From Attah Ede, Makurdi
The 18 kidnapped victims abducted last Friday have been released after spending about a week in the kidnappers’ den.
The victims, among them women, were reportedly abducted last Friday while travelling to Kogi State for a burial ceremony.
The kidnappers first demanded N30 million ransom for each of the victims.
It was gathered that when the community raised N3 million and took it to the kidnappers, they shut down contact with the community.
This triggered a protest on Tuesday when angry residents of the community, mostly women, blocked the Makurdi-Gboko highway and protested the abduction of their members.
The kidnappers were reported to have collected the sum of N8 million for all the hostages, including foodstuffs worth about half a million naira, before releasing them on Thursday night.
The victims were, however, released and were picked up in a forest along the Ogobia-Onyagede Road, close to the Benue-Kogi boundary.
Sources close to the community told journalists on Friday that a resident of the community identified as Igidi, husband of one of the victims, picked up the victims in the forest.
The source said, “The abductees comprise eight women from Tyomu, three persons from Vandeikya and seven others from the Wurukum area of Makurdi.
“We are grateful that they have finally returned alive. They were taken into the bush and went through a very difficult experience. Some of them need medical attention and psychological support.”
One of the victims, identified as Mrs Linda Ingyough, who was said to have narrated their ordeal, claimed that they were held in a forest with rocky terrain and were fed only garri and given a four-litre jerry can of muddy water to share every day.
According to the victim, “It was so traumatizing; we thought we were going to die of hunger as we were given dry garri to munch once a day. Thank God we survived even after six days in captivity, enduring merciless flogging from the bandits. Now we’re back home.”
Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer for the command, Peter Aondongu, who confirmed the release of the kidnap victims, said that all the processes were handled by the community.
The PPRO said, “I can confirm from the report we have from the community that the people have been released. The community handled the issue on their own, so I cannot say if ransom was paid or not.”
