‘The Place Was Very Terrible’: Woman Rescued After Nearly One Month in Kidnappers’ Den, Recounts Harrowing Ordeal
After nearly one month of living under the terrifying grip of suspected kidnappers, 42-year-old Esther Chinedu has finally regained her freedom, recounting an emotional ordeal inside a remote forest hideout in Bayelsa State where she said the conditions were “very terrible.”
Chinedu was rescued unhurt by operatives of the Bayelsa State Police Command from a suspected kidnappers’ camp in Ogumbri Forest, South-Dajo area, following a carefully coordinated intelligence-led operation.
Her rescue has brought enormous relief to her family, who spent weeks battling fear, ransom demands and uncertainty while desperately trying to secure her release.
Global Mirror News gathered that Chinedu was abducted on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, after suspected kidnappers allegedly stormed her phone shop in Amassoma, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, under the guise of wanting to purchase an item.
According to the victim, the men initially behaved like ordinary customers.
However, after she entered the shop, their intentions suddenly became clear.
“They said they wanted to buy something from my shop. Then, as I entered inside, that was when they brought out the gun and carried me,” she recalled.
The suspects reportedly left her daughter and another woman who was present at the shop before taking Chinedu away.
She was subsequently moved through several boats before being taken deep into the forest where the kidnappers allegedly established their hideout.
“I don’t know the place. There was like two, three days to be one month. And the place was very terrible, very, very terrible,” the rescued woman said.
Her words painted a chilling picture of the fear and uncertainty she endured while separated from her family.
Although the kidnappers reportedly gave her food, she said she often could not eat because of her emotional condition.
Chinedu disclosed that she was not sexually assaulted and was not seriously beaten during the period of her captivity, although one of the kidnappers allegedly struck her on one occasion while she was praying.
She also confirmed that her captors initially demanded N100 million as ransom before reducing the amount to N20 million.
At the end of the ordeal, however, it was the intervention of the Police that finally secured her freedom.
Police launch midnight rescue operation
The Commissioner of Police in Bayelsa State, CP Ajao Adewale, disclosed the successful operation while briefing Journalists on Sunday morning.
According to him, the command received a distress call at about 7pm on the day Chinedu was abducted and immediately activated its intelligence network to track the perpetrators.
The investigation involved both digital and local intelligence gathering, which eventually provided information about the movements of the suspected kidnappers and their ransom negotiations with the victim’s family.
CP Adewale said the kidnappers initially demanded N100 million before reducing the ransom to N20 million.
Global Mirror News gathered that operatives of the command’s Crime Response Squad, led by CSP Chris Mark, were deployed to the area and relocated to Ogumbri Forest approximately five days before the final operation.
The Officers reportedly endured difficult riverine terrain while monitoring the suspected criminals and gradually closing in on their hideout.
At approximately 1:45am, the operatives stormed the camp.
The operation resulted in the rescue of Chinedu and the arrest of one suspected member of the kidnapping gang.
The suspect was identified as 33-year-old Mark from Akemfa 1 community.
According to the Police, the suspect confessed to his alleged involvement in the abduction and provided information about how the gang reportedly planned and executed the operation.
CP Adewale said preliminary findings indicated that the suspects had first surveyed the environment around Chinedu’s business before taking advantage of what they considered inadequate security.
“They surveyed the environment and saw that the woman was not sufficiently protected. They abducted her, put her in a vehicle and moved her to the riverside, where she was ferried to the camp,” the commissioner said.
The rescue operation involved personnel from the Crime Response Squad, Federal Criminal Investigation Unit and Marine Department.
The CP commended the officers and men who participated in the operation, particularly those who worked under difficult conditions in the riverine environment to locate the kidnappers’ camp.
He also appreciated the Bayelsa State Government, led by Governor Douye Diri, for providing logistical support that assisted the operation.
Adewale warned criminal elements operating in Bayelsa that the command would continue to pursue them and dismantle their networks.
Husband: ‘Why is it my wife?’
For Chinedu’s husband, the nearly one-month ordeal was a painful journey through fear, helplessness and desperate negotiations.
