The five National Youth Service Corps members kidnapped on Ifon/Owo road in Ose Local Government area of Ondo State have recounted their experience in the hands of their abductors.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the abducted corps members were: Oluwaseun Adewole, Feranmi Oluwadara, Patience Andrew, Taiwo Oribamise and Lekan Ajayi.
Confirming their release in a statement on Monday, the spokesperson for the police in the state, Fumilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, said: “The victims were abandoned by their assailants after the police mounted pressure on the kidnappers.”
The victims, however, said a ransom of N5million was paid to the kidnappers, while drinks and cigarettes were also bought for them to secure their release.
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Speaking to journalists on Tuesday in Akure, one of the victims, Patience Andrew, said they were returning to Akure after completing the mandatory orientation at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) permanent camp in Abia, when the incident happened.
Andrew, who spoke on behalf of the victims, explained that the kidnappers attacked their vehicle after about five minutes journey from a military checkpoint in Ifon.
While noting that the kidnappers were mostly in their 20s, Andrew said one of the abductors was wearing military uniform.
She explained that the driver stopped the vehicle after one of the kidnappers “flashed his touch,” thinking it was another checkpoint.
She said the driver and a woman in the front seat were immediately shot dead.
She said: “We were coming from Abia State and got to Onitsha around 2.00p.m; the driver did not leave immediately, we left around 5.00p.m.
“After getting to Ondo State, just few minutes from the military checkpoint in Ifon, that was when the incident took place.
“They even fired a gun and we were expecting the officers at the checkpoint to hear the noise and come to our rescue.
“The incident happened around 10.00p.m. They (kidnappers) did not barricade the road, they just flashed their touch and the driver said I didn’t see you, and immediately they shot at him twice, killing him and the woman that sat in the front seat.
“Immediately they ordered us out of the vehicle into the bush. We trekked from that night till the morning. They did not injure me despite not feeling fine.
“The kidnappers were communicating majorly in Hausa language; it was only one of them that can barely speak English.
“They used the phone of one of us to communicate with our families on how to pay the N5 million ransom,” she stated. (NAN)
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