Rescued Kogi Kidnap Victims Recount Nearly 48 Hours in Captivity

Rescued Kogi Kidnap Victims Recount Nearly 48 Hours in Captivity

 

Two of the 16 victims rescued from kidnappers in Kogi State, Ngozi Stephen and Joshua Daniel, have recounted their harrowing experiences during nearly 48 hours in captivity.

The victims were abducted on Sunday when armed men attacked commuters along the Ojuwo–Ajengo–Memarebo and Ojiwo–Itobe roads in Ofu Local Government Area of the state.

 

They were rescued on Monday during a joint security operation involving personnel of the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, Nigeria Police Force and local vigilantes along the Ajaokuta–Anyigba road in the Ofu area.

 

The rescue operation, according to the security authorities, was successful after security personnel engaged the kidnappers, forcing them to flee and abandon the victims.

 

A local hunter was reportedly killed during the operation, while a police officer sustained injuries.

 

Speaking during an interview at the Kogi State Police Command headquarters on Tuesday, one of the rescued victims, Ngozi Stephen, disclosed that the kidnappers forced her to serve as an interpreter because of her fluency in Hausa.

 

Ngozi said the kidnappers assigned different ransom demands to the victims and made her communicate the amounts to them.

 

According to her, some victims were asked to pay as much as N50 million, N70 million and N100 million, while she herself was given a ransom demand of N70 million.

 

She said she attempted to plead with the kidnappers to reduce the amount demanded from her but was threatened with violence.

 

“They told me, tell this person N50 million, tell this person N100 million, tell this person N70 million. That was how they were sharing it,” she recalled.

 

Ngozi said although the kidnappers subjected some of the victims to physical violence, she was not beaten, possibly because she was being used as an interpreter.

 

She added that the kidnappers seized the victims’ mobile phones and laptops and switched off the phones. The devices were allegedly returned whenever the abductors wanted the victims to contact their relatives to negotiate or facilitate ransom payments.

 

The situation became more frightening, she said, when the kidnappers threatened to sell the victims to ritualists if their relatives failed to raise the demanded ransom.

 

Ngozi, however, said the kidnappers fled when they heard gunshots from the approaching security operatives, abandoning the victims and the bag containing the phones and laptops they had collected.

 

She expressed relief at the successful rescue, saying the victims were grateful to be alive and reunited with their families.

 

‘I Bled Throughout the Night’

 

Another rescued victim, Daniel, gave a graphic account of how he sustained a serious injury while attempting to escape from his abductors.

 

Daniel said that shortly after the victims were captured, he noticed an opening and attempted to escape into a nearby bush.

 

He said one of the kidnappers pursued him and tried to attack him with a cutlass.

 

According to him, he raised his hand to protect himself, but the cutlass struck his arm and severed a vein, causing him to bleed throughout the night.

 

“That is when the cutlass landed here and cut my vein. So, I was bleeding throughout the night,” he said.

 

Daniel said the bleeding eventually stopped after he obtained some herbs and applied them to the wound.

 

He also disclosed that one of the kidnappers identified himself as Peter, adding that the abductors deliberately spoke Igala, Fulani and Hausa among themselves to prevent the victims from understanding their conversations.

 

Despite his injury, Daniel said he assisted in carrying the wounded police officer from the kidnappers’ hideout to the main road after the rescue.

 

“Even when I had this cut on my hand, I helped in carrying the officer from where we were held captive to the main road where we entered the car. My hand was swelling,” he said.

 

Daniel expressed gratitude to the security personnel for their intervention but lamented the death of the local hunter who was killed during the rescue operation.

 

He commiserated with the deceased hunter’s family, describing the sacrifice made by the security personnel and local vigilantes as significant to the victims’ survival.

 

Meanwhile, the authorities said the 16 rescued victims comprised six adult males, six adult females and four children.

 

The victims are currently undergoing documentation and medical assessment before being reunited with their respective families.

 

The successful operation came amid renewed security concerns along major roads in parts of Kogi State, where armed criminals have continued to target motorists and commuters.

 

Security agencies have intensified joint operations in the affected areas, with local vigilantes also providing intelligence and support to conventional security personnel in efforts to combat kidnapping and other forms of criminality.

 

Rescued Kogi Kidnap Victims Recount Nearly 48 Hours in Captivity