TWO Nigerians nationals kidnapped and beat a 29-year-old Oakdene man, when he had made a stop to purchase beverages for his neighbour in Rosettenville, on Wednesday night, December 14.
He was speaking on the phone in the stationary vehicle, just before he alighted to approach a store in Berg Street – but the two men swiftly opened his door, entered and pulled out knives. They took his wallet and instructed him to go with them, to make a withdrawal.
At the ATM, they couldn’t withdraw money because the card had reached its limit. The kidnappers decided to take the man for holding, at a house that looked like a brothel in Rosettenville. They took him to a bedroom that had two beds and a curtain separating it into two rooms. They made him sleep on the other side by himself, while they shared a bed on the other side of the curtain.
Speaking to the COURIER, the man said he woke up in the early hours of the morning, convinced they were asleep – and searched the nearby wardrobe, hoping to find his phone; but he was only able to locate someone else’s camcorder and a knife.
“I heard a noise coming from the other side and swiftly hid the knife and camcorder under the bed. The one man was suspicious. He searched me and found I’d moved the camcorder and knife – and that’s when he angrily said I was stealing from them and planning to kill them. They started beating me until sunrise, when they said we should go and make that withdrawal,” said the hurting victim.
At the Rosettenville ATM, the suspects gave him space so as to not look suspicious. There was another woman withdrawing money already, so he waited. As he approached to withdraw, the woman was turning to walk away and he whispered to her to help – and she saw his face and tears. She rushed to her vehicle and returned with her husband, who confronted the two suspects -screaming they’re the ones giving Nigerians a bad reputation.
“While they were still distracted by the brave husband and wife, I pushed hard to break off the chip from the card and left one of the guys trying to fix it at the ATM. I walked back to my vehicle and drove off – and didn’t even stop at the traffic light, because I was scared,” he told the COURIER.
The COURIER is following up as a case isn’t yet opened; more details will follow.
