The recent kidnap of 29-year-old Kemisola Ogunyemi, a lady who returned to Nigeria with her husband to bury her late mother and settle down has stirred up some apprehension among Nigerians living abroad who plan to return home.
Kemisola lost her mother on Wednesday 26th December 2012 and returned to Nigeria with her husband, Akin from the United States for the burial after living there for about a year. Sadly, she was kidnapped at about 8.30pm in Ajah, Lagos on Sunday 10th February 2013.
She was kidnapped about one minute’s drive to her Abraham Adesanya Estate home in Ajah. A family member who spoke anonymously told Punch:
“Kemisola and her husband just got an apartment in Abraham Adesanya Estate. In fact, they moved in less than a month ago. The day she was kidnapped, she was coming back from a visit to her father who lives in Ikorodu. When she got to Jeffery Plaza, which is about a minute’s drive to her house, some men double-crossed her Murano Sport Utility Vehicle, took control of the car and took her away in it. We actually got the details from people who witnessed it around the plaza. They said the kidnappers shot into the air and zoomed away with her in the car.”
The following day, her SUV was discovered in the front of Ogombo Police Station, Ajah with one of her shoes in it. The kidnappers later called her husband with Kemisola’s phone, Punch reports.
“They called about 11.41 am on Monday. The speaker clearly sounded like an Igbo man. He said, ‘Where are you?’ But when Yinka said he was in the house, the speaker asked again ‘Are you sure? Are you sure you are in the house? Yinka insisted that he was in the house. He told them he wanted to speak with Kemisola and they gave the phone to her. Kemi sounded very distraught on the phone. She was begging her husband to please help her and do everything the men demanded.”
But it was learnt that the kidnappers disconnected the call after they instructed Yinka to call them later by 2pm on Monday. The kidnappers later called on Monday night and demanded N60 million for Kemisola’s release, the relation told Punch.
“When they asked for the money, we were all shocked. We pleaded with them, but they were threatening to kill her. How do we get N60 million? We are not politicians. Yinka is just a salary earner while Kemisola has not even got a job since they got back to Nigeria.”
On Tuesday, the kidnappers called again with their own number, sounding anxious and insisting that the N60 million should be paid as soon as possible. She said the kidnappers called about 10 times repeating their demand and asking when it would be paid.
“The man who spoke on the phone said, ‘We will kill her if you don’t pay. We kidnapped two other women and we have already killed them because they did not pay what we demanded’.”
But thankfully, a family member, who spoke with Punch last night confirmed that Kemisola has been released.
“Kemi told us she was beaten brutally. They dropped her off along the Lekki-Epe Expressway around 8pm on Thursday. Luckily, she was able to get help from motorists and later contacted us. We paid the ransom on Thursday morning after the kidnappers played different tricks to ensure they evaded capture. They thought we had involved the police. We just thank God we have her back. But she’s not in any condition to answer any questions for now. She is resting.”
This unfortunate incidence coming just weeks after this family returned back home with the intention of settling down must have raised a lot of doubts about the decision and the security situation in Nigeria. The rate of kidnappings keeps rising daily and Nigerians are very upset about this.
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