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How we were kidnapped, freed after payment of N5m ransom- Corps members
FILE PHOTO; NYSC Youth corps members
Published By: Ayorinde Oluokun
By Segun Giwa
The five corps members abducted on Ifon/Owo road in Ose Local Government area of Ondo State have explained how they were kidnapped and released after paying N5 million ransom. .
The corps members identified as Oluwaseun Adewole, Feranmi Oluwadara, Patience Andrew, Taiwo Oribamise and Lekan Ajayi were returning to Akure after completing the mandatory orientation at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) permanent camp in Abia, when they were abducted.
Contrary to the claims of the police, the corps members said the sum of N5 million was paid to the kidnappers as ransom, while drinks and cigarettes were also bought for them to secure their release.
One of the corps members., Patience Andrew spoke with journalists on Tuesday in Akure.
Andrew, who spoke on behalf of the victims, explained that the kidnappers attacked their vehicle after about five minutes journey from a military checkpoint in Ifon.
While noting that the kidnappers were mostly in their 20s, Andrew said one of the abductors was wearing military uniform.
She explained that the driver who stopped the car after one of the kidnappers “flashed his touch,” thinking it was another checkpoint, was immediately shot dead including a woman that was in the front seat of the vehicle.
She said: “We were coming from Abia State and got to Onitsha around 2.00p.m; the driver did not leave immediately, we left around 5.00p.m.
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“After getting to Ondo State, just few minutes from the military checkpoint in Ifon, that was when the incident took place.
“They even fired a gun and we were expecting the officers at the check point to hear the noise and come to our rescue.
“The incident happened around 10. 00p.m. They(kidnappers) did not barricade the road, they just flashed their touch and the driver said I didn’t see you, and immediately they shot at him twice, killing him and the woman that sat in the front seat.
“Immediately they ordered us out of the vehicle into the bush. We trekked from that night till the morning. They did not injure me despite not feeling fine.
“The kidnappers were communicating majorly in Hausa language; it was only one of them that can barely speak English.
“They used the phone of one of us to communicate with our families on how to pay the N5 million ransom,” she stated.
Confirming their release in a statement on Monday, the Spokesperson for the Police in the state, Fumilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, said: “The Victims were abandoned by their assailants after the police mounted pressure on the kidnappers.”
(NAN)
