Folawe Alamu, the freed principal of Community High School in Ahoro-Esinele, Oriire council area in Oyo state, has recounted her ordeal while being held hostage by terrorists for 56 days alongside pupils and teachers.

Speaking during a thanksgiving service at Antioch Baptist church in Ogbomoso on Sunday, Mrs Alamu said her seventh week as a hostage was the most harrowing.

Mrs Alamu said, at one point, the fear of an accidental air strike overshadowed the pupils’ and teachers’ fear of the terrorists.

Mrs Alamu stated, “Apart from seeing the hand of God from the beginning, the seventh week was the hardest for us all. That was when the troops increased their air raids. It was so intense and persistent that, at a point, the fear of the bandits became secondary.”

“We were just praying that missiles would not be accidentally dropped on us. But God kept us because we were so exposed, with only polythene bags and grass covering us,” she said.

Mrs Alamu said the bandits became enraged with the air troop presence and threatened to kill one of the captives in retaliation.

Mrs Alamu explained, “Amid that fear, God consoled our hearts. It started on Monday. They had told us the previous week that the governor said before Friday next week, we will be released. So we were calm. When the air raid started on Tuesday, they became so furious. 

“Towards the end of that week, the commander came. He said, ‘Principal, come.’ I was already shaking because I knew what that could mean. So immediately I got there, he said, ‘See what your government has done; I am going to kill one of you today.’ 

“I was just rolling on the ground. And unlike him, he became calm. He called me. When he left our place, he said I should come. He said, ‘Now that your government has been doing this, what do you want us to do?’ I said, ‘What you asked for is beyond any of the victims’ families. Just ask for what we can run around for.’ He said, ‘Okay, I will send your message.’” 

The principal also narrated the apprehension that the hostages had as they heard the sound of shovels and assumed the terrorists were digging a grave.

“We started hearing shovels in the night. My men (the remaining two male teachers) said, ‘Mama, we are hearing the sound of a shovel, help us talk to them.’ I said probably they were up to a task.

“I was crying as I was saying that because we all knew what that meant: they were about to bury another person. But to the glory of God, that night they just asked us to move, because they could no longer stay in that place,” the principal stated.

In her testimony, Mrs Alamu stated that the terrorists warned the hostages that they were prepared to kill anyone who made a noise while being moved to another camp in the forest.

She stated, “The bandits said I should tell them (pupils and teachers) that they were ready to sacrifice any one of them if they made (a) noise. How do you tell a one-year three-month-old baby, ‘Do not cry?’ How do you tell a two-year-old, ‘Do not ask for food?’

“Those periods we were not free to prepare food because they were afraid that smoke would root them out. So we went hungry most of the time. But, to the glory of God, we left that camp to the last camp before we were rescued and released.”

Mrs Alamu said her prayer while being held hostage was to return home safely.

“While I was there, apart from praying for God’s release, I specifically asked for two things. I prayed that I would not meet an empty house. I knew how strong my husband’s health is. So at a point when I was told he had closed the line of communication, I felt something had happened to him. He wouldn’t have done that on his own.

“The other thing I specifically asked for was my health. The place was so terrible that anything could have happened there. I just told God, my grave should not be numbered in the forest, and God helped me. We were in a place where, when you were shaking, the first question was, ‘Is it malaria you have or fever?’ And the solution was two tablets of paracetamol,” Mrs Alamu stated.

The school principal described their release as “miraculous”. 

“The release was miraculous. I cannot say this is what happened. I know that I was incarcerated for a period of time and at the right time, God rescued me, and brought me to the midst of my people. My family cannot thank Him enough,” she said.

On May 15, terrorists abducted the pupils and staffers. A series of government negotiations with terrorists and protests across several states, including Lagos, Ogun, and Oyo, followed afterwards.

On July 10, presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, announced the release of the hostages.