Actress Cynthia Okereke, who was released a few days ago by kidnappers, says her abduction was a mistake as she was not actually the target of the kidnappers.
Okereke and actor Clemson Cornell were kidnapped in Enugu State two weeks ago and their kidnappers demanded a ransom of $100,000, according to the Actors Guild of Nigeria.
“They told me I was not the one they were looking for. They stated that since they could not get who they originally wanted, they had to take me. It was a coincidence,” Okereke said in an interview with Sunday Scoop.
She added that a ransom was paid before she was released.
On how much was paid, Okereke said: “That is what I won’t tell you, but a ransom was paid. I don’t want it to go viral but ransom was paid. My husband was the one who took the ransom to Ngwa in Abia State.”
She said the entire experience was nasty.
“They did not give me anything,” Okereke said. “For the first two days I was there, I was not given any food. It was on the third day they gave me milk and a malt drink. Because my stomach was empty, I knew that I would vomit if I took it, so I declined.”
She added: “When they captured us at Centenary Junction in Enugu, they said, ‘Cynthia Okereke, you think we don’t know you?”’ So, I asked them what they wanted and pleaded that they should take my car when they shot into the air. They said they did not need the car.
“We were wrapped with a trampoline and taken to an unknown destination. It was the following morning that one of them asked me if I know where I was. I said I didn’t know and he told me we were in Ebonyi State.
“They said Nollywood is not supporting Nnamdi Kanu (founder of the Indigenous People of Biafra), that we should come out en masse to support him. According to them, ‘Kanu is fighting for every one (Igbo people).”’
