The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Abia, Donatus Nwankpa, who on Thursday regained his freedom, after four days in the hands of his abductors, said the police were watching as they were attacked and failed to act.
He also said his kidnappers kept him in a forest in River State.
Nwankpa further dismissed as “unfounded” the rumour that he was trailed by his abductors after he had withdrawn N50 million from the bank, describing it as “political blackmail.”
Speaking at his residence in Umuahia, on Friday, the APC Chairman said he was released at about 9 pm on Thursday and taken to the border between Abia and Rivers states.
Nwankpa, who was said to have been kidnapped while on his way to Aba from Umuahia around 11 pm on Monday, ahead of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Tuesday’s visit for his presidential rally, said that his abductors accosted his car some 30 metres away from a police checkpoint at the Arungwa Junction, adding “Ironically, the police were watching and did not intervene while we were attacked by the hoodlums.”
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According to him, after they were kidnapped, he pleaded with the gunmen to release one of his aides, who recently had a major operation and was still recuperating, which they did, dropping off the man before driving him (Nwankpa) away to a deep forest in Rivers.
Nwankpa disclosed that though the Department of State Service, DSS, was able to trace their location in the forest, he prevailed on them not to take any action because he feared that the kidnappers would either kill him or death could come during a gun battle between the hoodlums and security agents.
He said: “When you are kidnapped, you are between life and death. So I told the DSS that nobody should attack after they located the place I was kept.”
On the issueof being trailed because he had N50m, he said that he had only N250,000 when he was attacked and blamed the incident on the state of insecurity in the state.
He expressed joy that he was not hurt by his abductors but did not comment on whether or not ransom was paid before he was released.
