By Chioma Okezie-Okeh
For more than two decades, Alhaji Abdulfatah Oladeinde, former editor of Sunday Sun, read and edited stories told by kidnap victims. Little did he know that someday he would be the victim of a true kidnap incident.
Oladeinde, currently the Editor of The Nigerian Xpress Newspaper was abducted by some gunmen on his farm in Ogun State on February 20, 2022. He was fortunate to escape from the criminals after six days in captivity.
Visit to the farm
Oladeinde owns the farm located after Kurere Village off the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway in Ogun State. “I am a journalist who veered into farming as a retirement venture,” he said. “I have been farming in that community since 2017. I initially started planting maize and cassava but later decided to plant cash crops, intercropping with maize and cassava. I planted cashew three years ago and subsequently oil palm seedlings. I don’t have any problems with the families that sold the farmland to me.
His words: “On February 6, I went to the farm on a routine visit. When I got there, almost the entire farm had been burnt down. This particular farm is 22 acres. There is another about two kilometers away. I found out that almost the entire 22-acre farm had been burnt. Most of the cash crops: cashew, oil palm plants had been burnt. The cassava we planted last year, waiting for the workers to come and harvest was not spared. I was wondering who could have done it. I called the person acting as a consultant to me.
“My consultant came on February 15 and, together, we inspected the burnt farm. We were wondering why anyone would set the farm ablaze, knowing that cashew and oil palm had been planted in it. I was curious that a cassava farm close by wasn’t burnt and sensed sabotage. Members of the family that we bought the land from accompanied us and were also disturbed. I don’t have a problem with the family. They know my family because my ancestral village is not too far from the community.
“Some of those who accompanied us on the inspection suggested it could be Fulani herders who set fire to the farm, expecting that after a few weeks, the grasses would germinate again and their cattle would feed to graze on.
“Some also alleged that bush meat hunters could be the culprits. I concluded that since we didn’t catch anybody on the farm, we should take the incident as an act of God.
“I asked the consultant what we needed to do and he said we should wait for the rains and see those that would not survive the fire among the plants. We would then do a replant.
“I also have two structures on the farm, a poultry shed and a farmhouse. I started constructing the poultry shed in 2020 but stopped because running poultry farms became a tough task with the cost of poultry feed rising beyond reach. They didn’t burn that section of the farm and the two-room farmhouse where the workers cook and rest during their break.
“Before we left the farm that day, I told the consultant the people who did it might come back; that we should clear and burn the bush around the poultry shed and house ourselves to protect the buildings. He promised to send someone to do that and later told me on phone he had sent a worker to the farm.”
Captured
On February 20 on his way back from a visit to Abeokuta, he decided to stop over to see what was done to secure the poultry shed and the farmhouse.
“I didn’t travel in my car because of the fuel scarcity in the country. It was on my way back home that I just said, let me seize the opportunity to stop over and see whether the guy had done the measures to protect the buildings.
“It was past five when a commercial motorcycle took me to the farm. I told him to come back in about 30 minutes to take me to where I would board a bus back home.
“I went around the farm. The worker, Matthew, had left for the village but I saw that he had cleared the bushes around the poultry shed and house and burnt them. I was on the farm, waiting for the bike man to come back and pick me when I saw three guys come in from the main road into the farm. One of them had a gun. When they approached, I had it in mind to accuse them of being the ones who came to set the farm ablaze.
“But the way they were acting before getting to where I stood frightened me. I got scared. I first thought of running but immediately also reasoned since one of them had a gun, they might shoot me.
“One stayed in the middle while the two others moved to the right and left. They wanted to make sure that I wouldn’t be able to run away. They just swooped on me, slapped me repeatedly and hit me. I was really scared because the farm is isolated and it was getting dark. I kept asking, ‘What happened? What did I do wrong? What is the problem?’
One of them was speaking a combination of Yoruba and pidgin English and the others spoke a language that I didn’t understand. It wasn’t the Hausa language because I can pick a few words of Hausa. As they continued to hit me, I fell. They held my trousers, dragged me and led me away, threatening to kill me if I shouted or tried to run away,” he narrated.
Terrified, Oladeinde, prayed vehemently to God to deliver him as the body language of his captors showed that of assassins or ritual killers. “They didn’t go back to the main road; we just followed the footpath on the farm until we got to the end. We came out to the main road and I was praying we’d meet somebody on the road and I would be able to do something to scare them or alert the passerby that I was in danger, but no one came by.
“They led me on until we got to a stream. They ordered me to sit down and remove my Buba (top dress). I thought they would kill me there and then. I started pleading with them. I asked if it was money they wanted; that they should spare my life. I got slapped again for begging them. They insisted I remove my Buba. They took it and used it to blindfold me. They also searched my pockets, took my phone and money.
“They dragged me up and said I should follow them. At that point, I was praying silently to God because I thought that they were just looking to get to a place and then shoot me. They didn’t tell me any offence that I committed.
