29-yr-old woman disarm kidnappers, frees hostages in Plateau
2 min read
The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba
A woman has disarmed some kidnappers and set free three captives in Plateau State.
Lucy Tapnang Jeremiah, 29, who was abducted along three others, snatched an AK47 rifle from one of the kidnappers, suffering a knife attack, but managed to frustrate the kidnappers’ plan.
The courageous lady, a resident of Abuja, was travelling with seven other passengers to Mangu council of Plateau State for a wedding and to celebrate Christmas when their vehicle was stopped by the kidnappers.
Tapnan spoke yesterday at police headquarters in Jos, it was a horrific experience.
She said: “When we were approaching Science School, Kuru, kidnappers ordered our car to stop. I saw standing in front of the car door a man holding a gun instructing everyone on board to come down and surrender their phones and cash.
The kidnappers selected four of us out of the seven passengers and led us into the forest and left the remaining three at the scene.”
At a point, she “told the other passengers, you guys are men; lets attack them and free ourselves from them, but they complained that these men were armed with dangerous weapons so any attempt was death.
“I then vowed that no matter what they’re holding my God would protect me, so, please if I hold the one with the gun, they should rush at the one holding a knife. So I immediately grabbed the man with the AK47 and he shouted, and at that point the one with a knife attacked me wanting to pierce my stomach but I dodged it and the knife entered my leg.
Police spokesman Alfred Alabo confirmed the incident, saying upon receiving the report of the attack, the “Command immediately spread dragnets across the state in a bid to rescue the victims unhurt and apprehend the suspects”.
Alabo said while police were on their way to the scene, “one of the victims, a female, by name Lucy Jeremiah Tapnang, displayed bravery by challenging her captors’ knowing that help was on the way.
“That act of bravery led to their escape from the kidnappers den before they were rescued by the Police”.
Tapnang and the others were taken to a police clinic for treatment, while the hunt for the kidnappers was on, it was said.
