•Parents: we paid ransom, made to walk long distance in the forest

Kidnappers shot Taye Rasaki, the driver of the Apostolic Faith Group Schools in Ekiti State in the presence of the abducted children, a parent said yesterday.

The abductors set his body ablaze.

The parent said the children and teachers were freed after N15 million, food, tramadol, milk and hard drinks were handed over to the abductors as ransom.

The gunmen on Monday ambushed a bus conveying the schoolchildren and staff members home at Eporo and whisked nine of the occupants away.

The kidnappers demanded N100 million to free each of them but later reduced it to N15 million for all of them.

In the early hours of yesterday, the victims were freed after the ransom was paid.

Ekiti State Police spokesman, Sunday Abutu, dismissed the payment of ransom as “just a rumour”, adding, “we are not aware”

One of the parents, who pleaded not to be named, said N15 million was paid along with other items demanded.

He said: “We had challenges locating them. When we first entered the forest, we spent about two hours without seeing the kidnappers.

“We had to go back and forth before we saw those who asked us to bring the money.

“They took us into the bush that was far from where we parked the motorcycle that we took there.

“We gave them what they demanded and they released the pupils and teachers to us.

“Nine persons were kidnapped, but eight persons were released; we didn’t see the ninth person.

“As they collected the money, they said we should run off.

“I cannot say specifically the location in the forest. It is between Ondo and Ekiti states.

“We entered around Ago Panu along Owo-Ikare Road in Ondo State and went deep into the expansive forest.

“When they released the victims to us, I embraced my family members. I thank God for the reunion, for surviving the torture and hunger. It was one of them who said that they shot the driver dead.”

On why the driver was killed, the parent said: “The children told us that they (kidnappers) asked for the phone number of relatives to call from each of them in the forest.

“The driver told them he didn’t know that of his wife and school proprietor off-hand. This made them angry and they hit him with their gun.

“For five days, he was writhing in pains from the injury he sustained. On Saturday morning, he was shot dead and painfully, his body was burnt to ashes.

“It was a bitter and terrifying experience for the little children, especially looking at how the driver was killed.”

A grandparent said she was glad to have her three grandchildren back.

She said: “My joy knows no bounds. When I saw my children, we held one another in long embrace and we all wept especially when I saw the condition they were in.

“I went to the bush with the search party for the rescue. It was along Owo-Ikare Road in Ondo State.

“Initially, I didn’t want to go because of my leg, but on a second thought, given that my three grandchildren were involved, I chose to go.

“The kidnappers were calling persistently that we should hurry up. They said we should meet them at Ikare Junction.

“I wondered how come Ikare junction when they took the children at Eporo?

“When we got to Ikare Junction, he said we should buy food, so we went to buy rice and meat. (The Nation)

•PHOTO: Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji with a released teacher and pupil of The Apostolic Nursery and Primary School, Emure at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSU) in Ado-Ekiti…yesterday

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