Eleven residents of Isapa community in Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State who were abducted by kidnappers have regained their freedom after escaping from their captors.
The victims reportedly secured their freedom by overpowering and fleeing from the kidnappers who had taken them into the forest.
Tragically, a two-year-old child, who was the child of one of the abducted victims, is still in captivity.
The abduction occurred on November 24 last year, when armed kidnappers stormed Isapa community and forcefully took eleven people away into the bush.
All efforts by the victims’ families and the Isapa community to raise ransom for their release reportedly proved abortive.
It was later learnt, sometime last week, that the victims managed to escape from the kidnappers.
How It Happened
The community’s head hunter, Mr. Adeyeye, explained how the abductees escaped.
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According to him, the kidnappers had earlier contacted the community, claiming that a pregnant woman among the abductees had fallen ill and that they did not want her to die in their custody.
“They asked us to urgently bring four million naira (₦4 million) so they could release the pregnant woman,” he said.
“We quickly raised the money and sent it through two men.”
Thereafter, the kidnappers released the pregnant woman and directed her towards safety, but detained the two men who brought the ransom and began demanding ransom for them instead.
“The pregnant woman returned home safely, and we were relieved, but at the same time heartbroken because instead of reducing the number of captives, they replaced one person with two,” he explained. “Rather than dropping to nine, they still remained eleven.”
Mr. Adeyeye further explained that the abductees later told him the kidnappers usually left only two guards to watch them whenever others went out.
“On one such day, only two men were left to guard them, one armed with a gun and the other with a cutlass. At some point, the man carrying the gun stepped away, leaving only the one with the cutlass,” he said.
The abductees, whose legs were chained, seized the opportunity. The men struggled with the guard from behind while the women fled into the forest as planned.
Although the guard attacked them with a cutlass as they tried to break free, they did not relent and eventually escaped.
Unfortunately, one woman carrying a two-year-old child could not run fast enough. She was recaptured and taken back to the camp. While she later managed to escape again but the child was left behind.
The head hunter said the community is grateful that most of the abductees have been reunited with their families.
He added that the last person to return home was an elderly woman who arrived two days ago, on the 24th of this month.
According to him, the last abductee from the incident was the two-year-old child who is still in the kidnappers’ custody.
