The five National Youth Service Corps members kidnapped on the Ifon/Owo road in Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State have shared their experiences with their abductors.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the kidnapped corps members were Oluwaseun Adewole, Feranmi Oluwadara, Patience Andrew, Taiwo Oribamise, and Lekan Ajayi.
Confirming their release in a statement on Monday, the spokesperson for the police in the state, Fumilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, said: “The victims were abandoned by their assailants after the police mounted pressure on the kidnappers.”
The victims, however, said a ransom of N5million was paid to the kidnappers, while drinks and cigarettes were also bought for them to secure their release.
Speaking to journalists in Akure on Tuesday, one of the victims, Patience Andrew, described how they were returning to Akure after finishing their mandatory orientation at the NYSC permanent camp in Abia when the incident occurred.
Andrew, addressing the media on behalf of the victims, detailed that the kidnappers ambushed their vehicle roughly five minutes after passing a military checkpoint in Ifon.
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Andrew noted that most of the kidnappers appeared to be in their 20s, and one of them was dressed in a military uniform.
She added that the driver stopped the vehicle after one of the abductors “flashed his torch,” believing it was another checkpoint.
She said the driver and a woman in the front seat were immediately shot dead.
She said: “We were coming from Abia State and got to Onitsha around 2.00p.m; the driver did not leave immediately, we left around 5.00p.m.
“After getting to Ondo State, just few minutes from the military checkpoint in Ifon, that was when the incident took place.
“They even fired a gun and we were expecting the officers at the checkpoint to hear the noise and come to our rescue.
“The incident happened around 10.00p.m. They (kidnappers) did not barricade the road, they just flashed their touch and the driver said I didn’t see you, and immediately they shot at him twice, killing him and the woman that sat in the front seat.
“Immediately they ordered us out of the vehicle into the bush. We trekked from that night till the morning. They did not injure me despite not feeling fine.
“The kidnappers were communicating majorly in Hausa language; it was only one of them that can barely speak English.
“They used the phone of one of us to communicate with our families on how to pay the N5 million ransom,” she stated.
(NAN)
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