Recounting what happened, he said he travelled to Abia State early on July 28 to purchase mattresses.
After 8am, however, he began receiving strange calls informing him that his wife had been kidnapped.
The news reportedly left him devastated.
Having lived in Bayelsa for about 20 years, he said he had never experienced kidnapping in Amassoma and could hardly understand why his wife had become a target.
“I have been in Bayelsa for the past 20 years. I have not had anything kidnapping in Amassoma. Why is it my wife?” he recalled asking himself.
He subsequently contacted one of the callers, who confirmed that his wife had indeed been abducted.
The Divisional Police Officer also contacted him and informed him that two patrol teams had been deployed to his residence along Amassoma Road.
While returning to Bayelsa, the husband said he received a call from his wife’s phone demanding N2 million, with instructions that N1 million should be transferred into each of two accounts.
He said he had only N300,000 in his account at the time and transferred the money to one of the accounts supplied by the kidnappers.
But the demands kept changing.
After he arrived in Amassoma, the kidnappers reportedly called again and instructed him not to pay into the previous account.
He said one of the suspects subsequently took over the phone and dramatically increased the ransom demand to N100 million.
The distraught husband pleaded with the kidnappers, explaining that he did not have such an amount.
The gang later reduced the demand to N20 million and subsequently to N3 million.
Global Mirror News gathered that after days of negotiations, the husband managed to raise another N1.5 million, which he transferred to an account provided by the kidnappers.
The total amount paid was reportedly about N1.8 million, but the criminals still refused to release his wife.
They later demanded another N3.5 million and allegedly promised to release her after receiving the payment.
The prolonged crisis also caused tension between members of both families, with the victim’s mother reportedly confronting her husband’s mother over the delay in securing her daughter’s release.
But while the adults battled with the financial and emotional consequences, the children were left struggling to understand why their mother had suddenly disappeared.
The husband said he had to keep the children away from their home for their safety.
He recalled how his young son repeatedly asked about his mother.
“When I went there yesterday, my last one was like, ‘Where is your mummy?’ I don’t really know what to answer the little boy,” he said emotionally.
The agony finally ended when he received the news that police operatives had rescued his wife.
He said he realised the police had succeeded when he received a call asking him to come and take custody of his wife.
“When they called me and said, ‘Come around and hand over your wife to me,’ that was when I knew the police had carried out their mission,” he recalled.
A mother’s painful return
The rescue of Chinedu has brought an emotional turning point to a family that had spent weeks living with uncertainty.
For almost a month, her children had been without their mother, while her husband struggled to satisfy the increasingly complicated demands of the kidnappers.
Her account of being taken from her shop, transported through several waterways and held inside an isolated forest highlights the terrifying reality faced by victims of kidnapping in Nigeria’s riverine communities.
Yet, despite the trauma, Chinedu’s first response after regaining her freedom was gratitude.
“I thank the glory to Almighty God and to you people that rescued me,” she said.
She also prayed for the police officers who risked their lives during the operation.
“May God keep, strengthen and guide them. Also, may all that they want, may God provide it for them,” she prayed.
Police vow to intensify crackdown
The successful rescue comes amid renewed efforts by the Bayelsa State Police Command to intensify its campaign against kidnapping and other forms of criminality across the state.
CP Adewale assured residents that the command would continue to collaborate with other security agencies, traditional institutions, community stakeholders and residents to make Bayelsa increasingly difficult for criminals to operate.
He urged members of the public to provide timely and credible information that could help security agencies detect criminal activities and prevent abductions.
The Commissioner also advised youths to reject criminality and take advantage of legitimate economic and empowerment opportunities instead of joining criminal networks.
For Esther Chinedu, however, the statistics surrounding the operation mean little compared with the simple reality of being free again.
After weeks of darkness inside a kidnappers’ den, an agonising ransom battle and the pain of being separated from her children, the 42-year-old woman is finally back home alive, reunited with her family and able to tell the story of how she survived what she described simply as “very, very terrible.”
