The things we hear.
Chairman of G. U. O. Motors Limited,
Godwin Okeke, yesterday testified at an
Onitsha High Court in Anambra State as
a key witness in respect of his
kidnapping by armed men in Onitsha on
Sunday, August 23, 2009.
Presiding over the court case was
Justice Chudi Nwankwo and speaking
under oath, Okeke narrated his
encounter with the abductors at the All
Saints Anglican Church Cathedral,
Onitsha where he went to worship with
his wife, some family members and the
driver.
Vanguard reports:
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.
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