Kidnappers Kill Two, Butcher One- Freed Corp Members Narrate Ordeals Kidnappers’ Den

Four youth Corp members and one other who were kidnapped on their way from orientation camp have narrated their experiences in the hands of kidnappers who kept them in captivity for five days.

The victims including Adewole Paul Oluwaseun, Oluwadara Feranmi, Andrew Patience, Oribamise Taiwo, all female Youth Corps members, and Ajayi Lekan (cabinet maker) were abducted along Owo/Ifon road last week and released on Monday night after spending five days in Kidnappers’ Den.

The victims’ families have to raise
N5 million as ransom before they were released by their abductors.
They were released along Idase/Ute Road, Owo, having trekked through the forest from the point they were abducted to Idase forest.

Narrating their ordeals to reporters on Tuesday, a victim, Patience Andrew who spoke on behalf of others said: “We boarded a bus from Abia State to Onitsha, but our driver was not fast enough. We got there around 2 pm. We boarded another bus going to Akure, but the driver did not take off immediately, so we left Onitsha Park around 5 pm with nine passengers in a Siena bus.

“We got to Ondo State around 10 pm when the incident happened. They flashed a torch light on the driver and the driver said: “Oga I no see you. They fired him twice the moment he made that statement and the woman sitting next to him. One guy was butchered. So, two people died and we don’t know about the guy who was butchered, he ran away.

“Then they brought us out of the vehicle and they took us to the bush. We trekked from past 10 pm till around 7 am the following day in the bush. The kidnappers were five in number and their age range should be around 25 years and not up to 30 years. They were speaking the Hausa/Fulani language and they had one interpreter.

“They tortured us and we were only given garri and water. At first, they asked for N30 million per person, but as the negotiation was going they brought it down to N3 million.
So, they now asked us to bring N1 million each. We slept inside the bush throughout the day, we heard the barking of a dog and the sound of a cow in the bush and we passed through farmland when we were coming out.

“But we didn’t meet anybody on the road, then our brothers came with what they asked for which were 3 Hollandia yogurt, 2 loaves of bread, one carton of Peak milk, one pack of malt drink, 5 bottles of Fearless drink, one pack of YES cigarette and 10 packs of rice and chicken and N1 million each, which totaled N5 million.”

One of the two family members, who took the N5 million ransom to the abductors, Oluwadara Olamide, disclosed that “after 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. Then they told me to stop at the double lane that entered Owo town, then I tried their number till 11 am.

“When I was able to call them, then they called me back after 15 minutes. Then they 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 motorbikes one for me and the other to carry the stuff we bought for them.

“Then they told us to go to Achiever University road at Ago Alhaji, and then warned us that “if you bring wahala, wahala plenty.” We told the bikemen that we were going for an excursion, and then when we got to Ago Alhaji, they told us to go to Ago Pan. When we got to Ago Pan, 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 where the cash was and they carried it and they asked me to move, and not quite long, we stopped and they called their other member to bring our family members.”

The victims said: “We were treated in Owo Police Area Command clinic and put down our statements.”
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