Lagos, Nigeria - Popular Nigerian actor Pete Edochie, freed Monday night by the gunmen who kidnapped him a day earlier, has identified his kidnappers as "young graduates who did not have employment and were looking for how to survive".

Speaking with newsmen at his residence in Enugu, in Nigeria's South-east, Tuesday, Edochie described his experience in the hands of his abductors as 'ugly'.

He said, however, that no ransom was paid for his release, though the kidnappers had demanded 10 million naira (US$66,000), and that he did not lose any of his material possessions, including his telephone handset.

Edochie also said he neither knew where his abductors took him nor where he was dropped off.

``All I know is that I was able to pick a cab that took me to a hotel in Awka,'' he said. ``They told me they had no business kidnapping me at all. They did not manhandle me. They did not blindfold me, they did not gag me. They did not hack me. They did not tie me as they said I was their father.

``And somehow they knew a lot about me that I am good to people and that I assist people, particularly the down-trodden. They did not hide their faces and discussed freely with me. They bought me some drinks, made sure I did not `get alchoholically dry','' he said.

The actor said crime would be reasonably checked if government could ensure the welfare of the unemployed youth, as done in the developed countries.

Edochie's abduction was the latest in a series of kidnappings, now spreading across the country, which are apparently aping the situation in the restive Niger Delta region.

The wave of kidnappings has forced many states to pass tough laws prescribing the death penalty and life jail for convicted kidnappers

mama-gee:

Lagos, Nigeria - Popular Nigerian actor Pete Edochie, freed Monday night by the gunmen who kidnapped him a day earlier, has identified his kidnappers as "young graduates who did not have employment and were looking for how to survive".

Speaking with newsmen at his residence in Enugu, in Nigeria's South-east, Tuesday, Edochie described his experience in the hands of his abductors as 'ugly'.

He said, however, that no ransom was paid for his release, though the kidnappers had demanded 10 million naira (US$66,000), and that he did not lose any of his material possessions, including his telephone handset.

Edochie also said he neither knew where his abductors took him nor where he was dropped off.

``All I know is that I was able to pick a cab that took me to a hotel in Awka,'' he said. ``They told me they had no business kidnapping me at all. They did not manhandle me. They did not blindfold me, they did not gag me. They did not hack me. They did not tie me as they said I was their father.

``And somehow they knew a lot about me that I am good to people and that I assist people, particularly the down-trodden. They did not hide their faces and discussed freely with me. They bought me some drinks, made sure I did not `get alchoholically dry','' he said.

The actor said crime would be reasonably checked if government could ensure the welfare of the unemployed youth, as done in the developed countries.

Edochie's abduction was the latest in a series of kidnappings, now spreading across the country, which are apparently aping the situation in the restive Niger Delta region.

The wave of kidnappings has forced many states to pass tough laws prescribing the death penalty and life jail for convicted kidnappers

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[b]*Nigeria*[/b]