The five corps members kidnapped on Ifon/Owo road in the Ose Local Government area of Ondo State have recounted their experience in the den of their abductors.

The corps members were Oluwaseun Adewole, Feranmi Oluwadara, Patience Andrew, Taiwo Oribamise and Lekan Ajayi.

Confirming their release in a statement on Monday, the spokesperson for the police in the state, Fumilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, said, “The victims were abandoned by their assailants after the police mounted pressure on the kidnappers.”

The victims, however, said the sum of N5 million was paid to the kidnappers as ransom, while drinks and cigarettes were also bought for them to secure their release.

Speaking with journalists on Tuesday in Akure, one of the victims, Andrew, said they were returning to Akure after completing the mandatory, three-week orientation at the National Youth Service Corps permanent camp in Abia, when the incident happened.

Andrew, who spoke on behalf of the victims, explained that the kidnappers attacked their vehicle after about a five minutes journey from a military checkpoint in Ifon.

Noting that the kidnappers were mostly in their 20s, Andrew said one of the abductors wore military uniform.

She explained that the driver who stopped the car after one of the kidnappers “flashed a torch,” thinking it was another checkpoint, was immediately shot dead, including a woman who sat in the front seat of the vehicle.

She said, “We were coming from Abia State and got to Onitsha around 2.00p.m; the driver did not leave immediately, we left around 5.00p.m. After getting to Ondo State, just a few minutes from the military checkpoint in Ifon, that was when the incident took place. They even fired a gun and we were expecting the officers at the checkpoint to hear the noise and come to our rescue.

“The incident happened around 10pm. They (kidnappers) did not barricade the road. They just flashed their torch and the driver said ‘I didn’t see you,’ and immediately they shot at him twice, killing him and the woman that sat in the front seat. Immediately, they ordered us out of the vehicle into the bush. We trekked from that night till the morning. They did not injure me even though I was not feeling fine. The kidnappers communicated mainly in Hausa; it was only one of them that can barely speak English. They used the phone of one of us to communicate with our families on how to pay the N5 million ransom.’’

(NAN)