According to the Punch Newspaper, in this gripping narrative of endurance and the stark dangers plaguing the nation’s highways, Edafe Ofoluwa recounts his harrowing seven-day captivity, during which he faced starvation, physical abuse, and witnessed killings at the hands of kidnappers in Kogi State in March.
When asked to narrate the events of March 5, 2025, when he was abducted while traveling from Abuja to Asaba, Ofoluwa shared his ordeal:
For days, I endured brutal beatings and was forced to drink filthy water to stay alive, sometimes even resorting to drinking my own urine. The kidnappers made us trek constantly, day and night, for a week, warning that anyone who collapsed would be executed. Initially, there were about a dozen of them, but later, only seven remained—four armed with rifles and three carrying machetes. On the first day, two hostages managed to flee, and another escaped on the third day. The torture was relentless, and I felt death was near. By the third day, the assaults eased after my family informed them they had gathered N4 million for ransom, but the abductors kept demanding more money. Eventually, after an agonizing wait, seven of us who remained were freed once the ransom was paid. We finally stumbled out near the Dangote plant in Obajana, exhausted but grateful to be alive. The payment was made in a single transaction, leading to our immediate release.
I am convinced that these kidnappers have a specific spot where they receive ransom payments. We weren’t being taken to any fixed location during our captivity; we were constantly moved through the bushes towards the general direction of Abajana, where they had arranged for the ransom collection. The place where we were initially ambushed was quite a distance from Abajana, and throughout our ordeal, we kept hiking through the bush, over hills and rough terrains, heading towards the designated collection point.
In total, I spent seven grueling days and six nights with them, enduring constant torment alongside the other captives. We were forced to keep walking, were lashed with machetes, and made to drink contaminated water to survive. I even had to resort to drinking my urine on some occasions. Those who could not keep up with the relentless pace were killed without hesitation.
Hear him speak: “We boarded the Amore of God Transport Service 18-seater bus alongside other passengers near Gwagwalada. On our way, when we got to Kogi, immediately after Lokoja, just a few minutes away from an army checkpoint, tragedy struck. Our driver was shot in the face, and the bus veered into the bush. Before we could realise what was happening, some Fulani men rushed out from the bush, took us all captive, and tied our hands behind our backs. We were forced to trek for hours, flogged with cutlasses, and subjected to unimaginable cruelty.”
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