We were tortured, fed with dirty water, garri – Freed youth corps members narrate ordeal in kidnappers’ den

Four corps members abductors in lfon, Ose council area of Ondo State, have narrated their four days ordeal in the kidnappers’ den.

Recall that the corp members were kidnapped along the Ifon-Owo highway in the state, on their way from Enugu State, where they had undergone the mandatory orientation camp of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), reports Vanguard.

During the attack, the driver of the vehicle and a female passenger were shot dead.

The victims include Adewole Paul Oluwaseun, Oluwadara Feranmi, Patience Andrew, Oribamise Taiwo , and Ajayi Lekan.

Narrating their ordeal to newsmen in Akure, the state capital, one of the corps members, a female, Patience Andrew, said that they were tortured and only fed with dirty water and gari.

According to her “We boarded a bus from Abia State to Onitsha, but our driver was not fast enough, one of the park drivers took us to where we boarded another bus going to Akure, we got there around 2pm but the driver did not take off immediately, so we left Onitsha park around 5pm with 9 passengers in a Siena bus.

“We got to Ondo State around 10 pm. Our abductors flashed torch light on the driver and the driver said, “Oga I no see you”

“They shot the driver twice, the moment he made that statement and the woman sitting next to him, and one guy was butchered, two people died and we don’t know about the guy that was butchered and ran away.

“The kidnappers brought us out of the vehicle and they took us inside the bush, we trekked from past 10 p.m. till around 7 am the following day in the bush.

“Our kidnappers were five in number and their age ranged around 25 and not up to 30, they were speaking Hausa/Fulani language and they had one interpreter.

“They tortured us and we were only given garri and dirty water for four days.

Speaking on the ransom paid, the 25-year-old abductee said, “At first they asked for N30 million per person but as the negotiations were ongoing they brought it down to N3 million per person.

“But after much negotiation, they now asked us to bring N1 million each.

“We slept inside the bush throughout the day, we heard the bark of a dog and the sound of a cow in the bush and we passed through farmland when we were coming out.

“As we walked through the thick forest, we didn’t meet anybody. Our brothers came with what they asked for which are 3 Hollandia yoghurt, 2 loaves of bread, one carton of Peak milk, one pack of malt, 5 bottles of Fearless energy drink, one pack of YES cigarettes and 10 packs of rice and chicken and N1 million each.

“We were treated in Owo Police Area Command clinic and later wrote our statements.

The brother of one of the victims, Oluwadara Olamide, who took the ransom to the abductors said that they gave him the location to drop the money.

Olayide said, “We agreed on N5 million in total, they gave me a location and told me to be there before 10 am, then I gathered the money and we got to Owo at 9:30 am and they told me to stop at the double lane that enters Owo town, then I was trying their number till 11am. When I was able to call them, then they called me back after 15 minutes.

“They then asked me to take a transport from that junction to Mobil, so I called them after getting to Mobil, then they asked me to take two motorcycles, one for me and the other to carry the stuff we bought for them, then they told us to go to Achiever road at Ago Alhaji.

“I was warned not to inform the security, otherwise they will deal with me.

“One of them said, “If you bring wahala, wahala plenty here.

“We told the bike men that we were going on an excursion, then when we got to Ago Alhaji, then they told us to go to Ago Pan, so when we got to Ago Pan we called them, and a young guy came to meet us with gun and told us where to pass, and we got into the bush and I showed them the bag where the cash was and they carried it away.

According to him, “Not quite long, they called out their other members who later brought our family members out of hiding.

Recall that the state police command said the victims “were abandoned by their assailants after the police mounted pressure on the kidnappers.

Police image maker, Funmi Odunlami, said that, “Policemen drawn from the Tactical squad led by the Area Commander of Owo, ACP Olufemi Awoyale continuous combing of the bush with sustained technical support frustrated the assailants and were forced to abandon the victims at Oyinbo/ Sanusi Camp”.