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'I Trekked Into the Forest to Drop His Ransom' - Pregnant Woman Tells How Her Kidnapped Husband Was Released
Posted by Samuel on Tue 21st Feb, 2017 - tori.ngA pregnant woman whose husband had been kidnapped by armed men, has told the story of how he was finally released by the assailants.
Jonathan Aguveso recuperating in hospital
Mrs Sandra Aguveso, an expectant mother, on Tuesday revealed that she trekked several kilometers into Epe forest to drop ransom, bought recharge cards and beverages so that kidnappers won’t kill her husband, Jonathan Aguveso, 43.
According to The Nation, the man, a Minister at the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) was shot on his left arm on January 19, before gunmen whisked him and three workers of Eliasa farm away.
According to the woman, Aguveso had gone to the farm around 9am to buy eggs, which they usually supplied to their customers but was kidnapped by the gunmen who shot and took him into the forest.
Aguveso has been on admission at a hospital since January 26, with doctors battling to save his arms from amputation.
Already, 12 steel balls have been removed from the man’s left arm by a local doctor before he was taken to a specialist hospital where two more pellets were discovered on the right side.
It has also been discovered that the man would undergone series of surgeries and would spend at least three months in the hospital, which may cost about a million naira.
She appealed to good spirited individuals to assist them with funds, adding that she had already spent their savings on his medical bills.
She said: “We have done the first surgery and the doctor charged N850, 000 for it. I was only able to pay N400, 000. Then, to remove the other two pellets discovered on his right arm, the doctor said it’ll cost us N70, 000. There’s another surgery he said we have to do in three months’ time and that one would cost N500, 000. Then, the cost of staying in the hospital per night is N2, 500 and we have to be there for three months. Everything is over a million. I am appealing to Nigerians to assist us because we don’t have money. I have used up our savings already.”
Narrating how she knew her husband was alive, Mrs. Aguveso said they contacted the following day while she was at the Ketu Police Station, Epe, to identify his belongings after some policemen unknowingly mentioned to her hearing that the kidnappers killed an RCCG pastor at the farm.
When the kidnappers called her, she said they allowed her speak to her husband and warned her to not disclose any information to anyone if she wanted her him to remain alive.
Mrs. Aguveso said her husband’s kidnappers asked her to prepare N15million for his release, but ended up collecting N500, 000 which she raised after five days by borrowing from neighbours, as well as goodwill from family and friends.
She was asked to take the money to a location in Epe, but when she got there, the kidnappers told her to pick a motorcycle and proceed to Igbodu.
She said: “The motorcyclist who took me to the area refused to stop when I sighted the clothe the kidnappers had asked me to stop by along Epe-Igbodu road. Instead, he drove to the nearest community by the roundabout and raised alarm that I was working with kidnappers. I couldn’t tell him my mission since the kidnappers had threatened to kill my husband, come to my house and finish my entire family if I said anything.
“So, I was just begging that I am not a kidnapper and don’t know them. That I was looking for someone and it was the person who asked me to stop there. That I don’t know what the man was talking about. The bike man now left me at the roundabout collected his money and left.
“The kidnappers were calling and asked me to start trekking down until I got to the clothe before branching into the forest. I trekked several kilometers before I got there. I was afraid but saving my husband’s life was my priority. I wrapped the N500, 000 ransom I was able to generate into farm clothes and dressed like a farmer so that no one would accost me on the road and collect the money.
“When I got to the clothe, I couldn’t branch because vehicles were passing. I didn’t want them to say I led spies or police to them. So, I explained to them that I would have to pass the place a bit and then return after the vehicles had gone, which I did.
“When I entered the forest. I kept trekking straight without looking back. I walked until I came to an under bridge, where I heard gunshots. There, I saw two men. One of them was fair. They didn’t wear mask and they were holding guns. They asked me to stop there and I did.
“They had told me to buy malt, liquid milk, Sprite and Seven Up drinks, which I did. They also told me to buy cigarette but I begged them that I was a Minister and it would be against my faith to buy it. But that I can monetise the cigarette when I get there. They also asked me to buy recharge card of N3, 000, which I did.
“So, when I got there, I dropped the things with them. But as I bent down to drop the money, I saw about seven other armed men inside a boat. They told me to turn back that I would meet my husband on the road. But when I got to Epe roundabout without seeing my husband, I called the number they were using to call me. The number is registered on Turecaller as VM Abiodun.
“They picked and told me to go home. I now asked if my husband would be able to get home and that what if he didn’t have transport fare but they said I should go home that they would give him transport. That he was still weak from the gunshot injury and was receiving treatment.
“So, on the seventh day, the farm owner called my brother-in-law to ask if we have seen my husband because they have been released. We said no and became worried. This was around 6pm. I was crying and wondering what might have happened to him but around 9pm, someone knocked on the door and when we opened, it was my husband.”
Continuing, the woman said she quickly went in search of a hospital that can treat the gunshot injury since the bullet has been inside his body for seven days.
She said her husband disclosed that he hasn’t drank water for six days and that the kidnappers warned him to not drink water until the bullet was removed.
“He said they also gave him a local concoction to drink in order to stop the effect of the bullet. That we should get a hospital or a nurse to treat him properly. But neither the hospital I went to nor the private nurse agreed to attend to him without police report. They said they won’t treat him.
“I had to contact the DPO and he told the nurse to treat my husband that we would get the report in the morning. When we got it, we were directed to a doctor who extracts bullet locally and he removed the steel balls. From there, we went to Epe General Hospital but when their surgeon wasn’t forthcoming, we were referred to the specialist hospital where he’s been all the while.”
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