“They walked for a long while and I was just being dragged along. At a point, they stopped again, removed the blindfold and asked me to wear my dress again. I didn’t know where we were, we just kept moving, and kept moving until we got to a small hut. The hut didn’t look like it was being used regularly. By then it was dark. That was where we stopped. I had lost my leather slippers and was barefooted. My glasses were also gone,” he recounted.
Now at their hideout, after trekking for hours, his abductors got across to his family and demanded N10million for his release. “The place they took me looked secluded. It wasn’t really a house. The place is a makeshift thatched hut where farmers could rest while working on the farm. They began asking for money. They used my phone. I told them my wife’s number and they called and made me speak with her. They told me what to say and used a tree branch to hit my big toes during the call. I still have wounds on the toes. It was a brutal experience. They warned me to tell my people not to involve the police or it would be the last time they would hear my voice. I begged my wife not to do anything to endanger my life. I was made to call thrice and the phone switched off immediately after each call. Before the last call was made, they demanded N10 million. I begged and begged before they came down to N5 million.
They then directed me to tell my people to pay N5 million. So, they made the call and I told my wife what they wanted. That was the last call to my wife.”
Escape
After that conversation, Oladeinde thought of stories he had heard about those whose relations paid ransom and the victims still got killed. “The people who held me didn’t show that they were serious about ransom. It appeared like l was being held as they awaited the next instruction or they were waiting for some people. I didn’t just understand why they were holding me there.
“I thought if they would take the ransom and still kill me, it would be too much. I kept praying and made up my mind to escape; that if I died in the process, well, so be it. I also kept nudging myself that I would survive.
“So, I began to look at how vulnerable they were. I was looking for the opportunity when they would be distracted, then I would attempt to run. At every point, I had at least one person with a gun staying with me. The night that I escaped, two of the guys were with me.”
He said he observed that the guy with the gun had slept off and the other guy looked tired and was dozing off. He watched until he too fell asleep. That was the moment Oladeinde sneaked away and bolted after a short distance from the hut. “I was tied to one of the tree stumps used to make the hut when we arrived there. After three days, they stopped tying me.
“While being tied, I told them I wanted to defecate. At first, they didn’t allow me. I asked if they thought I would run away. I told them I didn’t even know where we were. I told them they had a gun, and if they think I would run away, they should strip me naked and let me defecate. After a long while, they untied me and I went nearby to defecate, came back and they didn’t tie me again.
“I also attempted to get familiar with them, although it didn’t stop them from torturing me. Using the tree branch to hit my toes and slapping continued. My right big toenail had pulled off because of that torture. I didn’t understand why they were hitting me on the big toes.
“I also did some psychological tricks on them. I was using all sorts of tricks, trying to appeal to their conscience. I told them I had just lost my immediate younger brother, that they should please spare my life, and that my family was still in pain. I kept begging them all the time. I also used religion to appeal to them even though they never showed any sign of belief in God. So, that was the moment I escaped. Before they could bring themselves to reality, I had moved far. I owe my survival to God,” he stated.
His abductors fed him with baked cassava, bread and water in small containers believed to be from a nearby stream.
Race to safety
After escaping from the den, Oladeinde said he knew that his journey to safety would be dependent on how fast he could run. He took an opposite direction hoping that his abductors could be going to the farm to find him.
“I would run and when tired, slow down and walk briskly on. I didn’t stop until the day began to break. In the morning, I saw some women. It appeared they were going to the market or a nearby village. They were Yoruba women. I asked about any town around the place and they mentioned Ishaga. I had not been to Ishaga before but I had heard about that community. The women pointed the way. I kept on walking until a motorcyclist approached from the direction of Ishaga. I motioned him to stop. I confirmed that the road would lead me to Ishaga. Then, I narrated my ordeal to him and begged him to take me back to Ishaga. He said he was coming from Maria Village near Dangote Cement factory at Ibeshe. He had passed through Ishaga to link Awowo and Abeokuta. He graciously gave me a ride to Ibeshe. He also obliged me his phone to call my wife. I told her about my escape and for them to arrange to pick me up from Ishaga,” he further recounted.
About an hour later he was reunited with his wife and brother who came to pick him up at the agreed spot. He reported the matter at Obada Division and was asked to go home, take care of his health and return on Monday.
Farming again? ‘God forbid’
Grateful to God for sparing his life, Oladeinde said he will never step into that farm or any other farm ever again. “God has a purpose for sparing my life. I thank God for life. I need to be security-conscious and not take things for granted.
“I don’t intend to go back to the farm. I had just escaped from the lion’s den; do you think going back to the farm makes sense? I’ll be daring God if I do so. Even if I wanted to, my family had advised me to forget about the farm. The farm is not worth my life. I’ve been sinking money into the farm venture since 2017 and yet to make a huge profit. It’s now that some of the cashew trees have started to show signs of fruiting and prospects of gains that this happened. I thank God for my life. The farm is a no, no for me now.
“I can’t go back to the farm when it’s not safe. I’ve been staying indoors since my return. I’ve also been having nightmares at home. I wake up in the middle of the night and can’t sleep till daybreak. I think my ear is damaged. I have a disturbing persistent humming sound in my left ear. I was told in the hospital it would stop, but a week after, it hasn’t,” he said.