Like a nollywood movie Title Stone cold kidnappers are demanding ....
“We were negotiating ransom with him over his kidnapped wife who later died in our camp.
Now he is dead, his relations must pay us before he is buried ! ”
It was double tragedy for one of the communities in Osisioma Ngwa Local Government of Abia State as a pastor with one of the orthodox churches has died as a result of the death of his wife in the hands of kidnappers. According to information made available to Daily Sun by a native of the village, who did not want his name in print for fear of being attacked, gunmen, believed to be kidnappers, had in June this year, abducted the wife of the pastor said to be in her 70s.
The following day, the woman’s abductors opened up channel of communication for ransom with her pastor husband who was in his early 80s.
But as discussions were still on, tragedy struck. The woman, perhaps out of torture received in the hands of her captors and other harsh conditions in the forest where she was kept, died.
The kidnappers brought out the body of the woman and placed it by the side of a major road in the area.
When words got across to the octogenarian pastor emeritus that his wife had been found dead, he reportedly slumped and died instantly.
Our source revealed that immediately the incidence happened, the deceased’s step son who is a medical doctor based in Germany, flew home and under tight security, buried the woman, while her husband’s burial was slated for a later date...
However, in a move that baffled many, the kidnappers, before the burial date could be fixed, contacted the late pastor’s members of family and demanded an undisclosed amount as ransom before he could be buried. They threatened they would disrupt activities and kidnap many of those that would attend the burial ceremony if their demand was not meet...
This threat heightened tension in the area and drove fear into the minds of many, forcing members of the family to consider burying their brother outside the community. But this idea was said to have been opposed by the Germany-based medical doctor who insisted his father must be buried in the family compound as is the tradition in that part of the country.
As at the time of filing this report, the late pastor’s body was still at the mortuary almost three months after his death.
FYI
Mexico No. 2 in world for kidnaps
An anticrime group says the abduction rate is second only to Colombia's. There is disagreement on victim numbers.
TESSIE BORDEN
Republic Mexico City Bureau
MEXICO CITY - The numbers are disputed, but one thing is certain: You are more likely to be abducted
in Mexico than almost anywhere else in the world.
A report by an anti-crime group says Mexico's kidnap rate is second only to Colombia's. And the news
gets worse.
Take into account that most of Colombia's kidnappings are committed by politically motivated terrorist
groups. Mexico moves to the top of the list in kidnappings that have no other motive than illicit profit,
a Mexico City security consultant says.
Experts and government officials disagree on the exact number of kidnappings in the country, but they
agree that the problem won't go away unless families stop allowing themselves to be scared into silence
and continue paying ransoms.
There were 422 kidnappings reported in Mexico in 2003, according to the Citizens' Council for Public
Security and Penal Justice, a business-based group. Though that figure is down from 437 in 2002, the
problem isn't getting any better, spokesman Jose Antonio Ortega said.
