Mr. Fred Edoreh, a Senior Special Assistant on Media to Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oboreveori, heroically foiled a suspected kidnap attempt of some market women, in a daring car chase rescue action on the Asaba/Ibusa highway in Delta State, on Saturday.
The women who were mostly vegetable sellers were said to have boarded a local transport Hiace bus at the Ogbogonogo Market in Asaba, expecting to be taken to their shops around the DLA area of town, but found the driver and two other of his partners taking them on top speed on Ibusa/Asaba Expressway, and all entreaties for the driver to stop them fell on deaf ears, until Edoreh came to their rescue.
In a video of the incident, the women were seen thanking God and the Governor’s aide for coming to their rescue.
Narrating the encounter in his own words, Mr. Edoreh said: “I had just passed the Immigration Office junction along the Asaba/Ibusa highway on my way to Isoko for a community ceremony when I noticed that the driver of the commercial bus in front of me was deliberately obstructing me from overtaking his bus.
“I noticed that the bus had an amber light on and thought they might be heading for some kind of ceremony. But the booth of the bus was loaded and protruding with sacks of vegetable leaf. These all got me confused a bit, but I was running late and was determined to over take it.
“As I manoeuvred to overtake, I noticed a woman in the backseat of the bus waving and gesticulating the help sign to attract my attention. I also noticed another woman behind the drivers seat making the same signs, just as I observed some form of struggling among the passengers inside.
“I reasoned that something must be amiss, that the women may be in some kind of trouble, and I suspected possible kidnap.
“My first instinct was to block the bus and force it to a stop, but I was alone and also realised that I would know how many people in the bus could possibly part of the kidnappers, and what if they had arms. So I pretended to have ignored the appeals from the women, overtook the bus and sped off, but with a plan to get ahead of them to mobilise some men I might see as I got into Ibusa proper, but still kerping sight of the bus with my rear view mirror.
“Luckily, I spotted some men at welding workshop by the road side, stopped to report my observation and appealed for their collaboration. As I was explaining to them, the bus zoomed past us and they also saw the women shouting for help.
“So they joined me and we began the chase. We imagined that the driver may want to avoid the police checkpoints before Admiralty, and possibly veer off the highway through any of the adjoining roads, for which if we lose sight of the bus, the women could be driven to any hideout, so we had to chase hard. At this time a number of bike riders had joined us.
“The driver also had noticed the chase and turned on his defences. So we both engaged in a zigzag, feinting each other on the express, till I got the better of him, cornered him to the edge of the drainage and eventually blocked him.
“The women came down traumatised but thanking God for bringing help to them.
“Some of them explained that they had thought the driver was taking through the Koka area from Ogbogonogo to DLA road, to avoid police men, but were surprised to see that he crossed the roundabout to the Ibuaa side. They said even then, they thought he would use any of the connecting roads after Kwale Park to return to the Asaba-Onitsha Expressway and cross back into Asaba, but to their surprise, the driver rather kept pressing on towards Ibusa, ignoring their queries.
“It was after they passed the Immigration junction that they realized that they may be in for a shocker, especially as two other persons, another man and a woman, they thought were co-passengers were also hushing and bullying them to stop making noise and attracting the public.
“The good thing is that we were able to force the bus to a stop, rescued the women and handed the driver to the police for interrogation before I continued my journey.”
