Harrowing 52-Day Ordeal: Kaduna Mother Recounts Daughter’s Rape by Bandits After Ransom Payment

Harrowing 52-Day Ordeal: Kaduna Mother Recounts Daughter’s Rape by Bandits After Ransom Payment

 

A wave of outrage and grief has swept through Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna State as a mother, Mrs. Comfort Ezekiel, bravely came forward to detail the appalling abuse she and her daughter suffered during 52 days in captivity. The trauma did not end with the payment of a ransom, as bandits subjected her daughter to sexual assault in her presence while escorting them out of the forest after collecting money from their family. Several other female captives were similarly molested during their time in the forest camp.

 

“They collected the ransom and told us we were free to go. We thought our suffering was over, but it was not. They raped my daughter before my eyes. It is a painful memory that will never leave me,” Mrs. Ezekiel said amid tears.

 

The ordeal began when armed bandits invaded their community in Kachia LGA, marching the victims deep into the forest where they remained for 52 days. Life in captivity was a daily struggle for survival, marked by severe hunger, fear, and uncertainty. The captives slept on the bare ground, survived on little food and water, trekked for hours through the forest, and lived every day with the fear of being killed at any moment.

 

The emotional trauma of witnessing the abuse of her daughter remains the most painful aspect of the ordeal for Mrs. Ezekiel. She insisted that no mother should witness what she saw, and that even though they have returned home, they are not the same people who were taken away. The pain, she said, remains in their hearts.

 

Mrs. Ezekiel disclosed that her daughter has yet to recover physically or emotionally from the trauma and continues to experience health complications following the incident. She appealed to the federal and Kaduna State governments, security agencies, and humanitarian organisations to provide medical, psychological, and social support for victims of kidnapping, noting that many survivors return home with deep emotional and physical scars.

 

The incident underscores the deteriorating security situation in Southern Kaduna, which has been plagued by a series of violent attacks and abductions. Residents of the affected communities have expressed deep concern and are urging security agencies to intensify operations against bandit groups terrorising communities in the area.

 

Harrowing 52-Day Ordeal: Kaduna Mother Recounts Daughter’s Rape by Bandits After Ransom Payment