Rivers State House of Assembly Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, has expressed gratitude for surviving a kidnapping and multiple attempts on his life over the past year.
Amaewhule shared his testimony recently during a thanksgiving service held at the All Saints Anglican Church in Eliozu, Rivers State, to celebrate his 52nd birthday.
The Speaker revealed that the past year had brought numerous threats. “I am not just marking another birthday but acknowledging that many people had planned to take my life in the last one year, but God didn’t allow them,” he stated.
He then detailed a chilling experience from 2008 when unidentified assailants abducted him. Amaewhule recalled that the kidnappers had been monitoring him at church.
“After service, they tactically followed me to my residence, tied up my security guard and abducted me and took me to a forest where they held me hostage for five days,” he recounted.
During the five-day ordeal, the Speaker suffered physical abuse, being moved between different hiding spots.
“They placed thorns under my feet and inflicted several injuries on my head and body in the process of moving me from one hideout to another within the forest,” he said, adding that he was only given biscuits to eat and nearly bled to death.
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Amaewhule, a staunch ally of FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, has been a central figure in the recent political conflict between Wike and Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
That political brawl led to a six-month state of emergency declared by President Bola Tinubu, which has since been lifted, allowing Amaewhule and other elected officials to return to their posts.
The Speaker concluded by emphasizing the importance of acknowledging divine preservation, saying, “When God does things for you, it is important to appreciate him for more.”
