Three friends escaped a kidnapping attempt in Enugu after a violent struggle inside their vehicle that ended when the car crashed into a tree, according to an account by one of the survivors.
The incident occurred on the evening of August 17 after the group left a meeting at Spar supermarket to discuss the official launch of their creative company. The narrator whose name is Paulinus Onwumere, who was driving a friend’s car, said they were heading towards New Artisan to drop one of the passengers when a Toyota Camry or Corolla intercepted them near Toscana roundabout.
Two armed men jumped out of the intercepting vehicle. “Just then, two guys jumped out of that car with guns and commanded us to come down,” the survivor said. One held a small gun and the other a long gun. The three friends were forced into the back seat of their own car while two of the attackers took control of the vehicle. The survivor estimated there were at least five assailants in total.
Inside the moving car, the attackers demanded mobile phones. When two of the victims said their phones had fallen during the initial confrontation, one of the gunmen became furious and pointed his weapon at them. A struggle then broke out.
“That was when the battle started inside the car,” the survivor recounted. One friend jumped from the vehicle. The remaining two victims wrestled with the gunman holding the long weapon. “Imagine a Hollywood movie where two people are dragging a gun in a moving vehicle. Honestly, that was the case,” he said.
They succeeded in snatching the gun and began striking the attacker, who then jumped from the car. The driver continued at high speed. The survivors said they kept hitting him until the vehicle veered off and crashed into a tree. Both men managed to get out of the wrecked car. The driver of the vehicle had disappeared by the time they emerged.
Bystanders gathered and the police were called. The survivor praised the rapid response of the Enugu State Police Command. A small phone belonging to the attackers was recovered from the car and handed over for investigation, along with the weapons.
The narrator said he remains traumatised by the experience but is physically sound and receiving medication. “Ladies and gentlemen, that was how God saved me from the hands of kidnappers,” he wrote. “I am currently traumatized that the keke that brought me home from the hospital yesterday overtook another keke and I almost fainted. The whole scenario keeps playing in my head.”
He added that the incident had taught him that “you can’t be too careful not to enter danger” and described kidnapping as something he would not wish even on an enemy because of the risk of panic-induced harm.
Police investigations into the attack are continuing.
FULL TEXT OF THE SURVIVOR
On the 17th of August, 2026, my friends and I scheduled a meeting at Spar, Enugu to discuss the official launching of our creative company…
After the meeting around 9pm, we were supposed to drop one of us at his house around New Artisan, myself at my house, before the third person retired to his. We were supposed to drop the one that stays at New Artisan first. So, I was the one driving, as I learnt to drive with that my friend’s car. Immediately we passed that Toscana roundabout, along that New Artisan road, a Camry or Corolla car (I can’t really tell the name), intercepted our own vehicle, making me to match the brake pad impulsively that I almost even hit their car.
Just then, two guys jumped out of that car with guns and commanded us to come down. Initially, I thought they were police officers or security operatives that followed us for beating traffic. The one with the small gun came to the steering door and commanded to come down. Immediately I came down, he placed the gun in my head and kicked me inside the back seat. The other one with a long gun did the same to the other of my guy occupying the passenger front seat with me. The three of us were now at the back seat. Meanwhile, they were five in total (saying the ones I saw. They may have been more than). Three of them entered back the Camry or Corolla they came with. The one with the small gun entered the steering of our own car, while the second with the long gun joined us at the back.
They zoomed off. I didn’t know where we were going. Inside the car, the one with the long gun at the back with us felt that the back was too tight for him to stretch his gun and do whatever he wanted to do. He jumped to the passenger seat in front. Now, we had my friends and I at the back and the two kidnappers at the front. He now stretched his gun at us and commanded us to submit our phones first. The first guy gave them his phone. He asked me for mine and I told him mine fell down when the other guy told me to come down from the car. He was raging that I was joking with him. He asked the third guy and he told him the same thing I said. That was when he became furious and set out his gun. The first guy he collected his phone held that gun. That was when the battle started inside the car. Meanwhile, the ones inside the small car noticed that there was a problem inside the car and zoomed off.
So, when the first guy started dragging the gun with him, the one on the steering could only concentrate to drive us out of the reach of people. In that process, one of my friends jumped out of the car. We were now left with just me, the second friend dragging the gun with the kidnapper, the kidnapper he was dragging the gun with, and the kidnapper driving. I thought of diving out too, but the speed of the car increased. At that point, I knew I had only two fates; either we die by an accident or they shoot us. I joined my friend and we started dragging the gun with him because the mouth of the gun was facing me. When my friend noticed I was holding the gun too, he gave the kidnapper a blow in his eyes and I quickly removed the gun from his hand. If you really want to understand what this scenario looked like, imagine a Hollywood movie where two people are dragging a gun in a moving vehicle. Honestly, that was the case.
So, immediately I snatched the gun from him, we started hitting him. I was hitting him with the gun while my friend was hitting him with his hands. So, I turned the face of the gun towards him as if I wanted to shoot him, he quickly opened the car door and jumped out. Whether he died or survived I don’t know. So, it was just me, my friend and the kidnapper driving. God did it, the small gun he came with fell under his legs. He had the option of stopping the car and picking the gun or continue driving until he got to his destination. My friend and I started hitting him with the gun and hands. He increased the speed more. That was when I saw death coming. The car started veering, hitting different places. My friend shouted that I should hold the steering and let all of us die instead. At this point, accident was imminent. The guy didn’t even stop. The long gun I was with had opened, and I didn’t know how to fix it back. But if I had shot him, the car would have somersaulted. So, we continued hitting him until the car hit a tree close to the road. The car crashed. I struggled to come out. Thank God, my friend came out too and he was sound. He was shouting repeatedly “Kidnappers o!” Meanwhile, when we came down, we didn’t see the kidnapper driving. I brought down the gun I snatched from that guy, and when we were looking for our phones, we saw the small gun inside. Everybody gathered, called the police, and I must commend the Enugu State Police Command. They intervened quickly. As God may have it, we found their small phone inside the car that the police would use for their investigation.
Ladies and gentlemen, that was how God saved me from the hands of kidnappers. I am currently traumatized that the keke that brought me home from the hospital yesterday overtook another keke and I almost fainted. The whole scenario keeps playing in my head.
Above all, I just learnt that you can’t be too careful not to enter danger. And kidnapping is what I don’t even pray for my enemies to encounter. Because, you can even instantly kpai because of the panic attack
I am sound and strong. I’m currently on medication.
