Two wives of police officers were among eight victims of kidnappers rescued by operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Monitoring Unit on Friday night.
The eight victims were passengers on a bus ambushed and seized around Ubima axis of Port Harcourt-Owerri Road by the hoodlums at about 9pm on Tuesday, October 16, 2018.
It was gathered that the bus was hijacked and diverted into a forest in Ubima, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State, where the kidnappers tortured their victims.
Our correspondent further learnt that the bandits seized some of their victims’ ATM cards and used same to withdraw money while others, after being thoroughly beaten by their captors, were told to call their relatives to pay ransom.
The victims were said to have been rushed to the Navy War College in Ubima, where they received medical attention immediately after they were rescued.
The driver of the seized vehicle, Uzuoma Iwuala, who was among those rescued, said it took the intervention of the security operatives to rescue them from their abductors.
Iwuala explained that some of the victims paid ransoms through their relatives.
He said, “First, we want to thank God for sparing our lives; we also thank the Nigerian Police, especially the IGP Monitoring Unit in Rivers State. God used them to save our lives.’’
Speaking on the feat, Commander of the IGP Monitoring Unit, Benneth Igwe, said it took him and his men three days inside the forest to rescue the kidnapped victims.