Mustapha Abubakar, one of the abducted students from Kuriga in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, shared his harrowing experience after managing to escape from their captors. Recounting his ordeal, Abubakar revealed how he cleverly concealed himself in a shrub, resembling a snake, as the bandits relocated them, ultimately securing his freedom.
Among approximately 280 schoolchildren abducted, Abubakar and 27 others successfully reunited with their families.
The abducted children, spanning from ages 5 to 18 and comprising both genders, were subject to this terrifying ordeal.
During an interview with BBC Hausa in Kaduna on Monday, Mustapha Abubakar described how the bandits herded the children like livestock, underscoring the severity and desperation of their situation.
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“We trekked in the bush; sometimes we crawled. We were so thirsty that some of the girls were becoming weak and falling due to tiredness. The bandits were lifting them and putting some of them on motorcycles.”
“Afterwards, we reached a big river, where we drank water and continued trekking. There was a plane that hovered above us. That was when the bandits ordered us to remove one of our clothes and lie down.”
“Even the bandits were exhausted. They had no food and were eating leaves and wild fruits. They gave us nothing to eat.”
“While we were moving, I noticed a shrub that was brown in colour, like my trouser. I hid inside and crawled like a snake. I was there until it was completely silent before I came out and headed to the bush.”
“I later met an old man who had difficulty walking. I asked him the pathway to the main road or any close place so that I could get water to drink.”
“I had a marathon race. I was exhausted, but I pushed on, as evening time was approaching. I later arrived at Gayan, a community near us, and that was how I eventually escaped,” he said.