The Chairman of G.U.O.
Motors Limited, Chief
Godwin Okeke, on
Monday commenced his
evidence-in-chief at an
Onitsha High Court in
Anambra State, presided
over by Justice Chudi
Nwankwo, in respect of
his abduction by
kidnappers in Onitsha on
Sunday, August 23, 2009.
Chief Okeke who spoke
under oath, shortly after
the court granted a motion
to file and serve
additional prove of
evidence with respect to
one of the suspected
kidnappers, Alexander
Onyinanya, his employee,
filed by the prosecution
counsel, Chris Ajugwe
with Mrs. N. D. Wilcox.
Below is what Chief Okeke
said about his kidnap
after Church on a Sunday
morning...
How he was abducted
Led in the evidence by his
counsel, Okeke, according
to a Vanguard report,
stated that he went for 7
a.m. service which ended
at about 10 a.m, adding
that between 10.30 and
11 a.m., his wife mounted
the steering of his Nissan
Amanda Spots Utility Van,
SUV, and was driving
towards the church gate
when suddenly, gunmen
blocked the car with a bus
in front and a Mercedes
Benz car at the rear.
Okeke told the court that
before he could ask
questions, the gunmen
started shooting
sporadically, adding that
even though he managed
to disarm one or two of
them, they shattered his
left leg, over-powered him,
drove away his wife and
family members before
bundling him into his SUV
and zoomed off with the
abductors’ vehicles
following.
He further told the court
that they passed through
Awka Road and at Limca
Road, they met a traffic
gridlock but his abductors
shot sporadically into the
air to scare the
commuters before they
continued their movement
up to Nkpor junction
where he said they met
some policemen and
exchanged fire with them.
Two vehicles snatched
He said: “At Umuoji Road,
my abductors discovered
that their tyres were
deflated during the
exchange of fire with the
policemen and they
quickly jumped out of the
vehicles, blocked the road,
snatched two other
vehicles from their
unsuspecting owners and
transferred their arms and
ammunition, including 9
AK 47 riffles, rocket
launchers, machine guns
and a big Ghana-must-go
bag filled with loaded
magazines and live
cartridges into the
snatched vehicles.
“They continued their
journey and drove through
Alor, Adazi-Ani and
Adazi-Enu. On getting to
somewhere between
Adazi-Enu and Neni
communities in Anaocha
Local Government Area of
the state, they drove into
a bungalow, rounded up
the occupants, who were
mainly children, locked
them up in one of the
rooms and kept me inside
the living room.
“I removed my shirt and
tied my bleeding leg as
part of measures to
control the blood gushing
out from the bullet wound.
At a stage, I became
thirsty and requested
them to give me water to
drink. Two of the
abductors, Emeka Eze and
Anthony Ifeanyi Okafor
were with me while others
were outside monitoring
movements.”
He said the duo with him
advised him not to drink
water because of his
bullet wound but he
insisted on drinking and
eventually they gave him
the water which he drank.
He said: “I overheard
those outside asking the
detained children where
they kept oil, salt and
other condiments because
at that point, they had
started cooking breadfruit
meal for lunch.
The third accused was my
ex-employee
He said after cooking,
they presented the food
and he ate with them. He
said among those outside,
two of them, a tall and
short one wore masks,
adding that he could
discover that the tall one,
Alexander Onyinanya, the
third accused with mask
was his former employee.
“I could identify
Onyinanya because he
limps as a result of an
accident he had when he
was working for me. I was
the one who paid his
hospital bill when he had
the accident.
I offered them N1bn,
instead of N100m
“After eating the breadfruit
meal, they praised me for
my courage and for
accepting their food,
unlike other victims who
usually refuse to eat
during their captivity.”
He said they now asked
him to get ready for
negotiation to which he
paid attention.
“They told me that Chief
Paul Okonkwor, Managing
Director of Pokobros
Group West Africa Limited
paid them N70 million as
ransom when they
kidnapped him, while
Chief Anthony Enukeme,
Managing Director of
Tonimas Oil Limited paid
them N80 million during
his own time and told me
to pay them N100 million.
“I replied them promptly
that Okonkwor and
Enukeme are millionaires,
while I am a billionaire,
and offered them N1
billion, instead of N100
million.
“The offer gave them
special joy as they now
dropped their weapons by
the side, relaxed and
asked me how and when
the money would get to
them to which I told them
that the money was in the
bank.”
At this stage, Justice
Nwankwo ordered him to
stop for the day till the
next adjourned date.
The court now adjourned
the matter to November
14, 26, 27, 28, December
2, 3, 4, 5 and 9, this year
for accelerated hearing
and possible
dispensation.
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