RIMI ALIU
STAFF and students of the Government Science College, Kagara, Niger State, who were released on Saturday morning, had tales of horror to tell as they thanked God for saving their lives and making them see their loved ones again.
One of the freed students was rushed to the hospital on arrival, owing to excessive exhaustion, according to Governor Sani Bello.
However, while President Muhammadu Buhari welcomed the release of the abductees and commended the nation’s security/intelligence agencies and the government of Niger State for their responses in securing the release, armed bandits have launched a fresh attack.
Four persons were allegedly hacked to death by bandits on the same day the Kagara school abductees were released, while several others were said to have been kidnapped in a fresh attack on the town and some neighbouring communities.
The released students and staff, narrating their experience, said they went through an eight-hour trek to get out of the den of their abductors.
The Governor, who stresed no ransom was paid for the release of the kidnap victims, said, “All the rescued victims are here with us. However, one of them is in the hospital for excessive exhaustion. Thank God they are back here with us peacefully.
“They have been medically checked and the medical team will monitor them for a few more days. They have been able to give a feel of what they went through and it is very unfortunate. They have been through tremendous torture from their captors. We are carefully watching their health and conditions and they will soon go back home with their families.”
He added, “There was no ransom. However, it involved a lot of logistics because we involved so many groups like the security agencies, our local vigilante, local traditional rulers and other stakeholders.
“It was a very difficult task and very demanding. But at the end of the day, we are happy it yielded result… We are putting in place a system to look at the causes of these events.”
Recounting their ordeal, one of the victims, an SS3 student, said the bandits punished them regularly and gave them only beans to eat.
The student, Abubakar Sidi, said there was hardly enough water and that they could only drink once a day.
“They gave us beans to eat. The water was not much. Sometimes in a day, we drank water only once. They punished us anyhow they liked. Ha! It was not easy. The beating was something else,” he said.
Another SS3 student, Suleiman Lawal, said, “We suffered very well. I have never faced this kind of situation in my life. We walked for a long distance. It wasn’t easy for us at all,” he said, adding that he was afraid to go back to the same school.
Like his colleagues, an SS2 student, Mahmood Mohammed, said he was not sure he could still see his family members after all the torture.
He said even while some of them fell ill in the bush, no one cared for them.
“I saw hell. It was not easy. I was not sure I would survive or see my people again. I had headache, and when I complained to them, they said I was on my own.
Now I feel pains all over my body because of the beating and kicking,” he said.
