By Abubakar Yakubu, Abuja
For Fatima, a middle-aged single mother of two, if only she had known what was waiting for her on her way from Kano to Abuja, she would have aborted the journey and stayed with her friend for just one more day..READ FULL CONTENT>>>>>>
Fatima’s friend had tried to persuade her to stay one more day but Fatima, who had already spent four days out of her home, was eager to rush back to see her children who were just seven and six years old respectively.
According to her, on December 23, 2023, she boarded a vehicle from Kano to Abuja and at the beginning; the journey was smooth as they passed through police and military checkpoints.
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She said after they passed Kaduna at 8pm and were approaching Abuja, they noticed a blockage on the road with about 15 persons wearing military clothes manning the area.
“Our driver, who thought they were real soldiers, stopped at the road blockage and the next thing we saw was guns pointed at us and we were ordered to disembark,” she recalled.
She said all the nine passengers in the vehicle, including the driver were made to trek for about an hour before they reached Kajuru Forest.
While on the journey on foot, Fatima said some of their abductors began to remove their masks and through their conversation appeared to have come from Niger Republic, as they spoke in Fulani language. She put their age ranges to be between the ages of 18 and above.
She said when they finally reached the kidnappers den, they saw about 25 persons tied like animals in the enclave.
“Those who proved stubborn or didn’t have a phone or people to contact for ransom were tied like goats, waiting to be killed. What I mean is that both their hands and legs were tied and they lay down waiting to be killed by the kidnappers. For those who agreed to pay, they were tied to trees while the females were separated from the males and treated with a little decorum,” she revealed.
She described the place where they were kept as being surrounded by trees with some rivers around. “They kept changing our positions from one place to another and victims were beaten mercilessly to call their people to bring money.
“They fed us once daily with only garri and it was poured in a basin for the victims to eat together. Those whom they knew couldn’t pay ransoms were not given any food to eat until they were killed in the presence of other victims to instil fear so that they would appeal to their relatives to quicken the ransom payment,” she narrated.
She said the leader of the bandits appeared to them on the second day of their abduction. “He appeared in the enclave and we the new victims were summoned to meet him. My luck was that before meeting him, one of the bandits advised me to agree to whatever he said and to let him know that my family would pay the ransom. The leader appeared ruthless and in a loud voice told me my ransom was N30 million and whether I had someone to pay for me and I said yes. He didn’t beat me and I heard him tell his men that if they didn’t receive the money early, they should kill all the victims,” she said.
She said throughout her 10-day stay in the place, the bandits shot two persons dead for trying to escape, while six others were slaughtered for not having anybody to pay their ransoms.
Fatima further narrated the incident of a nursing mother who was fed only on garri once a day and went through hell breastfeeding her baby. She said that aspect of her ordeal touched her greatly as a mother because their captors had no human feelings in them and even threatened the woman that if she didn’t stop her child from yelling, they would shoot the baby.
She said it was on the ninth day of her abduction that she learnt from one of the bandits that her family had paid the ransom and that she would be freed the next day.
“The bandits blindfolded me and put me on a motorcycle at 4 am that took me to a junction and I contacted my family through somebody’s phone in the area. My brother rushed down at about 9 am to pick me and it was from him I learnt that N20.3 million was paid as my ransom. He said the bandits instructed him to stay at a particular place, where someone on a bike collected the bag and zoomed off into the bush.
Fatima disagreed with the opinions of security operatives and top government officials who cautioned against paying ransoms. She said those who have spent time in a kidnappers’ enclave will never agree to that notion, adding that if one’s family refuses to pay ransom in such a place, then it means they have sentenced the person to death..READ FULL CONTENT>>>>>>
