The most scandalous abduction story in recent times in the Niger Delta is perhaps the kidnap of the first female Vice Chancellor from Rivers State. It is the abduction of the first professor of education in the State, Rosemund Dienye Green-Osahogulu, then VC of the Rivers State University of Education (Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, IAUE). The kidnappers ended up being a vicious gang led by a Bonny youth based in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates. The story of the confessions of the gang leader has been wide but the victim remained mute. Now, in a first-ever expose of what happened in the den, the professor opens her heart to reveal deep pains and the blow-by-blow account of the ordeal in this exclusive interview with IGNATIUS CHUKWU. The revelations could be important tips to VIPs.
The story as narrated by Professor Green-Osahogulu:
I closed from work and was being driven home. It was the period when the road to the University was very bad and we were using streets and diversions to go to work and back. This Sequoia Jeep double-crossed us on the street that leads to Okocha Road. The next thing, two young men jumped out. One went straight to the driver’s side and smashed the glass. I was busy pinning the auto-locks of the car. The man put his hands into the driver’s side and pressed the unlock knob. I heard massive shooting behind us; their boys were shooting probably to scare away any persons thinking to interrupt. One opened my door and dragged me out. They whisked me to the back of the seat in their Jeep and put me in the middle. One gun man sat on each side of me, and they zoomed off.
They headed to the Rumuolumeni side. Then, their leader, who sat in front, looked back and asked if they had blindfolded me. One now took one dirty smelly rag and blindfolded me. They kept driving through bumpy rough road until we arrived at a place and they stopped.
They dragged me into a place I considered to be a room. The walls were slimy. They pushed me to a floor that had a slim mattress. I addressed them thus; I have been a teacher all my life, helping the youth. Why would the youth subject me to this humiliation and torture?
Their leader, who I later learnt was one Tony Pepple, a Bonny young man, then working in Abu Dhabi, told me they had been contracted by persons in our University with N300million to kill me. He told me they had been paid N150million deposit with another N50million to come soon. He said if I should produce N300million, I could live.
I told them nobody in my University, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE) had N150million. I told them I was the highest paid officer of that university, being that I was on consolidated salary, yet, I could not boast of up to N3million in my account.
They seized my phone and went through all my contacts. They asked me how many phones I had, and I told them. Soon they started telling me amounts we had in various accounts of the University and the banks. Those details were not in my phone because I am not the bursar. How these people knew everything I do not know. That man, Pepple, must be highly skilled and used it in a very ugly way. They mentioned N600million here, N200m there, N100m there, and even N400m in Eco Bank we created to buy stocks and create savings for the University. (I hear that when I was removed as VC, the money was transferred to another bank and from there, whatever happened to it happened.) The kidnappers told me that it is business they are into. The amounts they quoted were all correct. It is real business, then.
They asked how many people signed our cheques, I said three and named them. They said they would bring the bursar here for both of us to sign the cheques but I told them that we were three. I told them I had no such money as they were calling. I told them that those amounts in the University accounts were out of reach of anybody, that the new governor (Nyeson Wike) had frozen all government accounts.
Come and see the flogging of my life. They used rubber to flog me endlessly, that I was not telling them the truth; that the Registrar told them that he did not sign cheques. I said when am in, he may not sign, but if am away for long, he can sign. At this point, the head, Tony Pepple, hit my head with the butt of a gun. I told them, this is the whole truth. They left me at that point with two men to watch me. I was still blindfolded.
Yes, I had issues with my husband. He used to inflict physical injuries on me. He could push me with force to crash on the wall and be bleeding. It was that bad. One night when I had ruptured intestine, I used the little energy left in me to plead with him to call the University doctor but he remained mute. I had to struggle for long to reach my phone and call the doctor. The doctor came and shouted that I was at the point of death. He contacted top hospitals before a place was found to carry out instant surgery. When I came out of the theatre, my husband came only to torment me. I came off with the impression that someone wanted me dead. He had moved out of our apartment on June 16 and I was abducted on June 18, 2015. I am not insinuating that he had a hand in it, no, but his response and other actions added more grief.
Praying
I started praying but the fierce one of the two shouted me down, that I should not disturb him with prayers because they too pray well; that they pray before any operation.
The next day, the leader came and they asked me my PIN; that it was time to begin calls to people. They called my husband 13 times but he did not pick. Days went. They then called the bursar. Conference calling began. They called one of our big contractors. At last, the bursar said my family could only raise N3million. They said in that case, they would simply cut me up and put in a bag and drop it anywhere on the road. They asked me where the University cheque booklets were. I said I did not know because I only signed leaves. They asked where the bursar lived, I said I did not visit him. They beat me up, that I was lying.
