According to Tribune, Anyanwu, who narrated how she escaped from the kidnappers, confirmed that those who abducted her and four others later brought their cows to the camp where they were kept in the bush.
One of the victims of last Saturday’s kidnapping incident in the Okada axis of Benin City, Edo State, during which Olajide Sowore, the younger brother to human rights' activist, Omoyele Sowore, was killed, Emmanuella Anyanwu, on Monday confirmed that their abductors and killers of the younger Sowore, were Fulani herdsmen.
According to Tribune, Anyanwu, who narrated how she escaped from the kidnappers, confirmed that those who abducted her and four others later brought their cows to the camp where they were kept in the bush.
The Edo State Police Command had, on Sunday night, announced that it rescued the Catholic nun from the kidnappers.
She said, “On Friday, we were coming from Lagos to the South-East and our vehicle broke down around Okada on the outskirts of Benin. We passed the night in the vehicle. At about 6.30am to 7am, some men came out from the bush shooting at us and we surrendered.
“They took our belongings including our phones and marched us into the bush. It took us almost two hours to get to their camp. They blindfolded us. So they started calling us one after the other and I was the last person they called. They asked me where I was coming from and where I was going. I told them that I was coming from Lagos and going to Imo State for my husband’s burial.
“They asked how many kids I had, I told them two and I also told them I sell groundnut in Lagos. They asked if I was the one providing the money to bury my husband and I told them his brother will do that. They also wanted to know what my sister was doing and I told them she sells bread in the village. They asked if I knew them, I said no. They asked if I knew the police and army, I told them I knew those ones.
“They told me they were kidnappers and said they abducted me because of ransom. They said if I didn’t have money, they would take my life. I asked them how much they wanted. But one of them was furious that I was asking them questions. I told them I needed to know the ransom.
“They asked if I had N10million and I told them there was no way to get that kind of money. I told them I would give them N500,000 from money gathered from my village. One of them said I was a fool and they told me to sit down.
“Then it started raining heavily and they went away and brought one man again. So they took something from that man and their attention was on it. So I removed my blindfold and decided to escape but I decided to shelve the plan till midnight.
“But my spirit told me to escape because I would not have the opportunity to do so in the night because the abductors didn’t sleep in the night. I crept and that was how I escaped.”
When she was asked about the tribe of those who kidnapped her, she said: “I believe they are Fulani, because on that Saturday afternoon, they released their cows and they came to where we were being held. I saw a mast far away and I started trekking towards it. After one hour or more, I got to a road and saw an elderly man on motorcycle and I asked him to take me to the police station, which he did.”
She added that the herdsmen were very harsh towards their victims.
“They were very harsh and warned us not to look at their faces, they also asked us not to talk to one another. They were beating the men but spared the women. I sustained the wounds on my body when I was trying to find my way out of the bush,” she said.