The Chairman of G. U. O.
Motors Limited, Chief Godwin Okeke, yesterday, commenced his evidence-in-chief
at an Onitsha High Court in Anambra State, presided over by Justice Chudi
Nwankwo, in respect of his abduction by kidnappers in Onitsha on Sunday, August
23, 2009.
Okeke who spoke under oath,
shortly after the court granted a motion to file and serve additional prove of
evidence with respect to one of the suspected kidnappers, Alexander Onyinanya,
filed by the prosecution counsel, Chris Ajugwe with Mrs. N. D. Wilcox.
He narrated his encounter
with the kidnappers at the All Saints Anglican Church Cathedral, Onitsha when
he went for a Sunday worship with his wife, driver and some family members.
However, counsel to the
first and third accused persons, O. U. Uduma and J. N. Okongwu, did not object
to the prosecution counsel’s motion to file and serve additional prove of
evidence with respect to the third accused, Onyinanya.
How he was abducted
Led in the evidence by his
counsel, Okeke stated that he went for 7 a.m. service which ended at about 10
a.m, adding that between 10.30 and 11 a.m., his wife mounted the steering of
his Nissan Amanda Spots Utility Van, SUV, and was driving towards the church
gate when suddenly, gunmen blocked the car with a bus in front and a Mercedes
Benz car at the rear.
Okeke told the court that
before he could ask questions, the gunmen started shooting sporadically, adding
that even though he managed to disarm one or two of them, they shattered his
left leg, over-powered him, drove away his wife and family members before
bundling him into his SUV and zoomed off with the abductors’ vehicles
following.
He further told the court
that they passed through Awka Road and at Limca Road, they met a traffic
gridlock but his abductors shot sporadically into the air to scare the
commuters before they continued their movement up to Nkpor junction where he
said they met some policemen and exchanged fire with them.
Two vehicles snatched
He said: “At Umuoji Road, my
abductors discovered that their tyres were deflated during the exchange of fire
with the policemen and they quickly jumped out of the vehicles, blocked the
road, snatched two other vehicles from their unsuspecting owners and transferred
their arms and ammunition, including 9 AK 47 riffles, rocket launchers, machine
guns and a big Ghana-must-go bag filled with loaded magazines and live
cartridges into the snatched vehicles.
“They continued their
journey and drove through Alor, Adazi-Ani and Adazi-Enu. On getting to
somewhere between Adazi-Enu and Neni communities in Anaocha Local Government
Area of the state, they drove into a bungalow, rounded up the occupants, who
were mainly children, locked them up in one of the rooms and kept me inside the
living room.
“I removed my shirt and tied
my bleeding leg as part of measures to control the blood gushing out from the
bullet wound. At a stage, I became thirsty and requested them to give me water
to drink. Two of the abductors, Emeka Eze and Anthony Ifeanyi Okafor were with
me while others were outside monitoring movements.”
He said the duo with him
advised him not to drink water because of his bullet wound but he insisted on
drinking and eventually they gave him the water which he drank.
He said: “I overheard those
outside asking the detained children where they kept oil, salt and other
condiments because at that point, they had started cooking breadfruit meal for
lunch.
The third accused was my
ex-employee
He said after cooking, they
presented the food and he ate with them. He said among those outside, two of
them, a tall and short one wore masks, adding that he could discover that the
tall one, Alexander Onyinanya, the third accused with mask was his former
employee
“I could identify Onyinanya
because he limps as a result of an accident he had when he was working for me.
I was the one who paid his hospital bill when he had the accident.
I offered them N1bn, instead
of N100m
“After eating the breadfruit
meal, they praised me for my courage and for accepting their food, unlike other
victims who usually refuse to eat during their captivity.”
He said they now asked him
to get ready for negotiation to which he paid attention.
“They told me that Chief
Paul Okonkwor, Managing Director of Pokobros Group West Africa Limited paid
them N70 million as ransom when they kidnapped him, while Chief Anthony
Enukeme, Managing Director of Tonimas Oil Limited paid them N80 million during
his own time and told me to pay them N100 million.
“I replied them promptly
that Okonkwor and Enukeme are millionaires, while I am a billionaire, and
offered them N1 billion, instead of N100 million.
“The offer gave them special
joy as they now dropped their weapons by the side, relaxed and asked me how and
when the money would get to them to which I told them that the money was in the
bank.”
At this stage, Justice
Nwankwo ordered him to stop for the day till the next adjourned date.
The court now adjourned the
matter to November 14, 26, 27, 28, December 2, 3, 4, 5 and 9, this year for
accelerated hearing and possible dispensation.
Posted by Nigerian civil
right movement
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