Survived on water for eight days: Woman, save yourself
They now said they knew how much I had in my accounts and it was peanuts. They said it was up to me to save myself by raising the money. The blindfold remained for all the days I remained there. I refused any food and told them; you said you have been paid to kill me. So, I won’t eat your food in case it is poisoned. So, I hung on water and sometimes fruits.
Profile of the chief kidnapper
It was revealed that Tony Pepple was on salary of N1.2m in Abu Dhabi with a multinational oil service company that is strong in Nigeria. He had many skills especially in ICT. He is a highly trained person. It was found that he commanded large workforce in Abu Dhabi, but he organised a big gang in Port Harcourt that was into big time kidnapping, assassination, etc. He confessed to assassination of Soboma George, a big time assassin and militant. Above all, he was the ‘chief bomber’ for Avengers, bombing the pipelines. He said his men were the ones behind abduction and killing of medical doctors in Port Harcourt that caused uproars and strikes. They confessed to 25 abductions; high profile ones. He confessed all this when he was caught and paraded.
All his gang members were caught and paraded, except the student he said was the link man between the gang and the three persons he said contracted him for the job in my University. It is obvious that this link man (student) cannot be alive to identify the sponsors of the abduction. The security agencies doubt his being alive, because they have done everything.
My release
Late in the evening of June 25, 2015, they woke me up. I thought the end has come. They said, come and go. I said, where? They said, so, you don’t want to go again? Then, I asked for help to get up and to walk. They led me to a car, sat me down in the car, and dropped my handbag on my laps. They drove through bumps; then stopped. They put something in my hand (it turned out to be N1,500) and told me to take transport to a popular fast food centre on Ada George Road Junction with Rumuelumini Road. They removed the blindfold and pushed me out. I recovered myself. Everywhere was deep dark. I used my hands to feel a pavement and sat down. I was weak and confused. I asked a taxi driver time and he said 11.30pm. He told me where I was. I asked him to take me to Pepperoni because they told me the person who dropped the ransom was waiting for me there.
I was taken there and immediately I heard, Prof, Prof. I then recognised the person who came to pick me. He took me to the residence on Olu Obasanjo Road. I was very sick The Directorate of State Security (DSS) took over. They showed me a photo and said I was their head. They said they had suspected him all the time but that he was very slippery. They assured me they would apprehend him. The hunt started.
Further ordeal
To Canada for healing
At this point, I applied for two weeks leave to go abroad for rest and medical review. I had had two surgeries before the abduction. One of them was in my knee, and it was gathering liquid now. I had an unhealed body due to the surgeries and my ordeal in the kidnappers’ den.
While there, I was asked to read the online version of a particular Port Harcourt-based newspaper. They published that my husband wrote that I had eloped with the registrar to Canada with N200m university money. This was a registrar that did not have Canadian visa. So, do people travel without visa these days? Also, the university account was frozen, so how did we get N200m out? Nobody cared to ask basic questions but the world believed this. My husband repeated that I kidnapped myself, and people believed him. Even very important persons told me, you see, he is your husband, so he must be right. One particular important person told me; why did you even make him suspect you?
My sister shouted, is that how Nigeria is? She was the one who picked me up at the airport. She knew I came unaccompanied. So, she could not understand Nigeria anymore.
When I came back, the governor summoned me and asked me to proceed on leave. I tried to protest my innocence, no way. I was asked by the University authorities to vacate the residence I fought in court after seven years to retrieve from the previous occupant who tried to appropriate it to self. I was asked to surrender my cars. I was entitled to two. All the cars the university had were bought during my time, but nobody cared anymore. They stopped my salary, saying the Governor said so. The Governor later said he never ordered such a thing.
Most nights I cried all through, wondering what I did wrong, if it was a crime to reject looting, to reject corruption and bending of rules, indiscipline and indolence. My husband works in the same university and he was heading a directorate. If he brought up a request and I minuted it to the Bursar for advice and the bursar demanded for certain attachments as condition for recommendation, he would flare up. He accused me of ceding the powers of the vice chancellor to the bursar, that it gave the bursar the effrontery to cancel his requests when he is my husband. I said the VC is to be guided in financial matters by the bursar and on administrative matters by the registrar. That was the bone of contention. Today, it is the advice of the bursar that saved me from EFCC and others. The matter is, just follow the rules.
They even wrote a petition to the governor to dismiss me, that I was using police to harass them; I did not report the kidnap to the police, so how do I stop them from investigating?
