A fortnight ago, 18 traders from Kantin Kwari Market in Kano travelling for business were kidnapped between Lokoja and Okene in Kogi State. One of them recounts how their time in the forest led to a pregnant woman being bitten by a snake, how they were tortured, lost all their capital and now have to start from scratch.
On a Sunday night a fortnight ago, traders from the popular Kantin Kwari Market in Kano travelling to Aba for business were ambushed on the way between Lokoja and Okene in Kogi State.
Eighteen of the traders and several other travellers were herded at gunpoint into the forest where they trekked for five hours before arriving at the kidnappers’ den.
After days in captivity and lengthy negotiations with the kidnappers, the victims were released after a ransom was paid.
One might expect that after their release, the victims might be reluctant to travel again, especially by road. But with these ones, that is not the case.
Audu Danladi (not real name) said although the experience has left many of them with zero capital, he is willing to travel again for his business if he were to get fresh capital.
How did the incident happen?
Our correspondent visited 25-year-old Danladi just after he had returned from a hospital following his kidnap ordeal.
“I am a strong believer that Allah has destined whatsoever will happen to me, even if I had died there, history will be kind to me that I lost my life while struggling to make ends meet,” he said.
He remembered how the whole ordeal started when on the road between Lokoja and Okene they were warned that bandits had taken over the road ahead.
“We parked by the roadside. Then our driver and other fellow passengers came out of the bus. But I and some of my colleagues went back into the vehicle.
“I was even dozing off when I was almost hit by a cutlass with the wielder asking me to either get up or be killed.
“They (kidnappers) brought us out, shooting sporadically. Many who ran away were injured, while many of us were trapped in the bus and later taken into the bush,”
He said about 20 or 22 of those taken by the kidnappers were from Kantin Kwari. Some escaped as they were led on a long and dangerous trek into the bush.
“We were trekking since 2:00 am, and we only reached our destination around 6:30 am the following day. Our feet were pricked by thorns,” he said.
Those who escaped with bruises and cuts were lucky. A pregnant woman amongst them was bitten by a snake.
“They were leading us like cows. One pregnant woman was even bitten by a snake on the road, yet we continued like that,” he said.
Arriving at the kidnappers’ den, there was no respite for them.
“They tied us, covered our faces and stripped our clothes. Mosquitoes, insects and other dangerous insects were just biting us.
“After spending close to two hours in the morning unattended to, they brought out a phone and asked all of us to call our relatives,” he said.
On whether they were allowed to use their phones to start their negotiation process, Danladi said all their phones were already seized at the point of their kidnap.
The kidnappers refused to use their own phones for the negotiation for fear of being tracked.
6 days in the wilderness
When asked whether the abductors have kept them in a house, Danladi asked, “Which house again?”
“They kept us in an open space in the bush, surrounded by grasses, sand, leaves, wild insects and everything you can imagine. There was nothing like a house there, and that is how we spent the next six days there.
“Remember I said we trekked for almost five hours before getting there, and you know how dark Okene forest is.”
For food, they were only fed a handful of garri once a day with “Just one bottle of dirty water for five people, and if you decide to waste time, someone may even seize that small garri they gave, due to hunger.”
Danladi said they were tortured by the kidnappers who beat them with whips, sticks and even their guns.
“In fact, one of us has lost his sanity because of the torture,” he said.
The negotiation process, according to him, started the very day they got to the kidnappers’ den (Monday).
He explained that their respective families were initially contacted for ransom negotiation individually before the families later unanimously agreed to negotiate and pay collectively as not every one of them has relatives that could pay.
“If they (kidnappers) had encountered any disappointment in delivering the ransom to them; wallahi they would have killed some of us.
“The way their boss was hissing, you will know that he was just bloodthirsty.
“All of them are all Fulanis,” he added.
An elder brother to Danladi, Babangida Bala (also not his real name), said he was the first person they contacted to start the negotiation process.
He explained that “When the person called me, he introduced himself as one of the kidnappers of my brother and they needed N20million.
“I told them that we don’t have that amount, but we will try and source for N500,000.
“That was how they ended the call instantly. Unknown to me, they started beating him mercilessly for mentioning that amount,” Bala added.
Danladi explained that after finally agreeing on the amount to be paid, the kidnappers asked that someone should be sent from Kano to deliver the ransom.
“The money was taken to them from Kano. We are grateful to Habu Chairman for the role he played in the process.
“He was like our leader who bought us travel tickets collectively. He has played a vital role in the entire process.
“He was one of those captured, but he still never relented or asked to be freed independently. He insisted the negotiation process should be done collectively so we could all be freed together.”
He said Muntari, the person who delivered the ransom, travelled and the kidnappers met him in Lokoja and collected the money from him.
“They counted everything to make sure it was complete. Then they smoked their cigarettes, drank beer and asked two of them to see us to the road.
“They left us shortly after leaving the place. We started talking among ourselves before we realised that virtually all the surroundings of the forest were occupied by them.
A vehicle was sent to us from here (Kano) and it took us from Lokoja.
“I have never seen an affliction like that, not even in films, I have never seen it.
“May Allah blesses Muntari, Abba, his younger brother, the driver who took them and most importantly, fellow businessmen in the market who contributed the ransom,” he added.
Danladi seemed awed that one trader even contributed N5m to help raise the ransom.
Starting from scratch
Most of the kidnapped victims, according to Danladi, are small scale traders with capital bases of between N100, 000 and N500, 000 which they have all lost during their kidnapping. Now they have to start from scratch.
“Like me now, for instance, I am just 25 years old, so after seizing everything we had, now it’s as good as we are going back to square one,” he said.
He is however hopeful that the government could come to their aid.
“Neither the government nor the market board has contributed even a kobo to our release so far. But, we are still optimistic that they will assist us as we have all lost our capital,” he said.
