VIDEO: RESCUED NYSC MEMBER RECOUNTS KIDNAPPERS’ DEATH THREATS IN KOGI FOREST
Read Time:2 Minute, 39 Second
By Aishat Momoh. O.
A rescued National Youth Service Corps member, David Ayodele, has recounted how kidnappers allegedly threatened to kill him and other abducted victims after taking them into a forest in Kogi State.
Ayodele, who was among 15 NYSC members and six other Nigerians rescued from the kidnappers’ den, said the abductors threatened to keep the victims in captivity for one month before killing them.
He disclosed that the victims were abducted while travelling from Bayelsa State to Abuja after completing their NYSC orientation programme.
According to him, the vehicle conveying the corps members was intercepted by the kidnappers, who fired shots into the air and forced the passengers into the bush.
“Driver tried to escape, but he said, ‘Who’s the driver? Who’s the driver?’ And I held the driver, then they opened the door, and they started leading us to the bush while they were shooting, you know, rounds of bullets in the air,” Ayodele recounted.
He said the victims were physically assaulted as they were marched into the forest.
“Then we made our way to the bush with flogging and kicking and shouting and stuff,” he said.
Ayodele said the kidnappers later ordered the victims to sit in a bushy area and warned them that they would remain there for a month before being killed.
“We reached one kind of bushy area; they asked us to sit down, they asked us who would drink water, that we would be here for one month, so they would kill all of us,” he said.
He added that the abductors warned the victims against moving without permission, threatening to shoot anyone who disobeyed.
“They warned us that if anybody moved without permission that they will shoot the person, so none of us really attempted to move because of fear and stuff,” he said.
According to Ayodele, the victims were subsequently forced to move deeper into the forest and walked for a long distance before security forces eventually located them.
“So we moved a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot and then thank God the Nigerian Army came to meet us,” he said.
He commended the security agencies involved in the operation, including the military, police, Department of State Services and local hunters, for securing their freedom.
Ayodele explained that he had completed his NYSC orientation at the Bayelsa camp and was travelling to Abuja following his relocation when the abduction occurred.
“I did my orientation camp in Bayelsa camp,” he said.
He said organised vehicles had been provided to convey corps members to their various destinations after the orientation exercise, adding that he joined one of the vehicles heading to Abuja.
“So, on our way from Bayelsa, because we did relocation back to Abuja, so we were going to Abuja from Bayelsa camp. There were organised vehicles going to different states, so luckily we saw an Abuja vehicle,” he said.
Ayodele was among the 21 victims rescued from the kidnappers’ den in the Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State following a coordinated security operation.
See video below:
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