I
ESCAPED ON THE NIGHT THEY WERE TO KILL ME
Chief Donatus (as
he preferred to be identified in this heart-rending story for security
reasons), is an ardent Christian who believes that God’s will must manifest, no
matter the situation. A wealthy owner of one of the most flourishing
pharmaceutical companies in Nigeria with outlets in major cities of the world,
he was forced to pass through the eye of a needle after being abducted near his
office on the celebrated lover’s day of February 14, 2017. At the end of the
90-day gruelling and shocking experience in the hands of his kidnappers led by
the arrested notorious kidnap kingpin, Chukwudubem Omwuamadike a.k.a Evans, he
miraculously escaped from their hideout. In this exclusive interview, the first
since his freedom, with Emma Nnadozie and Joseph Unduu, he gave a vivid account
of the hair-raising ugly encounter.
Chief Donatus would
not want his pictures published as police have not offered him any protection
and he is still afraid of the Evans gang
Excerpts:
On the 14th
February, 2017, at about 7:30pm, while I was going home from my office at
Ilupeju, I suddenly saw an SUV opposite me. I wanted to reverse but somebody in
the front came down with a long gun and dragged me out from my car. He pushed
me inside the SUV. Immediately they
moved away from the street, they transferred me to the back of the SUV and
covered me with a car mat while one of them sat on top of me. They drove me to
an unknown place but before we got there, the one at the back with me now put
iron (chain) on my hands. There were
about five of them in the SUV. I was carried away and didn’t know what to say.
I was afraid for my life and was thinking whether they were assassins or
kidnappers because I have some cases in the court. So, I thought maybe those
people are the ones after me.
Trip
to hideout
When we got there,
they asked me to come down but remain faced down, which I did. The house was a
bungalow with a parlour and their generator was on. They asked me; are you
Chief Donatus, I said yes, what’s your wife’s name? I told them. They now told
me that they were not going to harm me, that what they wanted was their own
share and that I should corporate. After that, they brought out one AK-47 and a
pistol with live ammunitions and showed me that this is not a child’s play.
They now brought out a locally made iron like chain and put on my legs,
blindfolded me, then pushed me into one dark room. It was a self-contained room
with bathroom and toilet inside. There was a standing fan, one high rise foam
with bed spread and curtains on the widow but throughout my stay there, it was
not opened even for one day. I was there till the following day. There was no
food for me through out that night, but in the morning, they brought Indomie
for me after brushing. I took my bath and ate. They asked me not to look at
them any time I wanted to bath so when the time comes; I raised the blindfold
up a bit, making sure that they did not see me.
