Corps members narrate their ordeal in the hands of their abductors.
A 25-year-old youth corps member, Patience Andrew, who was kidnapped along with her colleagues on the Ifon/Owo road in Ondo state, has recounted their harrowing experience at the hands of their abductors.
According to Tribune, speaking on behalf of the other four victims, Andrew described how the kidnappers, numbering five, stopped their vehicle, shot the driver and one of the passengers, and then ordered everyone out of the vehicle before marching them into the forest.
The victims included Adewole Paul Oluwaseun, Oluwadara Feranmi, Andrew Patience, Oribamise Taiwo, and Ajayi Lekan.
Andrew, who recounted their ordeal in the hands of their abductors, explained that they trekked for hours through the forest before contacting their boss. Initially, the kidnappers demanded N30 million as ransom, but eventually reduced it to N3 million.
“For the number of days we spent there, we were drinking garri and also received the beating of our lives while we usually walked all through the day,” she said.
On the day of the incident, they had boarded a bus from Abia to Onitsha. “Our driver was not fast enough, so one of the park drivers took us to where we boarded another bus going to Akure,” Andrew explained. “We got there around 2 pm, but the driver did not take off immediately. We left Onitsha park around 5 pm with nine passengers in a Siena bus. We got to Ondo around 10 pm when the incident happened.”
The kidnappers stopped their vehicle, shining a flashlight on the driver. “When the driver stopped and said, ‘Oga I no see you,’ they shot him twice, killing the driver and a woman sitting next to him. Another person was butchered while trying to escape,” Andrew recounted.
“Then they brought us out of the vehicle and marched us inside into the bush. We trekked from 10 pm until around 7 am the following day in the bush. The kidnappers were five in number, with their age ranging between 25 and 30 years. They were armed and speaking Hausa/Fulani language, with one interpreter as the others could not speak or understand English.”
“They tortured us and we were only given garri and water. At first, they asked for N30 million per person, but as the negotiation went on, they agreed to N3 million per victim. In the end, they settled for N1 million.”
Andrew added, “We slept inside the bush throughout the day. We heard the bark of a dog and the sound of cows in the bush. We passed through farmland but didn’t meet anybody on the road. We were released after our families brought the ransom. They paid N5 million as ransom. The kidnappers demanded packs of yogurt, loaves of bread, one carton of milk, one pack of malt, five bottles of energy drink, one pack of cigarettes, and 10 packs of rice and chicken, but not cow meat.”
“They released us to our family and we reported to the Owo Area Command, where we wrote a statement before being taken to the Police Clinic for treatment,” she said.
Olamide, a family member who delivered the ransom, recounted his experience. “After we agreed on N5 million, they sent a location to me and told me to be there before 10 am. We took the cash to Owo, and they told us to proceed to another location where we waited until 11 am. Then they directed us to another location along Achievers University.”
“But they later called and told me to take two bikes: one to carry me and some other stuff they demanded, and another for the ransom. They told us to go to Achiever University road at Ago Alhaji, and warned us that ‘if you bring wahala, wahala plenty.’ So when we got to Ago Panu, we called them, and a young guy came to meet us with a gun and told us where to pass.”
“We got into the bush, and I showed them the bag with the cash. They took it and told us to move. Not long after, they called the victims,” Olamide concluded.
