Police rescue kidnapped medical doctor, nine others in Benue
Benue State Police crime squad yesterday said a kidnap suspect was killed at Gaya, near Benue-Taraba state boundary. Ten victims were rescued, including a popular medical doctor with the Federal Medical Center (FMC) Makurdi, Obadia Etito, and a businesswoman and her two-year-old baby were also rescued.
The squad said its operatives had an encounter with kidnappers on Monday, adding that three of the suspects were also arrested during the operation.
Dr. Etito was kidnapped with his brother when they missed their way along Zaki Biam Road, Benue, during a trip to Taraba State on May 13.
The kidnappers demanded a ransom of N30 million but police operatives stormed the criminals’ den at Gaya forest in the early hours of Monday, while negotiations were still ongoing, and arrested three of the suspects.
Etito in an interview with The Nation, said the kidnappers beat him without mercy when they demanded a ransom of N30 million and he offered N5 million.
Etito, the Medical Director, Hope Clinic, Wadata in Makurdi, said he was kept in a roundhouse with other kidnapped victims and did not eat for 10 days before his rescue.
“I just heard gunshots from all directions and someone asked “where is that Doctor?” That’s how I was rescued. I was blindfolded and forced to trek 10km into the forest, even when the police rescued me I was unable to trek, so they carried me at the back.”
Dr. Etito said: “The kidnappers continue to bring in their victims, blindfold and dump them in the small round house until he regains freedom on Monday morning.
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