An incident of ‘one chance’ robbery occurred in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Thursday, September 11, 2025, where a victim was allegedly kidnapped and paid a ransom of N309,000.
One chance robbery is a type of crime where robbers disguise themselves as commercial drivers or passengers and rob unsuspecting victims of their valuables, often pushing them out of the vehicle afterwards.
In this case, Mrs. Esther, a mother of two and patent medicine dealer from Rumuoro community in Ogbakiri, Emohua Local Government Area, was kidnapped by one chance robbers while on transit to Choba.
According to Mrs. Esther, she boarded a Keke bus with two women and two men inside at Ozuoba junction, which was headed to Choba.
However, as they drove a distance, the robbers closed the door, pointed guns at her, and covered her face with a cloth, threatening to kill her if she shouted. They then forced her to open her phone and collected all the money in her bag.
The kidnappers, however, demanded a ransom of one million naira from Mrs. Esther’s family. Mrs. Esther’s husband’s family members were thrown into confusion when they received the news of her kidnap and the demand for ransom.
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After negotiations, they settled for N309,000, which was paid for her release.
She narrated: “I called someone in the village and the person sent N103,000, including the POS person’s charge. Another person sent N206,000 to the POS account details they gave the person.
“After the two separate money was sent to them, they were still insisting I call more people to send money, but I told them, I don’t know anybody anymore. I was pleading when one of them asked where I hail from and I said Akwa Ibom.
“The woman who asked me is an Akwa-Ibom woman. She pleaded with them to let me go. On getting to Choba, close to an eatery, they start driving slowly and asked me to jump down and I jumped down”.
Meanwhile, the National Coordinator of Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign, Prince Wiro, while reacting to the incident, said he was contacted by the family of the victim when she was still in captivity and had encouraged them to inform the Police but an hour later, they called that the woman has been released by her abductors.
Mr. Wiro urged residents of the state to observe the vehicle they are entering and always note the registration number of the commercial vehicle they are about to board. If possible, they should send the registration number to their loved ones.
The Rights advocate equally urged the Police to intensify diligent stop and search operation in areas that have been identified as flash points for ‘one chance’ robbers in the state.