By Ifere Paul
I wish to express my profound gratitude to all Cross Riverians who stood strong by me throughout the period of my kidnapping from Abuja to Calabar by the Cross River State police command.
I was kidnapped and dumped into a cell without a charge. The police did not read me my charge and my right before I was hijacked and bundled into a waiting Toyota Sienna, parked outside the Lious Edet House (Nigeria Police Force Headquarters,and office of the IG).
I was refused the right to a phone call, food and water. I was driven from Abuja to Calabar through bad roads, bad driving, and broken vehicle. I was handcuffed like an animal. At Adim in Cross River State, I was exposed to direct gun scare as robbers took over the expressway at 1am.
During our journey from Abuja to Calabar, I was often shouted at, scolded, and barked at like a little child for asking questions about my safety. In Benue State, one of the policemen openly told me that he will shoot me to death for asking that I be led to urinate.
I vomited throughout the journey while the officer paid no attention. When i finally had feeling to eat, I beg that I be given groundnut from the bottle of groundnut which one of the officers bought, I was refused. It was the driver that gave me a left over banana. One rotten banana. I ate that and that was what I had in my stomach until we got to Calabar at 3.23am.
I was shown into a office to stay until the resume of work. I was told to be handcuffed in front, but the same officer who usually shouted at me and threatened to shoot me aggressively pulled my hands behind my back and handcuffed them tightly. I was forced to carry my bag with handcuffed behind my back. I had no option than to use my teeth to carry a bag of laptop, charger, office documents, and a Bluetooth radio. These documented and I was then asked to stripe. I was jammed into a dark room not bigger than my kitchen parked with 24 people. I don't want to talk about the smell yet.
Once again, I was dumped into this hell without a charge and without the right to a phone call. It was right inside the cell that I got information to my barrister, Barr. Utum Eteng. Even when he came, the police refuse him seeing me. It then they arranged for my statement.
Even as I wrote my statement, I was not counselled by my lawyer. I was not given a phone to talk to my family. And a charge of arrest was not read to me. I was no given food, water, or an apology for such deficiencies.
However, I am alive but not healthy. I am in the hospital in Calabar. Importantly, the police has refused to release my laptop and my phone that was badly broken during my kidnapping.
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