Mrs. Edna Orah, a trader based in Arue, Uromi, in Esan North-East Local Government Area of Edo State, has recounted her harrowing experience after being kidnapped and held hostage for ransom by a gang of armed aboki men.
Speaking to HEROTV, Mrs. Orah described how she was abducted just meters away from her home one evening. According to her, the kidnappers – numbering about seven – emerged from a nearby bush and ordered her to follow them.
“I followed them. We trekked for three days through the forest and eventually reached the Auchi area,” she said.
The ordeal worsened when the kidnappers demanded a ransom of ₦1 billion from her husband. “I told them I have never heard of a billion,” she said. “My husband was shocked and said he had never seen that kind of money before. I offered ₦1 million, but they threatened to kill me if my husband didn’t pay the ₦1 billion.”
As the negotiation dragged on, Mrs. Orah and her captors continued trekking deeper into the forest, eventually reaching Okene in Kogi State. “They showed me pictures of my husband and our car, and even one where he was spraying money at a party,” she recalled. “They said we would have to sell our hotel and house to raise the money.”
Despite her denials that the family owned any hotel, the kidnappers were convinced otherwise, allegedly acting on information from an informant. Her husband eventually raised ₦10.5 million, which was paid to the gang.
However, internal disagreements among the kidnappers’ leadership – with one boss in Jigawa and another in Uromi – escalated the situation. The Uromi-based faction deemed the ₦10.5 million “too small” and dispatched a new group of abductors to enforce their demands. These men insisted that the ransom is ₦20 million.
“They asked for it in three batches. Three men came on motorbikes to deliver the money to them in the forest. After I was released, my husband got a call demanding another ₦20 million, or else the two of the men who came with the ransom would not be set free.”
This prompted yet another round of fundraising by her husband, who managed to raise an additional ₦10 million. In total, ₦30 million was paid to the abductors before Mrs. Orah was finally freed.
“My body was weak. I was tortured and maltreated. I still don’t understand why they picked me, but I thank God I am alive to tell the story,” she said.
Mrs. Orah’s chilling testimony adds to growing concerns over the rising wave of kidnappings in Edo State and across the country. Authorities have yet to comment on the incident or confirm if any arrests have been made.
