Sporadic gunshots from some armed men rented the air on December 20,2020 , at Ehor, on the Benin /Auchiexpressway, Edo State.

Time was 7.45pm.

The deafening sounds of gunshots rattled travelers who werein their respective vehicles.

Thiswas followed by screeching of tyres as motorists plying the route attempted to hurriedly make u-turns to avoid being victims .

Unfortunately, one of the vehicles, a Siena bus was intercepted and all its passengers – three men and three women – dispossessed of cash and valuables.

But that was not all.

The armed men, ordered the fear stricken passengers to alight from the vehicle,be on a straightline and marched theminto the bush. At that point, it dawned on all that they were not just robbers, but also kidnappers.

One kidnap too many

That was not the first time such an incidentwould be experienced along that route. In fact, it has become a daily occurrence. Information at Crime Guard’s disposal has it that these kidnappersoperate at least twice a day. There were times, victims were hit with stray bullets during the indiscriminate shooting to force motorists to stop, and their bodies abandoned.

At other times , abducted victims were either shot dead or they died out of shock or hunger , in the kidnappers den.

These dare devilshave no fear for security agents, as they have on some occasions, shot police escorts dead and their boss’ whisked into the forest and killed or released after ransom was paid.

Journey into the forest A pregnant womanwasamong the passengers in the Sienna bus that was attacked onDecember 20, 2020.

Narrating theirjourney to the kidnapper’s den,one of the abducted passengers, ThankGod Okuk, revealed that their abductors were herdsmen, some of whom sounded educated.

He said: “Itraveled to Abuja for a wedding on Thursday, December 17, 2020. By Sunday morning, being December20th, I boarded Big Joe transport to Benin city.

On reaching Ekpoma, the driver told ushe won’t be going to Benin because it was already past 7pm.

Some of us took our belongings from the vehicle and boarded aSienna busto Benin.

AfterEhor ,we were attacked by a gang of Fulani herdsmen who shot sporadically into the air .

“As they marched us into the bush,the leader of the gang asked who was the busdriver , immediately the driver identified himself, he was beatenthoroughly before he wasset free, while the rest of us were ordered to move on while they continued shooting.

“Apregnantwoman among us fell down, as she could not move anymore.

Some of the kidnappers tried to revive her and in the process, one of us escaped intothe bush. Our abductors were so angry thatthey abandoned the pregnant woman and ordered us to move on.

“We trekked for three hours, crossed a river and ascended a hill which took us abouttwenty minutes to climb. We descended into a dish and then thick forest. We spent three days in the forest without food.

Communication sign

“I observed that the kidnappers had a sign of communication and direction inside the forest . Some of the trees hadrags tied to them , with a sign. When we approached any of the trees,they wouldpoint their torchlightto see the direction the ragfaced and followed it accordingly.

Also, whenthey heard any noise inside the forest , they would ask us tostop while theymadea sound like that of a herdsman to his cow. Ifthere was the same response , it meantit wastheir colleagues but if no response, they wouldstart shooting into the bush before commanding us to move on.

Dead bodies in the bush

“There were lots of dead bodies inside the forest, with their hands tied to their back.We trekked for another two hours before we got to their camplocated in the heart of the forest .

Onarrival, there was jubilation. There were dead bodies everywhere. One of the kidnapperscame and started tying our hands to our back butnever spoke any word to us until the next day, when the leader of the gangwho wasreferred to as Alhaji, came to us.

He made some callsto their boss before commandinghis boys to beat us.

We were beaten like animals without mercy. Thereafter,we were instructed to call our families for negotiation. Anyone whosefamily did not give a positive answer for paymentof ransom would begiven another round of beating , with some gunshots fired intothe air to put fear in our minds .

Hausa dialect saved me

“When it was my turn, the negotiator picked me up and began toflogme. Ibeggedhim in Hausa dialect to be gentle with me. I was shocked whenhe stopped and their boss orderedhim to separateme fromothers. He asked if I was from the North, since I was bearded. I said no, but that Iwas born in the North . They removed the veil frommy eyes and asked me to sit on the ground while others laid on their stomachs .

I immediately called my elder brother. I was scared he would not respond well, as that would amount to my being beaten. But he did and requested the kidnapper to allow him speak with me first, to ensure I was alive. Thereafter, he begged the negotiator to consider him, saying that things were hard”.

Tramadol mixed in water was food

Okuk saidthey were not given food to eat but water mixed with hard drugs.

He said: “ Oncea day, the kidnappers wouldfetch water from the river andadd a tablet of tramadol inside the cup, allowing it to dissolvebefore giving us to drink. I had no choice than to drink it because I wanted to stay alive. They told us it would give us strength and help us endure pains and hunger and that if we didn’t take it, we would die of hunger like others .

“We excretedand urinatedon our bodies throughoutthe dayswe spent in the forest.They brought in passengers twice a day, both women and children. Sometimes when they encountered any police escort, they would kill him and make awaywith his gun and cap. Whenever this happened, the person that fired the shot that killed the policeman would be promoted.

Division of labour

There were 10 kidnappers with us. Among them was an armourerwho serviced their guns .They had different types of gunsincluding SMG andbags of bullets.The guns used in the morning weren’t usedagain until two days after.

They didn’t eat real food. They wouldpourgarri ( cassava flour ) into oil with onions and Maggi, and eat.They didn’t rape their female victims, they onlybeat them, sometimes, to death .

Fortification charms

“Gun bulletsdon’t penetrate them. Before goingout for any operation, they would try the bullets on themselves by shootingrandomly after which the leader wouldbring out a white rag, spread it on the floor and others wouldsurround the rag , chant someincantations before going for operation.

Free at last

“They finally agreed to accept N250,000 from each of us.But the agreement was that the two other families should hand theirs to my elder brother to bring to the designated place in the forest. But the parents of thefourth person abandoned him. At a point, they couldn’t be reached on the phone. Hewas nearly beaten to death. I had to beg them to also release him alongside us since his family had rejected him. Most of them agreed to release him to us”.

Message to security agents

“On the nightfour of us were to be released, the leader of the gang said I should tell the Police they were out for them,that their plan wastokillall policemen that would cross their path and that their intention was to take overEdo state.I told him I would personally deliver themessage to the Commissioner of Police , Edo State”.

They went to collect the ransom earlier before we were released and told my brother to waitfor us. They came with loaves of bread and bottles of water which were among what my brother brought. They gave us a loaf of bread and a bottle of water each.

But we were too tired to eat because our stomach was locked. We only took water .

Two of the kidnappers marched us through the forest . We trekked for about two hours inside the forest before arriving atObagie/Ehor expressway . They left usbuttold usto walk into the community and narrate our ordeal to anyone we met . They said we would meet my brother there.

On reaching thecommunity, we met some youths outsideand narrated our ordeal to them. They took us to their leader who provideda room for the two girls to sleep, while the fourth man and I slept outside the hut.I was taken to a Police check point where my brother, who was held on his way backfrom the designated point of ransom payment, was”.

Ailing pregnant woman

Few days after their release, the pregnant woman who was abandoned in the bush by the kidnappers, reportedly contacted Okuk. She explained thatshe got his number from one of the ladies that was released.

Crime Guard gathered that she was rescued by members of a vigilante group that night and taken to the Ehor Police Division from where she was taken care of before continuing her journey to Benin City, the Edo State capital.

Thoughthe Edo State Police Command has killed some kidnap suspects during cross fire, with many arrested kidnapping in the state, especially along the Benin- Auchi expressway, has remained unabated.(Saturday Vanguard)