Bandits threatened to shoot me for speaking Igbo – Umuahia kidnap victim

Mr Dennis Izuchukwu Okechi, an indigene of Umuawa Alaocha community in Ohuhu, Umuahia North LGA of Abia State, has disclosed that the six bandits who kidnapped him last Wednesday threatened to shoot him dead for communicating with his people on the phone in the Igbo language.

Okechi, a tricycle operator, and Mrs. Onyinyechi Ekechukwu, a farmer, were kidnapped on their way back from the farm and dragged into the bush at about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday by the bandits. They were later rescued by the Umuawa Alaocha community security outfit at about midnight on the same day.

Okechi, who was speaking in pain from his hospital bed, narrated that the bandits inflicted several wounds on him and Mrs. Onyinyechi Ekechukwu before ordering him to call his people to bring a N10 million ransom.

According to him, he swiftly used the Igbo language to communicate the location where he was being held in the Udengwu forest to his people.

The Umuawa Alaocha indigene disclosed that the bandits suddenly seized the phone from him in anger and threatened to kill him if he did not communicate in English.

“Once they handed me my phone to call my people, I quickly used the Igbo language to alert them about the area where the bandits had dragged me and Auntie Onyinyechi. I quickly told them that I was being held in the Udengwu area, and this helped my people to know the location where we were being held.

“But the bandits became angry at me for not speaking English so that they could hear what I told my people. They threatened to shoot me,” Okechi said.

The rescued Umuawa Alaocha indigene, who expressed appreciation to the youths and leaders of his community for combing the bush to rescue them, said those who kidnapped them spoke a strange language and boldly identified themselves as “bandits.”

He further said, “When the bandits noticed that a large number of my people were approaching the location where we were being held, they abandoned us and fled through another path in the bush.”

Meanwhile, the member representing Ikwuano/Umuahia Federal Constituency, Obi Aguocha, has condemned the attack on his Ohuhu community.

Aguocha, who spoke after the rescue of the two victims, called for vigilance in Ohuhu and other parts of Igboland.