Law School Student says, we paid N10m ransom each for our release after 6 days in captivity
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
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“We were held for six days before we were released after each of us paid N10 million in ransom.
“Let the record be clear, the Nigeria Police did not rescue us. The Law School did not rescue us. The Council of Legal Education did not rescue us. We were released after our families and friends raised and paid the ransom.
“Their boss is named Matthew. He’s either a dismissed soldier or a deserter. All the others spoke Tiv, that is their language. They are from the same community where we were held.
“It seems the entire community has been overpowered or subdued. No one dares speak out.
“Children as young as two to three years old were playing with guns in front of us. The bandits cocked their rifles in front of these children like it was normal. We were even brought out in the open where these kids could see us.
“Their wives were the ones cooking for us, fetching water for us, mud water. The same food we ate was what the kidnappers ate too” – Obiora, one of the released captives.
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David Obiora, one of the six Nigerian Law School (NLS) students who regained their freedom from captivity last Thursday, has disclosed that they paid N10 million each to secure their release and refuted police claim that they were rescued by security forces.
He also recounted the horrific ordeal they endured between July 26 and 31 at the hands of their abductors in Benue.
Obiora said he and his five colleagues were flogged daily with tree stems, fed only once a day, and forced to drink muddy water in a forest along the Zakibiam-Wukari area.
“They flogged us with tree stems. They served us rice made with palm oil. The rice resembled amala, mixed with red oil. It was horrible. We also drank muddy water,” he told The PUNCH.
The kidnappers moved their vehicle deep into the forest, where they kept them in a small hut.
“I thought they were going to kill us when they drove our bus into the bush. I was so scared. Later, they told us they don’t kill people. But every day, they beat us.”
The students were abducted on July 26 along the Benue-Taraba boundary while travelling from Anambra in the South East to resume studies at NLS Yola campus in Adamawa in the Nort East.
Benue Police Command spokesperson Udeme Edet announced their release in a statement issued on August 3, claiming they were rescued by security forces.
But Obiora countered that “for the record, the Nigeria Police did not rescue us. The Nigerian Law School did not rescue us. Each of us paid N10 million for our release.”
He confirmed that of the students was freed earlier without ransom payment and the remaining five had to pay the ransom individually.
“The guy they released earlier looked much younger than the rest of us. They said he looked like a minor because of his baby face.”
The abductors, numbering about 10, spoke mostly in Tiv.
“I am extremely sure they spoke Tiv,” he insisted.
After the abduction, the kidnappers’ vehicle broke down, and they used motorcycles to transport the victims deeper into the forest.
“We were abducted around 9pm and arrived at the hut by 11:30pm. There, we met four other captives, one female and three males, including a corps member named Wisdom.”
The male captives were kept in a single hut, the female victim isolated in another hut believed to belong to the gang leader.
“She was alone with their boss throughout. We were always afraid. Tortured every day. Only four of them had guns, but all of them were with other weapons ranging from machetes to dangerous sharp objects.”
“The women (in the village) cooked for us, but they only gave us food once a day. The same food they ate. The villagers were aware of everything that was happening. Whenever they brought us out, small children would look at us.”
“Their leader, Matthew, looked like a soldier. We saw other villagers moving about normally. It was as if the entire community was complicit.”
Obiora recounted to Vanguard in a separate interview that they were abducted along the Zakibiam-Mukari Expressway after boarding a company transport vehicle from Onitsha en route to Yola.
“We were six law students on the bus with the driver, three other passengers heading to Cameroon, and a woman, who works in Anambra State, who was going on holiday to Yola.
“We were kidnapped about 9pm on July 26. The incident happened between Zakibiam and Mukari, near a town called Jootar. We were taken 20 kilometres into the bush by about 10 armed men, four wielding AK-47 rifles, the others with machetes and daggers.
“They drove the bus deep into the bush until it got stuck. They then called for reinforcement and more members arrived on motorcycles.
“We were moved deeper into the forest before arriving at a halt, where we met four other victims, a non-teaching staff of Federal University Wukari, a youth corps member named Dauda Wisdom, a Pastor, who had just undergone surgery in Benue State, and another unidentified man.
“We were held for six days before we were released after each of us paid N10 million in ransom.
“Let the record be clear, the Nigeria Police did not rescue us. The Law School did not rescue us. The Council of Legal Education did not rescue us. We were released after our families and friends raised and paid the ransom.
“Their boss is named Matthew. He’s either a dismissed soldier or a deserter. All the others spoke Tiv, that is their language. They are from the same community where we were held.
“It seems the entire community has been overpowered or subdued. No one dares speak out.
“Children as young as two to three years old were playing with guns in front of us. The bandits cocked their rifles in front of these children like it was normal. We were even brought out in the open where these kids could see us.
“Their wives were the ones cooking for us, fetching water for us, mud water. The same food we ate was what the kidnappers ate too.
“He told us he hasn’t been home in years. He claimed to have bought a Highlander SUV and another car for his wife, who now drives both. His children are in school and live well.
“But he cannot furnish or visit his own house because he’s a wanted man. He said they’re already marked and just doing the business until they are caught.
“Matthew, their boss, on the other hand told us he has a ‘juju’ man in Kano, who gives him spiritual protection. He said the army can’t kill him unless it’s the day God says he’ll die. He believed the ‘juju’ man would subdue any army that came after him.
“When they hijacked our bus, my initial thought was that it was Fulani, as usual. But their dialect and appearance confirmed that most of them were not. I was scared. It was my first experience and I thought we would be killed, but they assured us they wouldn’t kill us.
“When we met the earlier abductees, they had been there for 22 days and also confirmed the captors don’t kill.
“That was when my mind calmed down. The conditions were terrible. We ate only once a day, and the food was unhealthy. We drank muddy water, the kind you wouldn’t use to wash a car. We were being cooked for by the ladies in the community.”
Obiora said after he and the other victims were released, they walked for hours through dense bush paths from Benue to Taraba, eventually finding their way to a restaurant near a motor park.
There, they spent the night and later linked up with a transport company manager who helped them continue their journey to Yola.
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