Finally, Dino Melaye Opens Up on How He Miraculously Escaped From His Kidnappers [Full Story]

Finally, Dino Melaye Opens Up on How He Miraculously Escaped From His Kidnappers [Full Story]

Nigerian senator, Dino Melaye who was feared kidnapped earlier this week has provided a blow-by-blow account of his unpleasant experience to PREMIUM TIMES.

Read Premium Times’ report below:

One of his Senate colleagues, Ben Murray-Bruce, who alerted the public to the development on Thursday morning, said the incident occurred along the Abuja-Lokoja Highway.

Mr Melaye’s aides and family members later told PREMIUM TIMES the senator was attacked shortly after Gwagwalada, a major town in the FCT and home to the University of Abuja, while travelling to Lokoja.

The senator said he was on his way to court for a third appearance in his ongoing trial for alleged criminal conspiracy. News of the purported abduction spread quickly, and many started drawing divergent conclusions as to what might have happened.

His spokesperson, Gideon Ayodele, told PREMIUM TIMES the violence was reported at Gwagwalada police division, but did not elaborate on the specific account provided to the police. As at early Thursday afternoon when the news had become a trending topic, the police did not issue any statement on the reported attack on the senator.

A statement later came in later Thursday, in which the police cast strong doubts about Mr Melaye’s abduction and also denied claims by Mr Melaye’s aides that the matter was reported.

The police, however, said they would investigate Mr Melaye’s whereabouts and rescue him if necessary, urging citizens with actionable information to pass such to authorities. A police source told PREMIUM TIMES on Friday morning that plans were underway to uncover Mr Melaye’s location, especially since his family members did not say they received calls from anyone for ransom. But just before noon on Friday, Mr Melaye, whose social media accounts were missing in action since Thursday morning, suddenly posted an update on Twitter, announcing he had escaped attack and thanking the public for showing concern for his safety.

The announcement shocked many, especially since there were already assumptions that Mr Melaye might have faked his own abduction to excuse himself from court appearance.

Sources close to him also hinted that Mr Melaye had called in to inform them that he had escaped an attack, but needed time to recover from the shock before telling the public. Several conspiracy theories about what happened to Mr Melaye quickly shaped up, and by weekend, some of them, especially the part that said he made a poor attempt at escaping court appearance, had become entrenched in the Nigerian social media.

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