ANAMBRA NATIVE DOCTOR RELEASED BY KIDNAPPERS AFTER ALLEGEDLY PAYING RANSOM
By ‘Leke Yusuf
Popular abducted Anambra native doctor and social media influencer, Mr. Chidozie Nwangwu, otherwise known as Akwa Okuko Tiwara Aki, has been released by his abductors.
It was gathered that his abductors demanded N350 million ransom, which was allegedly delivered to them.
Akwa Okuko Tiwara Aki was said to have been released on Saturday morning.
An indigene of the town who confirmed the release said: āAkwa Okuko was released very early this morning (Saturday) and he is still celebrating with his friends and well wishers in his house in Oba. His friends rallied round and raised the money for the abductors.ā
Police PPRO, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, said: āYes, he was released this morning. We are waiting to debrief him with a view to getting his experience and clue of who the abductors were, so that we can go after them.ā
Nwangwu was kidnapped last Sunday and released early Saturday morning.
“I COULD HAVE ESCAPED IF I WANTED TO”
While narrating his experience, he said he willingly submitted himself to his abductors to avoid more casualties after his two bodyguards were killed.
He said, āWhat really happened was that I was there (at home) that day, at around 11:30am, when someone called me and said they were at my hotel, and that they were spending money, and had spent close to N300,000, and that they would have wanted me to be around.
āI obliged them and drove to the hotel all by myself, in my new car. No one came with me. I was there, and not up to 30 minutes later, gunshots rented the air. People started running helter-skelter. I now went out to see what was happening, and the people started shooting at me.
āThey killed two of my security men. I donāt want to reveal much now, but I know that only two things can save a man. If your charms do not save you, your money will save you.
āAnyone who has charms should have money. So the people took me into their car. If I wanted to run away, I would have run away, but I have seen those that were shot and I said if I leave, they would kill many people. A lot of people were lying down, and if I wanted to leave, they would have killed many.
āThe story too would have been that the whole thing started when I came in, meaning that I was the one who brought in kidnappers. I decided to follow them to show that my hands were clean. What I did was to save many souls. If you think they took me because I ate peopleās money, let me tell you I did not. If I eat your money, come to me I will give you money because I have money.ā
The witch doctor also revealed that his ordeal was not unconnected with the sit-at-home exercise in the South-East region.
“BLAMES IPOB FOR HIS ORDEAL”
āThis whole thing is related to this sit-at-home people, and they mentioned names of more people they will take, but itās not something I can say now. They killed many in front of me. They killed up to 20 people before me. I did not take anyoneās money, they just came to kidnap and their target is people who have money. They wanted to kidnap as many as 50 people from my hotel that day, but I rather followed them,ā he said.