Four youth Corps members serving in the South Eastern and a young cabinet maker, who were kidnapped by gunmen along Benin/Ifon road, have been released to their family members by their abductors on Monday after spending four days in kidnappers’ den.
Narrating their ordeals, one of the victims, Patience Andrew said: “We boarded a bus from Abia State to Onitsha, but our driver was not fast enough. We got there around 2pm.
“We boarded another bus going to Akure, 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 10pm when the incident happened. They flashed 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 that was butchered, he ran away.
“Then they brought us out of the vehicle and they took us to the bush. We trekked from past 10pm till around 7am 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 Hausa/Fulani language and they have 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 sound of cow in the bush and we pass 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 are 3 Hollandia yoghurt, 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 totalled N5 million.”
One of the two family members, who took the N5million 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 10am.
“Then I gathered the money and we got to Owo at 9:30am. Then they told me to stop at the double lane that entered 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. 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 stuffs 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 are going for excursion, 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 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,” Patience Andrew said.
According to the victims, they were released on Idase/Ute Road, Owo, Ondo State, having trekked through the forest from the point they were abducted to Idase forest.
The kidnap victims are Adewole Paul Oluwaseun, Oluwadara Feranmi, Andrew Patience, Oribamise Taiwo, all female Youth Corps members and Ajayi Lekan(cabinet maker.)
