From the expression on her face , one would easily conclude that she had yearned for the embrace of her family, as it lit up with glee. Clung to her husband , with her head leaning on his shoulder as a ready solace , she chuckled to herself at the remarks of everyone that gathered to welcome her.
Toyin-Nwosu
The gathering was expected , owing to her long disappearance from home, no thanks to her abductors who stormed her home and whisked her away, to the shock of her helpless family members.
She is Mrs Oluwatoyin Nwosu, wife of the Deputy Managing Director of The SUN Newspaper, Mr Steve Nwosu ,whose Ago residence was invaded by a seven-man robbery gang , at the wee hours of Monday morning. Though the robbers reportedly operated in other buildings located on same street with the Nwosus theirs took a worrisome dimension following the abduction of Toyin.
For three days , her distraught husband was a shadow of himself , as he ran from pillar to post , looking for how to raise the N100 million requested as ransom for his wife’s release by her captors.
The psychological trauma Nwosu went through as each day passed by was better imagined than experienced. Although he tried to compose himself before journalists , relatives and friends who thronged his home before now, beneath that composure was a mixture of fear and uncertainty over the well being of his better half.
As seconds rolled into minutes and minutes into hours and days, the long expectation of the arrival of the abducted mother of four was not dashed after-all, as a call was reportedly received at the wee hours of Thursday morning from one of the abductors , informing Nwosu to go and pick his wife in a designated place around Festac Town.
In this interview with Crime Guard, an elated Toyin who was full of gratitude to God for sparing her life, disclosed that she was kept in a bush at an unknown destination by her abductors.
“They came unannounced to our house while we were sleeping. They packed some things; jewelries, gold wristwatches and other valuables. I don’t know why they chose to take me away . But I was taken in a boat to God- knows- where. I do not know if it was a speed boat or not but it took us about thirty minutes to get to the jungle. On our way, I could only hear voices but the whole place was dark . We arrived the destination which turned out to be bush. I was kept in the jungle, not in a room. The three nights were spent there until I was released. The whole place was quiet and dark and I only heard the whistling of birds” .
Steve Nwosu and his wife, Toyin
At this juncture, she paused and then heaved a sigh of relief . Thereafter, she buried her face in her palms, apparently trying to picture the whole scenario again. On lifting her head, she smiled and shook her head before continuing. “ To my shock and disbelief, they told me that somebody paid them to kill me. One of them said they were hired to snuff life out of me. I do not know who their sponsor is because they did not mention any name. But that will not deter me from doing what I know how to do best- assisting people. I will continue be good to people”.
Asked if she was fed during her stay there, she replied, “ They asked me to eat but I refused. At a point, I had to accept when they begged me to eat but when the food was brought, I refused to eat. I was even given the opportunity to request for any food of my choice .In my conversation with some of them, they claimed to be graduates and blamed what they were doing on unemployment. They treated me like a queen because of the money they were expecting . But I thank God for touching their hearts to release me and not to kill me as they claimed they were paid to do” .
Asked if any other person was brought to the bush, she shook her head, noting that she was the only one there at the time.
Release at last!
“ At a point I was begging them to release me. But they said they won’t because my husband had not paid the ransom. I told them that my husband did not have money, that he was a bloody journalist. But they said we were rich because of the calibre of people that visited my husband and that we have invited the police . I told them that we just have people that are good to us. I continued begging them, especially the one that was beside me. I told him to plead on my behalf and he assured me he would.
On the day I was to be released , the one that had been communicating with my husband came and begged me to eat , that he heard I had not eaten. It was in the process of begging me that he disclosed that I would be released that day .When I heard that I was going home I was so happy. Immediately he told me I would be leaving , I refused to sleep again . But they said that they won’t take me out during the day .
So, when it was time, I was taken again in a boat and before I knew it I found my self under Festac new bridge around 2:15am on Thursday. They did not give me money for transport because they knew someone would be waiting for me there. The only thing they gave me was a phone which they said I should call my husband any time I got to land.
“I don’t know why they treated me the way they did but I strongly believe that it was prayer that was at work. It was God that made them treat me nicely. But criminals will always be criminals. I thank God and every other person that played a role in my freedom. Irrespective of what has happened I will keep doing good. I believe that the good I am doing will surely get me to higher places. Most times people may pay you back with wrong action but I encourage people not to be weighed down by this. Rather, they should continue to be good and see it as something they are doing for God”. She said.
