Niger State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Alhaji Mohammed Sani Idris ,has revealed his four days experience in the land of the kidnappers,who abducted him from his house at Baban-tunga village in Tafa Local Government Area on Sunday.
He told reporters his grueling experience,untold hardship he suffered in captivity and the kidnappers intent to eliminate him.
He said that though the kidnappers had no good intentions for him and his family,but God changed their hearts to show mercy on him by allowing him to go free.
He added:“I give all glory to God. It is not our doing or capacity. It is God’s miracle. God has been so miraculous. They came with an intention that they get either N200 million from me or my life and they left with no money and with my life intact.I went through lots of trials in their hands, lots of dehumanizing things but I give glory to God that I am alive and I am safe.One thing I am proud of, I am proud to be part of this government, in fact, the first thing I did when I came out was to send a text to my Governor to thank him for having the strength of heart not to allow any state machinery to intervene before my release.
He said a decision was taken at the state council that the Niger state government is aversed to payment of ransom to bandits for any situation
He expressed that it was good that the state government or anyone concerned did not pay any sum of money to secure his release from captivity.
Idris said:“They came with recordings where I made statements reiterated it to them that as a government, in Niger state, we don’t pay ransom to bandits. I believe that we will succeed .I thank the government for standing by that, they were able to protect the integrity of our government. For me, it turned out this way. We were struggling, myself and my brothers. I was there but I wasn’t thinking of myself.
“I was thinking of the people and government of Niger state because I realized that if God should intervene and ensure that the government does not intervene in my affair. I prefer to lose my life than to take the government to the washers and we succeeded”.
“Apart from the beatings, I came out unscathed and without paying a dime. People will be surprised but I am a believer. When they captured me, what I did was to remember that God has promised to take us through trials and tribulations and that for those that are able to show resilence and withstand this, he promise us a lot”.
Sani Idris hinted that trekking the long distance almost all through the night wasn’t easy.
He said:“They took me on a hill. I saw kidnappers and bandits shedding tears, I held onto the leader and told him that I forgive them for all the humilations they have taken me through”.
He told journalists how his abductors began to shed tears and said they pray that their meeting with him will bring about an end to their involvement in banditry.
He added:“If the government had intervened in my case, I would have resigned because that means we would have been going back on our words”.
