The families of each victim paid N1 million before they were freed, according to the kidnappers who freed the Ondo State corps members on Monday.
At approximately 11 p.m. on Thursday, the bandits abducted five victims—four members of the corps and one artisan—from Omi Alafa Village in Ifon, Ose Local Government Area, and dragged them into the jungle.
Following their three-week National Youth Service Corps Orientation program in the states of Enugu and Abia, the corps members were reportedly returning home. It was learned that the bandits had shot and killed the driver and a passenger who was seated in front of the car.
One of the corps members, Patience Andrew, recounted their suffering in the incident, saying the robbers had phoned their families and demanded a ransom of N30 million each, but after much haggling, they had agreed to pay N1 million.
She said that the four days they spent in the bandits’ den were terrible and awful, with the kidnappers beating them until they were completely black and feeding them only garri and tainted water once a day.
We took a bus from Abia State to Onitsha, but our driver wasn’t moving quickly enough. One of the park drivers drove us to another bus stop, which was headed to Akure. We arrived there about 2:00 pm, but the driver didn’t get off right away, so we left Onitsha Park around 5:00 pm in a Sienna bus carrying nine people. Andrew explained. The incident occurred about 10 p.m. when we arrived in Ondo State. The driver said, “Oga, I don’t see you,” as they flashed the torch light on him.
“The woman seated next to him was slain when they shot him twice as soon as he made that comment. We don’t know about the guy who was massacred since he fled, but another guy was also killed, and two people perished. After that, they removed us from the car and led us into the bush, where we hiked until after 10 p.m. the next day. There were five kidnappers, all of whom appeared to be in their 25s. They had a single interpreter and were speaking Hausa/Fulani.
She claims that among the things that the bandits demanded and that were delivered to them were: ten packs of cooked rice and chicken, N1 million each, two loaves of bread, one carton of Peak milk, one pack of malt, bottles of Fearless drink, one pack of cigarettes, and three packs of Hollandia yogurt.
In a statement, Funmilayo Odunlami, the public relations officer for the Ondo State Police, said that the victims had been left unattended until being picked up by the police and temporarily taken to the Police Medical Services Owo before being reunited with their families.
“The command has located victims of the Ose/Ifon area kidnapping that took place on July 18, 2024,” she stated on July 22. Once the authorities put pressure on the kidnappers, the victims’ attackers left them behind.
“Policemen from the tactical squad led by the Area Commander of Owo, ACP Olufemi Awoyale, were compelled to abandon the victims at Oyinbo/Sanusi Camp after the attackers were frustrated by their constant searching of the Bush with continuous technical support.”
