The life of a Nigerian woman, Gloria George took a devastating turn when her 34-year-old son, Horsefall Rowland, was found dead.
The young man as found dead after a harrowing kidnapping ordeal.
Rowland failed to return home on the night of September 10, 2024, after informing his mother he was attending a meeting along Peter Odili Road and the Government Reserved Area (GRA) in Port Harcourt.
According to Vanguard, Rowland reassured his mother during a phone call at 10 pm that night that he was on his way home.
However, when Rowland failed to return and became unreachable, Gloria’s concern grew. Her fears were confirmed at 5 am the following day when Rowland called, frantically explaining he was being held captive by kidnappers.
In a desperate bid to secure his release, the family initially transferred N30,000 to Rowland’s captors, who had sent threatening voice notes and pictures warning of dire consequences. Despite the family’s best efforts, Rowland’s lifeless body was later discovered along Queens/Kings Bakery Abuloma Road, Port Harcourt.
Recounting the ordeal to the police on November 1, 2024, Gloria George described the relentless ransom demands.
“When he called on September 9, 2024, about 5:05 am, he said some persons held him and collected his phone. On that note, he requested N30,000 to settle them and I sent the money. After that, his captors demanded N2.5 million but eventually agreed to N300,000. They sent voice notes and pictures to Roland’s girlfriend, threatening that if they didn’t receive the money quickly, we should consider him dead. The money was sent to Roland’s account, and that was the last we heard from him,” she recounted.
Following the incident, the Rivers State Police Command’s Special Operation and Intelligence Team arrested five suspects: Endurance Thompson, 23; Boma Otonye, 41; David Ishaku, 34; Moses Benjamin, 29; and Emmanuel, 32.
Prime suspect Endurance Thompson, arrested at his Woji hideout, confessed that Rowland was killed after attempting to pay for hard drugs with a fake bank alert. Thompson alleged that Rowland frequently bought drugs from him and owed him N150,000. On the night of the incident, Thompson claimed Rowland tried to purchase drugs using a fraudulent bank transfer.
“I have known Roland since December 2023. He usually came to buy Charlie (cocaine). But unknown to me, he had been using fake transfer alerts. I got an alert, but my account balance remained unchanged. He owed me N150,000. I raised the alarm, and he was beaten and left alone. Later, he begged me to take him to the hospital. I called Justice, who told me to bring him over. Roland died in the Keke Marwa that took him to Justice’s place. Justice and Michael later dumped his body beside a bakery,” Thompson revealed.
Rivers State Police spokesperson SP Grace Iringe-Koko confirmed that Rowland’s body had been deposited at the morgue. She added that efforts are ongoing to arrest other suspects involved in the incident.
