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| Professor Ibrahim Bako, ABU Zaria, is said to be in a precarious condition in captivity. |
A Kaduna based victim of abduction, Auwal Wakil (Not his real name for security reasons), has narrated his experience in an interview with Daily Trust. The victim said he was abducted along Kaduna-Birnin Gwari road, where armed men attacked and took him away alongside several other victims whom he said are most likely, travelers.
Asked to briefly narrate how you he was abducted, he replied, "I was travelling alone in my car along Kaduna-Birnin Gwari road and just after Buruku, near a junction called Rumanan Gwari, armed men opened fire on my car forcing me to stop.
"They immediately surrounded the car; they were well-armed. As I came out, they started beating me. I went on my knees, they dragged me into the forest along with other abducted travellers. We walked for about three kilometres then spotted their motorcycles. We moved for over one hour on motorcycles and arrived at a hilly area which is their camp and they kept us there chained.
"They beat us mercilessly during interrogation; they wanted to know what properties we possessed. I did my best to explain who I was and what I had. They told us the beating was not because we had offended them but because they wanted us to know they were desperate to get money.
He said the abductors were many in numbers comprising both old and young, and even run its activities administratively.
"There were many of them, over 20; some old and some young. They have an administration and there is a hierarchy. I introduced myself; told them where I lived and what I owned and they told me that it was important for me to tell my relatives to sell my properties and bring N50 million to them.
"They assured me that I would be released the very day the money was paid to them. So, I did my best to tell my relatives to sell my properties and negotiation started. The ransom was reduced to N20 million and reduced again. But because the money was not raised immediately, we were beaten daily."
He said the bandits tried to present themselves as victims of leadership failure in country. According to him, the bandits described themselves as Nigerians who simply want a better life, but had to play dirty to achieve it.
"I stayed for 12 days before I was freed. What puzzled me was the fact that during my stay, the bandits told us that they wanted better lives and did not choose to be bandits. They told us that many of their members have been killed and their properties destroyed and they have dependents, so they decided to join banditry.
"They said if the government wanted peace, it must realize that they are also Nigerians and the government and security agents should negotiate with them. They said as long as government continued to call them bandits and viewed them with contempt, they would also act like bandits."
He said during his time in captivity, he watched people being killed for either not raising reasonable amounts of money (which the bandits say is insulting), or its impossible to reach the victim's contacts. He also victims can also get themselves killed for "doing something stupid".
He said, "They killed people to show us they meant business. The first person they killed when we arrived at the camp was an elderly man who didn’t have a phone and because of that, there was no means of contacting his relatives, therefore, they said he was useless to them and couldn’t feed him for free. Their leader asked that he be killed. They shot him dead.
"They asked three of us to move the corpse afar and dump it for animals to feed on. A few days later, they couldn’t locate another man’s phone even though he said they took it from him during the abduction. He was not able to speak with his relatives but he later produced the number of a relative who offered N100,000 to the bandits. They rejected it and said it was insulting, so he was killed.
"A few days later some of us were led into the forest to get firewood. We noticed the remains of the people killed had been devoured by animals. The bandits also told us that anyone who attempted anything stupid will meet the same fate."
On other victims he was able to identify in captivity, he mentioned the ABU Professor whom he said is in a terrible condition.
"The ABU professor that was abducted was there. They had requested N10 million as ransom but N2 million was paid. They insisted that the N2 million paid was for the food they fed him and for the bullets they wasted while exchanging fire with security agents during his abduction. They are still waiting for N8 million to release him. He told me he had no means of getting that money and asked me to go to the institution and beg them to get a loan even if its salary advance.
"(His condition is) not too good, he was there before me and so you can imagine the condition of a man who had not taken his bath for a month, and slept on the ground. He was beaten often and had dried blood all over him. I noticed his left hand was not fully functional and this is someone who is more than 60 years old. I hope government will do something about him. They should get him out of that place."
On his advice to the to government, he said, "Based on my observation, I don’t think government has any wisdom or strategy to end this thing and so for me, the best way is to reach out to these people and negotiate so that people in the remote villages can have peace. The bandits around Birnin Gwari have made it clear that they will not leave the area, anyone who is travelling to Birnin Gwari from Kaduna or going to Kaduna from Birnin Gwari is in danger. Some people may find an alternative route but we don’t have any."
Wakil who managed to get himself released after 12 days in captivity, said he did recognized where he was dropped off by the bandits.
"It was around Sabon Birni, in the forest around Rigachikun area of Kaduna. It was along the road that will take you to Dogon Dawa," he said.