On May 25, 2016, Ikenna Osuji, a student of the
Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Imo State, who was
working as a taxi driver along to finance his studies,
met his death in the hands of kidnappers when he
drove into a land where 30-year-old Chinedu Azuazu
was a security guard.
Saturday PUNCH learnt that Ikenna was fairly known
to Azuazu because he used to drive prospective land
buyers to the large expanse of land guarded by
Azuazu in his cab. But May 25 was the last day the
young man would ever be seen alive. He drove into
the land again that day and was never seen again.
When Azuazu was nabbed on September 12, 2016 by
operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Response
Team, details of the gruesome end Ikenna met in the
hands of his captors emerged.
Azuazu, a father of one living at Omouku area Port
Harcourt, Rivers State, said he was employed to guard
the land in question, which belonged to the Alakahia
community close to the University of Port Harcourt
Teaching Hospital.
He said, “The man who employed us never paid
us. He would rather take us to a bar and buy us
drinks and then give us small money, like
N3,000. It was too small for me. When my wife
became pregnant and I needed money to
prepare for our coming child, he refused to
assist me.
“I saw my chance to make money when Ikenna
came to our site on May 25. My colleague,
Joshua, and I decided to kidnap him. We
believed he was from a rich family and thought
that was why he normally brought people to
buy land at the site.
“When we sighted him, we threatened to shoot
him with our double-barrelled gun. We then
kidnapped and took him deep into the forest.
While we kept him there, we called his relatives
with his phone and demanded a N5m ransom.
“Ikenna’s brother told us that he did not have
up to that amount. We reduced the ransom to
N2m and threatened to kill him if they did not
pay. While we were waiting on the family to
pay us the ransom, Ikenna spent 14 days in our
custody.
“On the 15th day, I left him in Joshua’s custody
to go and buy some food. When I returned I
found him lying motionless on the ground. I
asked Joshua what happened and he told me
that when I was away, Ikenna attempted to
escape and he almost overpowered him before
he found a stick and hit him in the head.”
Azuazu said he checked Ikenna’s pulse and realised
that he was still breathing but faintly.
According to him, there was nothing he could do to
help the young man and had to leave him on the
ground till he breathed his last.He said after few
hours, he went to check Ikenna’s pulse again and
noticed that he had died.
The suspect said, “I called his brother, who had
been communicating with us about the ransom
and he said he could only afford N120,000. I
asked him to take it to the Teaching Hospital
Road and drop it at a certain spot.
“He did as I instructed and I went there to take
the money. We took part of the money to the
Rumuola Market and bought a bedsheet, which
we took to the forest to wrap Ikenna’s body. We
stuffed it in the boot of his car and took it to a
farm in Umunkwa Igbodo in Etche Local
Government of Rivers State, where we dumped
it.
“We later sold the car, a Nissan Primera, in
Owerri, Imo State for N180,000. We shared the
money and the ransom. I took N158,000 and
gave Joshua N148,000. As soon as Joshua
collected his share, he disappeared. I have not
seen him since that day. I used part of my
share to pay a loan I took for my wife’s
delivery.”
A source said when police investigators visited
Alakahia community, a chief, Hyacinth
Akwukwauegbu, told them that a corpse was found on
his farm and that it had been buried without
reporting the discovery to the police.
Azuazu said after Joshua left, he also travelled to
Lagos to search for a job but had to go back to Port
Harcourt when no job was forthcoming.
The suspect said, “Few days before my arrest, I
had a dream that my former boss, Ibe, was
killed. I called to warn him but he asked if I had
anything to do at the time. When I told him I
had no job, he told me to come and see him.
When I got to his house, the police arrested me
and said I killed Ikenna. I did not know how
they knew.
“I thought God had forgiven me. In July 2016, I
went to a pastor and confessed what I did. He
prayed for me and warned me against going
back to crime. I have heeded his warning. After
my arrest, I have also met Ikenna’s brother to
ask for forgiveness.”
Ikenna’s elder brother, Peter, who was the one the
kidnappers contacted, said he paid N1.2m as ransom
as against the N120,000 Azuazu admitted to.According
to him, Ikenna bought a car and used it as cab to
support himself in school.
He said, “Anytime he was on break, he came to
Port Harcourt to use his car as a taxi. I first
noticed that sometime was wrong when I had
not seen for some days and I got a call from one
of my in-laws, who confirmed the same thing
that he was missing.
“The day I got a call from his kidnappers, I was
about to ask him where he had been because
the call came from his line when they told me
they had abducted him and I should pay or they
would kill him. For the weeks they were in
touch, they refused to allow me to speak with
him.
“I had to sell one of my properties to raise N1m
to add to the little cash I had. But they insisted
that it had to be N5m and that if they killed
Ikenna, his blood would be on my head. I was
terrified and went everywhere in search of
money.
“When I eventually got N1.2m, I called them
and lied that I had N2m. They told me to take it
to East-West Road and drop it there. They said
if they saw any glimpse of a policeman, they
would kill my brother. When I got to Alakahia
Junction, and dropped the money as instructed,
I called Ikenna’s line but it was switched off. I
had to quickly report the mater to Chuba Police
Division and the matter was later transferred to
the Rivers State Police Command’s Anti-
Kidnapping Department.”
Peter said after one month of seeing no trace of his
brother, he started visiting prophets for help in
desperation. The prophets told him his brother would
be found alive.He later reported the case to the
Inspector-General of Police Response Team, who
commenced investigation and eventually tracked
down the suspects.
Saturday PUNCH learnt that the police eventually
arrested Ibe, who employed Ikenna’skillers as guards.
The corpse of the deceased was later exhumed and
deposited in the mortuary.
The police have said investigation was still ongoing in
the case.
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