Njoku, who was paraded alongside 16 other persons by the Ebonyi State Police Command, narrated how a four-member-gang led by a Fulani herdsman kidnapped some returnees from the United States of America during the Yuletide celebration.
Mr Njoku Michael, a trader turned kidnapper has narrated how his friend who is a Fulani herdsman lured him into the crime during the last Christmas and New Year period.
Njoku, who was paraded alongside 16 other persons by the Ebonyi State Police Command, narrated how a four-member-gang led by a Fulani herdsman kidnapped some returnees from the United States of America during the Yuletide celebration.
“We were four persons who carried out the kidnap but it was only two of us who were captured by the police and we don’t know where the others are," he narrated to journalists during their parade which was conducted by the command's spokesman, Joshua Akandu, at the state police headquarters in Abakaliki.
Njoku noted that they received a ransom of N40 million in naira and dollars for the crime, but denied that the gang killed any of its victims.
He said no one was shot and that the death of a lady in captivity was caused by fear.
He explained that the Fulani herdsman who lured him into the crime was his customer.
According to him, on December 13, 2023, the herdsman came to his shop with his cattle and he was impressed by the number of cattle he had.
He said he asked the herder to lend him N50,000 but instead of giving him the money, the herder told him he had a job for him in Afikpo in Ebonyi State.
Njoku said he was told that all he had to do was put manure in bags “and if I worked hard, I would earn N30,000 or N40,000 in four days”.
The trader who was desperate to get money to stock up his shop for festivities was overjoyed that he could work for four days and make up to N40,000.
“I said okay and called my brother to take care of my shop so that I would follow the Alhaji and go for that work. I followed the man to Afikpo and we got to Afikpo on New Year’s Day in the evening. There, He bought me food and lodged me in a hotel,” he said.
Njoku said he was later taken to a thick forest where two of his (herder’s) brothers joined them.
He said the herder left them and later returned with a gun and a piece of cloth.
“When I asked him what we were going to do with a gun, he asked me: ‘I think you said you were looking for money? This is the time we are going to look for the money,’” he said.
According to him, he joined in the kidnap operation because he would be killed by the herders if he didn’t.
He said they probably brought him in to join the operation to prove that Igbos are also involved in kidnapping in the southeast region and not just Fulani herdsmen.
"How would I have come to a place I have never been in my life to carry out kidnapping?"