Metro/Crime

Rescued NYSC member reveals what kidnappers planned to do after one month

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David Ayodele, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, who was recently rescued has recounted the terrifying ordeal he and 20 other abductees endured after they were kidnapped and taken into a forest in Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State.

Ayodele said the kidnappers threatened to keep the victims in captivity for one month before killing them, while warning that anyone who moved without their permission would be shot.

The corps member was among 15 NYSC members and six other Nigerians rescued from the kidnappers’ den by security operatives in Kogi State.

According to him, the victims were abducted while travelling from Bayelsa State to Abuja after completing their NYSC orientation programme and being relocated to their respective places of primary assignment.

Recalling the abduction, Ayodele said the driver of their vehicle attempted to escape when the kidnappers emerged, but the occupants were eventually forced out at gunpoint.

“Driver tried to escape, but he said, Who’s the driver? Who’s the driver? And I held the driver, then they opened the door, and they started leading us to the bush while they were shooting, you know, rounds of bullets in the air,” he said.

He said the victims were beaten, kicked and verbally abused as they were forced deeper into the forest.

“Then we made our way to the bush with flogging and kicking and shouting and stuff,” Ayodele said.

He said the kidnappers eventually told the abductees they would remain in the forest for a month before being killed.

“We reached one kind of bushy area; they asked us to sit down, they asked us who would drink water, that we would be here for one month, so they would kill all of us,” he recounted.

Ayodele said the threat prevented the victims from attempting to escape, as the kidnappers warned that anyone who moved without permission would be shot.

“They warned us that if anybody moved without permission that they will shoot the person, so none of us really attempted to move because of fear and stuff,” he said.

The victims were later forced to trek for a long distance through the forest before security operatives reached them.

“So we moved a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot and then thank God the Nigerian Army came to meet us,” Ayodele said.

He commended the security agencies involved in the operation, including the Nigerian Army, police, Department of State Services and local hunters, for securing their release.

Ayodele said he had completed his NYSC orientation programme in Bayelsa State before his relocation to Abuja. He explained that corps members were transported in organised vehicles to different parts of the country after completing their orientation.

“So, on our way from Bayelsa, because we did relocation back to Abuja, so we were going to Abuja from Bayelsa camp. There were organised vehicles going to different states, so luckily we saw an Abuja vehicle,” he said.