Two of the 16 people freed after a kidnapping in Kogi State have recounted a nearly 48-hour ordeal in captivity, saying their abductors spoke Igala, Fulani and Hausa and demanded large ransoms.
The victims were seized on Sunday when armed men attacked commuters along the Ojuwo–Ajengo–Memarebo and Ojiwo–Itobe roads in Ofu Local Government Area, the military said. A joint security operation by the Nigerian Army, Navy, Police and local vigilantes rescued them on Monday along the Ajaokuta–Anyigba road in the Ofu area.
A police spokesperson, Anele, said one local hunter was killed and a police officer was injured during the rescue. Of the 16 rescued abductees, she said, six are adult men, six are adult women and four are children. They are undergoing documentation, medical checks and reunification with their families.
At the Kogi State police command headquarters after their release, 26-year-old Ngozi Stephen (age if known) said the abductors used her fluency in Hausa to make her act as interpreter. She said captors named different ransom amounts for victims and forced her to relay them.
“They told me, ‘Tell this person N50 million, tell this person N100 million, tell this person N70 million,’” Ngozi said. “Even me, they said N70 million. When I tried to plead, they threatened to beat me.”
Ngozi said the kidnappers seized the victims’ phones and switched them off, returning devices only when they wanted hostages to call relatives for ransom. At one point, she said, the captors threatened to sell hostages to ritualists if ransom was not paid. She said the abductors fled when they heard gunfire from security forces, leaving behind bags containing phones and laptops, which the victims recovered.
Another rescued victim, Joshua Daniel, said he was injured while trying to escape. He said he ran into nearby bush but was chased by an abductor who struck him with a cutlass, severing a vein. “I was bleeding throughout the night,” Daniel said. “The bleeding stopped in the morning when I got some herbs and put them on the wound.”
Daniel identified one of the captors as “Peter” and said the use of multiple languages helped prevent the victims from understanding parts of the captors’ conversations. He thanked the security operatives for the rescue and expressed sorrow at the death of the local hunter. Despite his injury, Daniel said he helped carry the injured police officer to the main road for evacuation.
