Kidnappers blindfolded me for 15 days, fed me with bread and butter – 24 year-old Reverend Sister

NEDU MARK YENAGOA
A 24 year- old kidnapped Reverend Sister who is a student of Niger Delta
University, NDU, Amassoma, Mary Okoli, has narrated her ordeal in the hands of dare-devil kidnappers for 15 days. She said she was blindfolded for those days and fed with only bread and butter by her captors.
Okoli, who hails from Imo state, while telling her sorry story said she was abducted on May 21, along Amassoma-Yenagoa Road in Bayelsa state and had a truly bitter experience in the hands of her captors stressing, however, that they did not demand sex from her.
She said she was rescued after 15 days in an uncompleted building on Itu Road, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State by operatives of the Department of State Security Service, Bayelsa state Command on June 6.
Sister Okoli said she fell into the trap of the kidnappers on the fateful day while waiting for a vehicle to board to Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, from Amassoma.
She said on the day in question, there was scarcity of commercial vehicles until three men in a private car offered her a lift, saying that she was happy she found help, not knowing that they were kidnappers.
Hear her, “On the fateful day, there was scarcity of commercial vehicles. I was waiting for a bus to board. I had been stranded at the bus stop for hours when suddenly I saw three guys who offered to help me. I gladly entered. When I entered the vehicle, I lost my senses. I did not know where I was again.
“It was long after that the guys told me that I was in Akwa Ibom State. Throughout the period they held me captive for 15 days, they blindfolded me. It was only when they wanted to feed me that they removed the blindfold. Then, I saw four persons. Later, they increased to six. They started to interrogate me to know who I really was. I told them I was a Reverend Sister and a student at NDU. They said I had been kidnapped.
“Throughout the period I was in their den, they fed me with bread and butter. Even when I did not like the meal, they said I was on my own. One of them even told me that if I refused to eat what I was offered and died, they would throw me into the bush.
“I was always crying and praying, begging them to let me go. All my pleas and entreaties fell on deaf ears. Though they did not demand sex from me, they made me to pass through psychological trauma. ”
She said on many occasions, “they demanded that I give them numbers of people they could reach for my ransom.” She said she gave them numbers without hesitation.
“They told me that if they called my guardian or parents, I should be crying so that they would know that I was seriously suffering to enable them to bring huge money for my release.
“I was subjected to this kind of stress for the more than two weeks I was in captivity. Each time, the thought that ran through my mind was that they were going to kill me. So, I constantly prayed to God to free me from their captivity.
“On June 6, I do not know what happened but I saw them running away. It was later I saw DSS operatives who rescued me. I am very grateful to the DSS for rescuing me. That was how I was rescued and brought back to Bayelsa.”
Briefing journalists in Yenagoa, Wednesday, on how Okoli was rescued, State Director, DSS, Laasan Baba, confirmed that the victim was rescued by crack operatives of the service on June 6.
Baba said the kidnappers lured the Reverend Sister into their car on the pretext that they were giving her a free ride to Yenagoa.