My recall
One day, March 8, 2017, the new VC called me; that there was order that I should be recalled as lecturer. Well, I did not apply to be VC but to be lecturer. I got my letter of recall to resume on March 13, 2017.
The University council
Their role in the saga can only be left to God. I had a running battle with most of them, and I think most VCs suffer this. I sensed that their only interest then was the money we had; they wanted it, but I felt that it was their duty to rather go out and fight for funds and supports. I said I can’t give you projects to execute when I knew you did not have the capacity to execute them. Instead, I urged them to bid like others and if they won, fine. So, I received attacks from everywhere because I wanted to protect the university funds. Today, my position is that, whatever you planned for others will surely get to you.
God intervenes
I was abducted, tortured, and dehumanised. My husband threw in the bitterest pill. I was removed as VC on that account. I was seen as a woman who ran after another man, who faked her abduction, who eloped with a man, who stole N200m. I cried every day, I asked God why? Nobody wanted to listen to me. God was not in sight. I was alone in this battle.
Then, on April 10, 2017, my phone rang and the voice said they were from IG’s Special Intelligence Response Team. They told me they had captured my abductors. People were with me in the office, but I crashed unto my knees and said, God, is that you? You mean you gave the whole world all the time to be wrong before you showed up?
Their story
The gang was paraded before my husband and the university authorities. The leader turned out to be the man in the photo that I was shown. He never allowed me to see his face then because I was blindfolded all through.
He said he never knew me; that a student brought the job to them and told them that three principal officers of the University called him to do the job.
To this day, nobody has seen this student. All gang members were caught. At the police command, they played back what my husband said to newsmen accusing me, and played back what the gang said. It was an important moment of vindication. They paraded the kidnappers who even revealed how much each member got from the ransom. One of the officers from the university berated a kidnapper from his community who said he got N400,000 while others got millions.
On why everybody believed my husband, the commander asked my husband if we were on talking terms before the abduction. He said no. He asked if we were staying together then, he said no. The commander then turned to all and said, if a marriage was at that point, can’t you see that such a husband could do anything to the wife? To me, it was now clear why such statements were coming from the one who should defend me even at all times.
What the education commissioner told my accusers
The petition to dismiss me was sent to the governor who handed the matter to the commissioner for full investigations. After all his investigations, and after the arrest and confession of the vicious and international gang, and after finding out that the gang had no link with me or the bursar, and that no kobo was taken to elope or whatever, the commissioner told my accusers that I was hurt. He appealed to me to allow God to fight for me. He did not want me to overheat the university fighting obvious traitors and enemies. That is exactly where I have left the matter.
You know, most evil doers think it is better and easy to leave them in the hands of God. They forget that the God of justice pays back up to the 4th generation.
Senate summoned a meeting the next day where those who berated me before now pacified me. There was no direct apology.
My husband
As we were trying to come out of the command, he tried to meet me but to be sincere, I am a woman hurt. He has made some attempts for us to reconcile but I have kept away. I am hurt. I do not think I will marry any man again.
Curse:
Many people played very ugly roles during my abduction period. Some spread very ugly lies about me. My husband granted press interviews saying I faked my abduction with the bursar and was enjoying myself with him. Some said we faked the abduction and took the university funds to pay for it with our conspirators. The media was awash with such tales. Even when I was released, the tales continued. It was traumatising.
I have thus placed a curse on my detractors that the same thing that happened to me will surely happen to them.
The University of Education (now IAUE) trained me and even Goodluck Jonathan up to Master’s and Doctorate degrees through Professor Tasie. I felt I should pay back. My personal staff knew how relieved I was when I was removed as VC because they knew how I drove myself everyday for the sake of this University. It is common that when good people are on seat, many people hate it, and they rejoice when such people are removed, just like they did when Alfred Diete Spiff was removed as military governor of old Rivers State. Today, Diete-Spiff is a demi-god here.
I nurtured this university from day one as the first VC to manage the change from College of Education status to university status. All these big buildings you see here, I built them. I attracted many projects from TETFund especially when the present governor was minister of education. When they pushed me off unceremoniously, the university lost so much.
Paranoid: This abduction has left a huge scare on me. I look left and right anywhere I go and anywhere I am. I lock every door behind me. I have this feeling that somebody is about to stick a gun on me.
My joy, my vindication
My greatest joy today is that my kidnappers have been caught, all of them, except the student. They have proved that it was not stage-managed. All the lies have been destroyed. My God is great. Imagine if I died without these facts coming up, I would have died in ignominy and in vain.
IGNATIUS CHUKWU, in Port Harcourt
