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Two of the 16 victims rescued from kidnappers in Kogi State have recounted their harrowing experience in captivity.
The victims were abducted on Sunday when armed criminals attacked commuters along roads in Ofu Local Government Area.
They were rescued on Monday during a joint operation involving the Nigerian Army, Navy, police and local vigilantes.
Ngozi Stephen, one of the rescued victims, said the kidnappers forced her to interpret their ransom demands because she speaks Hausa.
She said the abductors demanded different amounts from victims’ families, with some ransoms reaching N100 million.
“So 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.
“So I would tell them, okay, this is what they said, this is the amount they said you should bring.”
Ngozi said the kidnappers also demanded N70 million from her.
She said her attempt to negotiate the ransom attracted threats from the abductors.
“Even me, they said N70 million. So even when I tried to plead and ask them to reduce it a little, they threatened to beat me up because they were beating people and all that.”
According to her, the abductors seized the victims’ phones and switched them off.
The kidnappers later returned the phones whenever victims needed to contact relatives about ransom payments.
Ngozi said the captors threatened to sell the victims to ritualists if ransom demands were not met.
“At some point, they were even threatening that if we were not able to provide the money, they would just sell us to ritualists and all that,” she narrated.
She said the abductors fled after hearing gunshots from security operatives, leaving behind phones and laptops seized from the victims.
“We were able to get back our phones. We were also able to get back the laptops. Thank God. We are now safe,” she said.
Another victim, Joshua Daniel, said he sustained a serious injury while attempting to escape from the kidnappers.
He said one of the abductors chased him and attacked him with a cutlass.
“That is when the cutlass landed here and cut my vein. So, I was bleeding throughout the night,” he said.
Daniel said he later applied herbs to the wound, which helped stop the bleeding.
He identified one of the abductors as Peter and said the kidnappers spoke Igala, Fulani and Hausa among themselves.
Despite his injury, Daniel said he helped evacuate an injured police officer during the rescue operation.
“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 added.
A local hunter was killed during the rescue operation, while a police officer sustained injuries.
The rescued victims comprised six adult men, six women and four children and were undergoing documentation, medical assessment and reunification with their families.
