Hunters rescue kidnap victim, recover stolen vehicle

The Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service (NHFSS) has rescued another kidnapped victim and recovered stolen vehicles in Anambra State, barely three weeks after a similar operation in the area.

NHFSS’s Southeast Zonal Commander, Mark Okemefuna Okonkwo, said the latest rescue operation occurred on Sunday, September 8, along the Nri-Enugwu-Ukwu road, where a woman was forced into a vehicle by kidnappers.

Okonkwo said his team responded to a distress call and pursued the kidnappers, who shot sporadically to evade capture.

Okonkwo said that their rapid response to the situation yielded positive results as they were able to rescue a woman who was thrown out of the kidnappers’ speeding vehicle. They also recovered a stolen vehicle at the scene.

In another development, Okonkwo disclosed that they recovered another vehicle stolen at gunpoint along the Neni-Nimo road border between Anaocha and Njikoka council areas on August 25 this year.

According to him, the phone numbers in the documents found inside the vehicle helped to locate the owner, who came and identified it as his car that was stolen from him at gunpoint on the ill-fated day along Neni-Nimo road.

He also stated that the recovered vehicle and rescued kidnapped victim had been turned over to the Neni police station for further investigation.

Meanwhile, the man whose stolen car was recovered by the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service (NHFSS) confirmed that the NHFSS had recovered his property.

The 61-year-old man, who identified himself as Christian Ozonyiama, a native of Enugu State’s Ezeagu Local Government Area but now living in Nnewi, described his ordeal, stating that he was on his way to Nnewi from Awka around 8 p.m. on Sunday, August 25, 2024, when some armed men disguised as vigilante operatives flagged down his vehicle and another along Neni-Nimo Road.

Ozonyiama, who initially mistook them for vigilantes as they blocked the road to search and free the missionary bus ahead of him, claimed that they then approached his car and pointed their torches inside.

He claimed that it was only after they dragged him out of his car and ordered him to sit on the ground that he realised they were kidnappers rather than vigilante operatives.

Ozonyiama stated that as he sat on the ground, one of the kidnappers took his phones from the car and handed them to him, saying that they would not harm him but would require his car for an operation.

As a result, they abandoned him on the deadly lonely Neni-Nimo road that fateful night, driving away in his Honda SUV.

Ozonyiama, who stated that he reported the incident to Nimo police station on Monday, August 26, 2024, expressed gratitude to God and the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service (NHFSS) when he received a call from them that his stolen vehicle had been discovered at the Onu Ngege river boundary between Nri and Enugwu-Ukwu.

The NHFSS Southeast Zonal Commander therefore extolled the efforts of the Commander-General, Joshua Osatimehin, for his leadership of the service, stressing that the Commander-General has ensured discipline, diligence, gallantry, and rapid response to rescue missions across Nigeria.