Bayelsa woman freed after one month in kidnappers' camp

The Bayelsa State Police Command has rescued a 42-year-old woman, Esther Chinedu. She was kidnapped in Amassoma, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area. She spent almost one month in captivity.

Esther was taken on Tuesday, July 28, 2026. The kidnappers came to her phone shop pretending to buy something.

Bayelsa State Police Commissioner, CP Ajao Adewale, shared details of the operation on Sunday morning. He said the woman was found safe in Ogumbri Forest, South-Dajo area.

Adewale said the police received a distress call around 7 pm on the day she was taken. They quickly set up their intelligence network to track the kidnappers.

They gathered information from both digital and local sources. This helped them find out the kidnappers' movements and their demands for ransom from the victim's family.

Initially, the kidnappers wanted N100 million but later lowered it to N20 million.

The CP said the Crime Response Squad, led by CSP Chris Mark, moved to Ogumbri Forest five days before the rescue. They started closing in on the suspects.

At about 1:45 a.m., the police raided the kidnappers' camp. They rescued Esther and arrested one suspect.

The arrested man is 33-year-old Mark from the Akemfa 1 community. He confessed to his role in the kidnapping and explained how they carried out the act.

Adewale said the suspects pretended to buy food at the shop. They saw that Esther was not properly protected and grabbed her.

“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,” he said.

The rescue team included officers from the Crime Response Squad, the Federal Criminal Investigation Unit, and the Marine Department.

Adewale praised the officers for their hard work, especially those who faced tough conditions on the river while tracking the kidnappers. He thanked the Bayelsa State Government, led by Governor Douye Diri, for the support.

He warned criminals in the state that the police would keep pursuing them.

After the rescue, Esther's husband spoke about the tough times he faced while negotiating for her release. He was in Abia State on July 28 to buy mattresses when he got calls saying his wife had been kidnapped.

“I have been in Bayelsa for the past 20 years. I have not had anything like kidnapping in Amassoma. Why is it my wife?” he said, recalling his shock.

He later confirmed with one of the callers that his wife was indeed taken. The Divisional Police Officer also contacted him, saying two patrol teams had been sent to his home along Amassoma Road.

While returning to Bayelsa, he got a call from his wife's phone, demanding N2 million. They asked him to transfer N1 million into two different accounts.

He only had N300,000 in his account and sent that to one of the accounts given by the kidnappers. But once he got to Amassoma, the kidnappers called again, telling him to change the account.

One of the kidnappers then took the phone and raised the ransom to N100 million. After pleading with them, they lowered it to N20 million.

Negotiations dragged on for days, and the kidnappers later asked for N3 million. He managed to gather another N1.5 million and sent it to an account they provided.

In total, he paid about N1.8 million, but the kidnappers kept demanding more money. This situation caused tension between both families. Esther's mother confronted his mother over the delays in getting Esther back.

Eventually, the kidnappers asked for another N3.5 million, saying they would release her after that payment.

The husband said he was finally told that the police had rescued 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 said.

He described the time Esther was kidnapped as very hard. He had to keep their children away from home for their safety. His young son kept asking about his mother, and he struggled to explain why she was missing.

“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.

Esther also shared her experience of being taken to the forest. She said the kidnappers came to her shop pretending to buy something before revealing their guns.

“They said they wanted to buy something from my shop. Then, as I entered, that was when they brought out the gun and carried me,” she said.

The kidnappers left her daughter and another woman in the shop. She was moved through several boats before reaching the place where she was held.

She described the environment as very harsh. “There was like two or three days to a month. And the place was very terrible, very, very terrible,” she said.

The kidnappers gave her food, but she often refused to eat due to her emotional state. She said she was not sexually assaulted and was not beaten badly, except for one time when one of them hit her while she was praying.

She confirmed that the kidnappers originally wanted N100 million but later reduced it to N20 million. Esther thanked the police for saving her.

“I give glory to Almighty God and to you people that rescued me,” she said. She prayed for the officers involved, saying, “May God keep, strengthen and guide them. Also, may all that they want God provide it for them.”

This successful rescue comes as the Bayelsa State Police Command steps up efforts against kidnapping and crime in the state. CP Adewale assured residents that the police would continue working with others to make the state a harder place for criminals.

He urged residents to give the police useful information and encouraged young people to seek legal ways to make a living instead of turning to crime.