A young woman, Adejumo Funmilayo, yesterday, narrated how she escaped from her kidnappers after she was abducted by gunmen on the Ilesa-Akure highway along with three others.

She said they were abducted from a vehicle conveying them to Akure Sunday evening, as the driver and a few other men in the Toyota sienna car jumped into the bush as the vehicle was forced to stop by the gunmen.

Efforts by local hunters to rescue the abductees Sunday night proved abortive as the kidnappers escaped into the thick forest around Iwaraja.

Narrating her experience, Funmilayo disclosed that her abductors deprived her of food Sunday night and that she was abducted while she survived on water and cassava flakes (Garri) Tuesday before she escaped later in the night.

Her words; “We were stopped around 8 pm on Sunday. There was a roadblock along the expressway along Iwaraja and we all thought it was a police checkpoint. However, as the driver stopped, the gunmen were very aggressive and the driver and three other persons escaped into the bush.

“One of the gunmen shot at them before returning to the car and asked us to come out, me and two other women.

“We walked for about two hours before we got to a place that looked like a temporary camp. They didn’t give us food till Monday morning when we were given garri and water to drink. They collected my phone and requested the name of my relatives they will contact when they are ready to collect a ransom.

“Later in the night of Monday, two other persons were brought in and two hours later they asked us all to move and we started walking again into the forest.

“Suddenly along the line, the three abductors leading us decided to hunt down an animal. They left five of us, all female in the thick forest for about 20 minutes during which I just ran into a thick section of the forest.”

(Vanguard)