The family of an Abuja-based lawyer, Princess Nwamaka Chigbo, has announced her death at the hands of kidnappers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja on Monday.
In a statement on Wednesday by the family, her elder sister, Maureen Chigbo, who is the immediate past President of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, said that Barrister Chigbo was on the phone with her sister, Anthonia, who briefly interrupted the call to attend to a client.
When she reverted, the legal practitioner’s phone was still live, and Anthonia could hear her sister’s distress cry. Shortly after, the phone suddenly went dead and unreachable.
Anthonia alerted Maureen Chigbo and other family members, who called the lawyer’s number repeatedly to reach her or her abductors to no avail.
When a call finally went through, a male voice rained curses in English and Hausa, saying: ‘Thunder fire you there, send N3 million, or else we will kill her’. The captors gave no further details and abruptly terminated subsequent calls.
Barrister Chigbo’s family later tried to contact the Police Force Public Relations Officer, Chief Superintendent Benjamin Hundeyin and left a text message on his phone. They were referred to two police complaint numbers.
The family equally sent a distress text and WhatsApp message to the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, and also contacted the FCT Police Commissioner, Miller Dantawaye, who immediately linked them up to the Commander of the Scorpion Squad, in charge of kidnapping in Abuja.
According to the family, the commander later called to inform them that the police were tracking the kidnappers, who were said to be ‘in motion and would likely drop the lawyer off once they might have collected the ransom’.
The kidnappers never initiated any calls, and when Chigbo’s family members reached them through her phone for clarification on how the ransom would be paid, they only heard the lawyer screaming in pain, ‘I am dying. …save me, please send the money, I am dying’, before the phone went dead again.
The family maintained contact with the Police Commander throughout Monday night to follow up on the rescue operation.
At 4 am on Tuesday when Maureen Chigbo called the Commander, he expressed surprise that the lawyer had not called or returned home. He then promised to escalate the rescue operation.
The Commander later called to inform the family that ‘a lady had been found in a critical condition’, and taken to an Abuja specialist hospital. He requested that the kidnapped lawyer’s picture be sent for identification purposes.
Maureen Chigbo immediately took a flight from Lagos to Abuja and on reaching the hospital, saw her sister’s lifeless body in the mortuary with bruises, swollen eyes and a cracked skull, all signs of a tortured death.
The Chigbo family has met with the Police authorities, who assured them that the case was under investigation and that the culprits would be apprehended.
Nwamaka Chigbo was an active member and former Treasurer of the Nigerian Bar Association, Abuja branch; member of the International Federation of Women Lawyers; and the Global Association of Female Lawyers. She was a former President of the Catholic Lawyers Association, Abuja.
An ardent Catholic, she authored a book on Infant Jesus, and was the Vice President of the Infant Jesus Association; and member of the Mother of Perpetual Help Catholic Group among other religious groups.
The family expressed gratitude to the Police for their efforts and cooperation, and urged them to ensure that justice is served in Nwamaka’s case.
The family also thanked the deceased’s friends, colleagues and well-wishers for their support and prayers.
Her funeral arrangements will be announced as soon as possible.
