
members of the medical team.
“While Dr. Ugbodaga and Omo-Alasa were set free Friday,
Mrs. Usman was set free in the early hours of Saturday”,
Mr. Enwerem said.
According to the PPRO, the Toyota Camry car belonging to
the medical team, was recovered the next da by the police
and remained in police custody, while efforts were
intensified to rescue the victims.
Vanguard recalls that the three kidnap victims were
among the 18-man medical team that were on their way
from Lagos, to undertake a free medical mission at Isu
local council area of the state, organized by a United
States of America-based professor of medicine, Dr.
Appolos Nwauwa.