Channels Television reporter in Imo State, Eyitope Kuteyi, who was abducted in his home on Monday by gunmen, has regained freedom.
Kuteyi told newsmen in Owerri on Wednesday that he was with his abductors in the middle of a thick forest.
He said the kidnappers threatened his life most of the time, pointing guns at his head, and that he had to embark on hunger strike for fear of eating poisoned food.
According to him, the kidnappers have partners giving them information about movement of the Police and other security operatives, which make them to change locations.
He said: “When the police squad came for my rescue, they were notified the moment the police vehicles arrived in the village where the forest is located.
“It was at that point that they knew that the game was up.
“It was about 10pm on Tuesday that they came and told me that I will be going home and they showed me a track road and gave me N1,000.
“From there, I walked for about 45 minutes before I got to a village.”
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Taiwo Lakanu, assured that those behind the kidnap of the journalist would soon be apprehended and made to face the full wrath of the law.
Lakanu warned that there will be no hiding place for kidnappers and other criminal elements in the state.
He said: “We have our intelligence about those behind the kidnap of the Channels TV reporter and we are on their trail and they will soon be in the police net.
“We have also intensified manhunt for other suspected kidnappers across the state and they will all be brought to book.
“We will flush them out, no matter where they are hiding.”
Lakanu appealed to the public to always provide the police with credible information about the activities of criminals who live among them in order to rid the area of undesirable elements.
Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State commended the police for the prompt response to the kidnap.
This was contained in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo,
Okorocha promised that the state government would sustain the war against kidnapping and other heinous crimes in the state.
