An Enugu kidnapping attempt ended dramatically when three friends allegedly fought back against armed men who intercepted their vehicle and tried to abduct them along the New Artisan Road in Enugu on the night of 17 August. One of the victims, entrepreneur Pauli-Nus Onwumere, recounted how the group resisted their captors, wrestled away a firearm and escaped after the vehicle crashed into a tree.
Onwumere said he and two friends had met earlier that evening at a shopping centre in Enugu to discuss the launch of their creative technology venture, Y-Company Limited. The company aims to create a digital marketplace where creatives can promote and sell their products.
According to Onwumere, the Enugu kidnapping attempt began shortly after the meeting ended around 9 p.m. The group was driving toward the New Artisan area to drop off one of their colleagues when another vehicle suddenly blocked their path near the Toscana roundabout.
“We thought they were security operatives at first,” Onwumere wrote in a Facebook post. “But one of them pointed a gun at my head and forced me into the back seat.”
The entrepreneur alleged that at least five armed men were involved in the Enugu kidnapping attempt. Two suspects reportedly took control of the victims’ vehicle while others followed in a separate car.
As the vehicle sped away, the suspected kidnappers allegedly demanded their mobile phones. One victim surrendered his device, but the situation escalated when the gunmen were told that the other two phones had fallen during the chaotic interception.
The suspected gunman reportedly became enraged and brandished a weapon. A turning point in the Enugu kidnapping attempt came when one of the victims grabbed the firearm and began struggling with the suspect inside the moving vehicle.
What followed was a violent confrontation that Onwumere compared to a scene from an action film. One of the victims managed to jump from the moving vehicle, while the remaining two continued wrestling with the armed suspect.
The struggle transformed the Enugu kidnapping attempt into a desperate fight for survival. Onwumere said he joined his friend in overpowering the gunman after the weapon was turned in his direction.
The pair eventually seized the firearm and began striking the suspect. According to Onwumere, the alleged kidnapper then opened the door and jumped from the moving vehicle.
That left only the driver and the two captives inside the speeding car.
Onwumere said another weapon allegedly carried by the driver fell near his feet, but the suspect chose to continue driving rather than stop and retrieve it. The victims continued fighting back as the vehicle sped through the area.
“We thought we were going to die either from gunfire or in an accident,” he recalled.
The Enugu kidnapping attempt reached its climax when the vehicle lost control and crashed into a tree near the roadside. Both victims managed to escape from the wreckage and immediately raised the alarm.
Witnesses reportedly gathered at the scene after hearing cries of “Kidnappers!” The survivors later contacted police and local residents assisted in securing the area.
Onwumere praised officers of the Enugu State Police Command for their response following the Enugu kidnapping attempt. He also claimed investigators recovered items from the vehicle, including a mobile phone believed to belong to one of the suspects.
The Enugu State Police Command had not publicly commented on the allegations at the time of writing, and independent confirmation of the incident was not immediately available.
The reported Enugu kidnapping attempt comes amid continuing concerns over kidnapping and violent crime in parts of Nigeria, where security agencies have intensified operations against criminal networks responsible for abductions and armed attacks.
Although he survived the ordeal, Onwumere said the experience has left a lasting psychological impact.
“The whole scenario keeps playing in my head,” he wrote, adding that he nearly fainted when a commercial tricycle overtook another vehicle while taking him home from hospital.
For the entrepreneur, surviving the Enugu kidnapping attempt was nothing short of miraculous. He said he is currently receiving medical treatment and recovering from the traumatic experience.
