NAN-A 70-year-old paramount ruler of Okordia clan in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa, King Richard Seiba, regained freedom on Tuesday from his captors after eight days.
A boat driver who sighted the monarch where he was abandoned in the creeks, took him down to Amassoma mainland.
He was later taken to the police headquarters in Yenagoa where he was received by the Commissioner of Police, Mr Kingsley Omire, relations and well wishers.
Narrating his ordeal, the monarch told newsmen that his captors flogged him several times, and threatened to kill him if he was unable to pay a ransom of $150 million.
“I was forcefully taken away from my home to an unknown location close to the sea. They told me I must say how much I was going to pay or else they would smoke me. They flogged me with tree branches and even used torch-light to hit my head”, he said.
Frightened about his safety, he told them he was willing to part with N10 million, a proposal they turned down.
Seiba said that the kidnappers told him that they were offered N50 million to eliminate him by some persons in Okordia community.
He said as his ordeal continued, he resorted to fasting, a development he said, angered the kidnapers who subjected him to further torture.
It was at this juncture, he added, that they asked him to find his way back to his kingdom, without payment of any ransom.
Receiving the King, Omire noted that pressure from the security operatives on the trail of the kidnappers could have forced them to abandon the monarch. He said that security operatives had launched a manhunt for the suspects.
Omire, who commended the effort of the boatman, urged the people of the state to always give a helping hand to people in distress.