Kidnappers free Amaechi’s aide after eight days

Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi

Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi's Deputy Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Freddy Ndigbara, kidnapped by gunmen eight days ago, has been released by his captors.

Ndigbara was kidnapped in his community, Kaani in Khana Local Government Area last Saturday while preparing for the All Progressives Congress ward rally.

The kidnappers stormed the rally ground where Ndigbara was supervising the mounting of canopies, went for him and forced him into a waiting Toyota Highlander vehicle.

Ndigbara's wife, Joyce, said on Saturday that her husband was blindfolded by his captors for many days before he was released.

Ndigbara's abductors had established contact with their victim's family and allegedly demanded for a N100 million ransom.

Speaking with Sunday PUNCH at the Government House Clinic where her husband was admitted, Mrs. Ndigbara explained that the governor's aide was allowed to go without removing the blindfold from his eyes.

Though she could not explain her husband's ordeal in the hands of the kidnappers, she pointed out that some indigenes of Nwawi community in the same Khana Local Government Area saw the kidnap victim and removed the blindfold from his eyes.

"He (Ndigbara) was blindfolded for many days. Even when he was allowed to go, he was still blindfolded and left around the bush in Nwawi community. Some members of the community saw him and rescued him," she added.

Ndigbara's wife, who was taking food to her husband at the Government House Clinic in Port Harcourt, told our correspondent the just-released governor's aide was not yet stable as a result of the ordeal he went through in the hands of the kidnappers.

"I am happy that my husband has been released. We thank God for His mercies. My husband is not stable now, but I know he will soon be alright," a much relieved Mrs. Ndigbara stated.

Earlier, the former Chief Press Secretary to the State Governor, Mr. Blessing Wikina, told SUNDAY PUNCH in a telephone interview that Ndigbara was tortured by his captors before being released.

The nurses at the clinic did not allow visitors and journalists who thronged the place to speak with Ndigabra or have a glimpse of him.