Gunmen abduct Abia journalist, demand N10m ransom
An Umuahia-based journalist, Mr Chuks Onuoha, has been abducted by gunmen in his Umungasi Ohuhu home, near Umuahia.
The assailants, numbering three, sneaked into his house at night around 10.45pm on Tuesday and whisked him away at gunpoint.
The victim’s wife, Udodirim, narrated the incident to a delegation of journalists, led by the Chairman of Abia Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Victor Ndukwe, who paid her a solidarity visit
Udodirim said that the gunmen met her and her husband in their sitting room, while they were resting after their return from the day’s work.
According to her, one of the gunmen surprisingly sneaked into the sitting room through the back door, armed with a gun.
Udodirim said, “He pointed the gun at my husband’s head as he was resting on a sofa.
“I was immediately gripped by fear and when he noticed it, he told me,’do not panic’.
“While he was still talking, two other armed men joined him.
“They asked my husband to bring his ATM card, phones and key to his car and follow them.
“He took the items and they led him out and drove him away in his jeep.”
She further said that the gunmen warned her not to report the incident to the police, otherwise they would kill her husband.
Udodirim said that the hoodlums later called her, demanding for N10 million ransom.
“I pleaded with them to take N200,000 but they refused and pegged the rsnsom at N2 million.
In a brief remark, the NUJ chairman comforted her and members of the family over what he described as an “unfortunate incident”.
He expressed regrets that kidnappers had chosen to direct their activities at journalists.
Ndukwe said that the assailants misfired because “journalists are not moneybags.”
“We are struggling like other average Nigerians to survive,,” Ndukwe said.
He urged the family to remain strong and prayerful rather than despair.
The NUJ chairman promised that the council would take steps to ensure that Onuoha was released from captivity.
He said that “with divine intervention, he would return home unhurt”.
Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer, Abia Command, SP Geoffrey Ogbonna, said the command had yet to receive a formal report about the abduction of the journalist.
Onuoha, who is the Editor-In-Chief of Abia Fact Newspaper, was until 2021 the Abia Correspondent of the Sun Newspapers.
Abia is currently experiencing a renewed wave of kidnapping.
The Prelate of the Methodist Church Nigeria, His Eminence Samuel Uche, was abducted with two other priests on May 29.
The Church paid N100 million for the clergymen to regain their freedom.
Also, a medical doctor, Prof Uwadinachi Iweha, was kidnapped on June 5 in front of his house in Umuopara Village, near Umuahia.
He is still kept in captivity by his abductors, after several millions of naira had been reportedly paid to secure his release.
The sad development compelled the Abia branch of the Nigeria Medical Association to call out its members in both private and public health institutions to proceed on an indefinite strike, with effect from Tuesday.
