29/06/2026
"I came online this morning and could not stop imagining what those k!dn@ppĀ£d teachers and students in Oyo are passing through.
In 2023, my family and I were victims of k!dn@pp!ng in Kogi State on our way back from the village. We had gone for my mumās fatherās burial, and while returning, four Fulani men k!dn@ppĀ£d us. They started sh&&t!ng at our car, and my dad lost control of the vehicle until it landed in the bush.
They collected my dadās and mumās phones, our food, cash, bags, and everything they saw, then ordered us to move deep into the bush. It was me, my mum, my dad, my elder sister, and my cousin. They also k!dn@ppĀ£d two other men, making us seven in total.
They took us to a cashew tree and told us to sit with our backs facing them. They were speaking Fulani, so we couldnāt understand what they were saying.
While we were there, a man, whom I think was a hunter, saw us. Before they could catch him, he escaped. Because someone had seen us, they decided to move us to another location. They ch@!n&d our legs and forced us to keep walking.
My mum was already ill because of the stress from the village and her high blood pressure. She also had a problem with one of her legs, so we had to support her as we walked. We trekked for hours. I had never walked that much in my life. There were bĀ£Ā£s everywhere.
They demanded ā¦20 million from my family and ā¦3 million from each of the other two men. My dad called his boss, my aunt, and other relatives, but for days there was no breakthrough. We survived by drinking cashew because they h@rdly gave us water.
We stayed there for eight days. On the seventh day, the w0rst thing happened, something I will never forget.
They asked us to move again because they were always changing locations. They kept bĀ£!ng my dad, demanding that he hurry up with the r@ns0m. We would cry and beg them to stop.
At one point, I even asked myself if God truly exists because I couldnāt understand why we were s&ffĀ£ring like that.
As we were climbing another hill, my mum said she couldnāt continue because she was exhausted. Their leader, who h@rdly spoke, said he had p@!nkillĀ£rs. We gave them to her. At first, she said she was okay, but after a while she coll@psĀ£d. She started breathing heavily until she was g@sp!ng for air.
I kept praying, but she p@ssĀ£d away. That was how we l0st our mum. Even after she di!Ā£d, they told us to continue the journey. They took us to another place and continued bĀ£!ng my dad, thrĀ£Ā£n!ng that if he didnāt pay quickly, he could lose the rest of us too.
That night, heavy rain started falling. We had nowhere to hide. We slept under the rain on a mountain while the k!dn@ppĀ£rs built a shelter for themselves. Later, they reduced the ransom for the other two men to ā¦100,000 each and released them.
We continued calling our relatives, and they eventually said they could only raise ā¦3 million. My dad pleaded with the k!dn@ppĀ£rs, and they agreed to accept it.
Then another pr0blem came. If you remember, this happened during the 2023 naira redesign when cash was scarce everywhere. There was no way to get enough cash quickly, and the k!dn@ppĀ£rs refused to accept bank transfers. That delayed our release until the eighth day.
When the money was finally gathered and handed over, they told us to follow them to where they would release us. Before we left, my dad begged them to show us where they had left my mumās body so we could come back and give her a proper bur!.
They agreed. We marked the spot by placing leaves on the ground so we could find it again. After that, they led us to another location, pointed towards the road, and told us to keep walking straight until we reached the expressway.
We later found out that there was a police checkpoint close to where it happened. What h&rt the most was that my aunt reported the inc!dĀ£nt to the police, but instead of getting help, she was told to go and look for the ransom, go home, and prayā¦ā
- Lady recounts how k!dn@ppĀ£rs held her family for eight days in Kogi, during which her mother d!Ā£d before they were released after r@ns0m payment.
