Three kidnap suspects were, on Tuesday, arraigned before an Enugu High Court for abducting a businessman, Mr. Chukwudi Obi.
The businessman told the court that the suspects Ejike Ezenabo, Paul Okwudili and Chidi Okereke abducted him and tied his face with cloth for nine days.
Recounting the incident, Obi narrated that the suspects followed him as he left a restaurant and dragged him into a vehicle and took him to an unknown place with a gun pointed at him.
The victim said that they kept him in a room for nine days without food and water, adding that they tied his legs and hands and were slapping him with a cutlass as he screamed for help.
He added that they collected his valuables which included a wristwatch, a wedding ring, a chain and money and later covered his face, adding that the suspects later demanded for N80 million ransom from his family but settled for N5 million after negotiations.
According to him, it was in the process of collecting the money that his elder brother identified one of the suspects while he identified another one through his voice.
The suspects, Obi continued, took him in a car booth on the ninth day, handed him transport money and dropped him in a bush where he managed to untie himself.
“I crawled till I got to a road where a motorcyclist took me to Eke in Udi Local Government Area,” the businessman noted.
Justice Catherine Nwobodo adjourned the matter till February 29 for continuation of hearing after the suspects pleaded not guilty to the charges bothering on robbery and unlawful detention of the victim.
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