By Emiola Osifeso
In what has become one of the most terrifying accounts of the growing “one chance” menace in Abuja, Mary Moore, a widow of an American citizen, has narrated how she was abducted, drugged, and extorted by kidnappers while preparing to board a flight to Lagos for her long-awaited United States immigration visa interview. Speaking exclusively to Spear News, Mary described the ordeal as a traumatic, life-altering experience that has left her shaken and distrustful of the safety conditions in Nigeria’s capital city.
Her nightmare began on Monday, September 8, 2025. She had booked an Air Peace flight from Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, to Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, for 4:30 PM. However, the flight was later rescheduled to 8:30 PM, which gave her a few extra hours to prepare. Mary, who had just exchanged $2,000 in Wuse Zone 3 to cover her travel expenses, decided to make her way to the airport later in the evening.
At about 5:30 PM, while struggling with poor phone network caused by bad weather and trying to order a Bolt taxi, she was suddenly approached by two men. One tapped her shoulder while the other sprayed a chemical substance directly onto her face. Within seconds, she felt weak, disoriented, and unable to resist. Dragged into a waiting Toyota Sienna vehicle already containing other victims, Mary was thrust into a nightmare that would last until the following morning.
“They sprayed the chemical on me, and I became unconscious and disoriented,” Mary told Spear News. “They forced me into a Sienna. There were other victims in the back seat, and I was pushed into the front. Before I realised it, we were already in Keffi, Nasarawa State.”
From that moment, Mary’s fate was tied to the whims of her abductors. When they searched her bag, they found documents marked Property of the United States Government “Do Not Open.” Mistaking her for an American citizen, they immediately separated her from the other victims and placed her under tighter watch.
“They told me they were going to collect dollars from me. They gave me my phone back, and I managed to call Wumi, the travel agent who booked my ticket. She later informed my sister and a friend, Deji. But the kidnappers were convinced I had access to more money,” Mary recounted.
Initially, the abductors demanded $2,000, the same amount she had exchanged earlier that day. When she admitted she had already hidden the cash in her bag, they took it and temporarily softened their stance. “When I gave them the money, they calmed down. They even bought me pads after I suddenly saw my period. They treated me with some dignity compared to the others, who were beaten mercilessly,” she said.
Throughout the night, Mary was moved from location to location, Keffi, Kubwa, and other suburbs of Abuja while under the influence of repeated chemical sprays. Her ATM cards and mobile banking accounts were drained systematically. “They forced me to withdraw N200,000 from my OPay account,” she recalled. “At one point, they claimed the pad they bought for me cost N50,000 and deducted that from my money. Later, they withdrew the remaining N150,000. I couldn’t resist. I felt hypnotised, like I was obeying commands without understanding.”
Despite losing most of her belongings, including clothes, wig, and personal effects, her knapsack containing her visa documents remained untouched. This spared her a devastating setback in her immigration process, even though the ordeal forced her to miss her visa interview.
The most chilling part of Mary’s account was the sophistication of the kidnappers’ network. She noted that the group had a ringleader operating within Abuja who coordinated the movements, ensured victims were shuffled between locations, and oversaw extortion activities. “The leader checked my documents and told the others I wasn’t American, just someone going for an interview. They later decided to let me go,” she said.
By dawn on Tuesday, September 9, Mary was released in Kubwa. Stripped of dignity, disoriented, barefoot, and carrying only her knapsack, she was handed ₦30,000 by her captors as “transport fare” before being abandoned.
“When I came out, I looked like a madwoman, no shoes, no wig, just my bag on my back,” Mary told Spear News. “They told me to use the N30,000 for transport. It was humiliating. I had just lost everything else.”
She immediately reported the case to Byazhin Police Station in Kubwa. The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) escalated the matter to the FCT Anti-Kidnapping Squad. When asked if the kidnappers had been tracked and arrested, given that her phone was switched on at various points, she said the police told her investigations were ongoing.
Mary’s story highlights the deepening crisis of “one chance” operations in Abuja, where criminal gangs use commercial vehicles to kidnap unsuspecting passengers. Victims are often drugged with chemicals, dispossessed of their belongings, and sometimes killed. In recent months, residents of the Federal Capital Territory have raised alarm over the growing audacity of these criminals, with incidents reported in areas such as Wuse, Gwarimpa, Kubwa, and Nyanya.
For Mary, what was supposed to be a hopeful trip for a new beginning turned into a nightmare that almost cost her life. Her survival, she said, feels like a miracle. But her painful account now stands as another stark reminder of the dangers lurking in Nigeria’s capital city.
“I was lucky to come out alive,” she said, her voice trembling. “Others weren’t so fortunate. Abuja has become a very unsafe place, and I don’t know how many more people must go through this before something is done.”
Her story is not just a personal tragedy but also a haunting reflection of the worsening internal security challenges in the Federal Capital Territory, where “one chance” kidnappings have now become one of the most feared forms of urban terror.
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