Retired principal recounts torture, trauma in captivity

Abdulkadir Abdullahi Adamu, a retired school principal in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State, regained his freedom after two weeks in a bandits’ camp and detailed his harsh treatment by the teenage abductors in an exclusive interview with Daily Trust Saturday. The old man revealed that the bandits denied him praying his Salat throughout his captivity.

Asked to share how he ended up in the bandits’ den and when he was abducted, he said: “Well, I can’t recall the exact date, but it was on Friday I think and I spent about two weeks or more in captivity. The abduction occurred in January 2024. I was approached by a friend, whose relation, a nursing mother, was abducted along the Kaduna-Birnin Gwari highway while heading to her village.

“She had newly converted to Islam and was abducted on her way from Kaduna to Birnin Gwari. When the bandits contacted her husband and family members, they demanded N200,000 for her release, alongside her baby. You know it was not easy to negotiate with the bandits but I decided to take the ransom to them based on sympathy because the family was afraid.

“After delivering the ransom, their boss asked why I had come; they had expected someone younger. But I explained that we were neighbours. The boss, named Bala, decided to release the mother and child but held me back until additional ransom was paid. Eventually, my people paid one million naira to secure my freedom.”

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Regarding his stay in the forest with the bandits, Adamu said, “It was very bad. Although their boss, Bala, warned his men not to harm me due to my age, the teenagers would beat me severely whenever he left for operations. I once fainted from their beatings, resulting in a broken tooth.”

Reflecting on the risk he took, Adamu stated, “I wasn’t afraid to deliver the ransom despite my age because of my relationship with the family and her status as a new Muslim and nursing mother.”

When asked about the location of the bandits’ camp, Adamu said it was deep within the Birnin Gwari forest, making escape impossible. “Those boys are ready to shoot anybody that tries to escape.”

Describing the bandits, he said, “They were Fulani boys who mostly spoke Hausa but switched to Fulfulde when they didn’t want us to understand. There were about 20 other abducted villagers in the camp, including two women.”

Regarding their treatment and daily routine, Adamu revealed, “We were poorly fed with grain flour mixed with palm oil, ate with our hands tied under a grass tent, and were denied the opportunity to pray. The bandits do not pray the five daily prayers themselves, despite claiming to be Muslims.”

The retired school principal who is still awaiting his retirement benefits and gratuity decries the grim reality faced by victims of banditry in Nigeria’s rural areas.