One of the rescued students of Gateway ICT Polytechnic, Saapade, Ogun State, has recounted how their abductors allegedly killed a man in the forest, showed them the bodies of other victims and threatened to kill them if their families failed to pay the demanded ransom.

The student, whose identity was withheld, narrated his ordeal in a video documentary of the rescue operation released by the Ogun State Police Command on Tuesday.

The students were abducted on July 29 from their off-campus hostel in the Ipara area of Ogun State.

Recounting how the incident occurred, the student said the gunmen stormed their residence, firing repeatedly before moving from one apartment to another.

“We started hearing, ‘Lucas, open the door! There are kidnappers!’ So my friend and four others hid inside the toilet at the back,” he recounted.

According to him, the gunmen eventually entered their apartment and ordered everyone to lie down before accusing them of being internet fraudsters.

“They asked us who our boss was. We said we didn’t have a boss, that all of us are students. They said no, that we were doing Yahoo.

“They said they would take some of us, and if our boss had come, our boss would be able to provide some money to pay us out,” he said.

The student said the abductors tied their hands behind their backs and marched them into the bush, where they allegedly encountered another man.

“On our way, we met someone inside the bush, a man there. They killed the man. They tied his hands behind his back, they stabbed him, and they killed him. They left him there,” he alleged.

He said the abductors subsequently threatened the students with a similar fate if they refused to cooperate.

The student said they later encountered another abducted victim, identified by his captors as “Biggy”, who had allegedly been kidnapped a day before them.

“They abducted him on Tuesday, so we were abducted on Wednesday. We saw him there,” he said.

He said the victims were taken deep into the forest and subjected to beatings, hunger and other harsh conditions throughout their captivity.

According to him, the abductors mostly moved at night to evade detection, taking the victims through forests and across about three rivers before moving them between different hideouts.

He said the victims were warned against speaking or attempting to escape, adding that those who struggled to walk because of injuries sustained during their captivity were allegedly beaten.

The student said the abductors initially demanded N30 million from each victim as ransom, although the amount was later reduced for some victims following negotiations with their families.

He also recalled how the abductors took the victims to a forest where they were allegedly shown human remains.

“They took us to a forest, and on getting there, the place was smelly. They told us that these were some people who did not pay the ransom, and they had killed them, and if we cannot pay the ransom, they will kill us and bury us here. So we were begging for our lives,” he said.

The student said the abductors further threatened to bury the victims at the location if their families failed to raise the demanded ransom.

He said the victims were given little food and water during their captivity, adding that the abductors at one point gave them cassava flakes, popularly known as garri, to eat.

He also said the kidnappers monitored the movement of vehicles and motorcycles, ordering the victims to lie down or move deeper into the bush whenever they noticed people approaching.

The student said the victims were eventually caught up in a security operation involving the police and the Department of State Services.

According to him, the abductors attempted to flee with the victims when security operatives launched an attack on their hideout.

He said he persuaded one of his friends not to follow the kidnappers and instead move towards the direction of the security personnel.

The student said he was shot in the leg while attempting to move towards what he initially believed were police officers.

He said he later pretended to be dead when the abductors returned to check on him, adding that they eventually abandoned him.

“I was already getting tired. I was telling myself that I could not survive the night. Then I heard a policeman saying they should check if I was alive. That was when I knew they were the police,” he recounted.

He said he called out to the security personnel and identified himself as a student, after which they rescued him and another victim.

Expressing gratitude to the security personnel involved in the operation, the student said the ordeal had changed his perception of the police.

“I am very grateful. I am happy that I am alive today, even though I have an injury in my leg,” he said.

He also commended the security operatives for venturing deep into the forest to rescue the victims, describing the operation as a demonstration of their commitment to protecting lives.

Following the rescue of the seven students, Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun declared that kidnappers and other criminal elements would have no hiding place in the state.

Abiodun, who addressed journalists at his Oke-Mosan office in Abeokuta alongside security chiefs and some of the rescued students, said the successful operation demonstrated his administration’s commitment to protecting lives and property.

The governor said the students were rescued during a coordinated operation involving the Nigeria Police Force, the Armed Forces, the Department of State Services, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Ogun State Security Network Agency, also known as the Amotekun Corps, as well as local vigilantes and hunters.

The Nigeria Police Force subsequently confirmed that three suspected kidnappers were killed during a gun duel with security operatives on August 6.

The Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Ani Iniedu, said that after the victims were rescued, operatives of the police anti-kidnapping unit and the Department of State Services tracked the kidnappers to their hideout.

He said the security team engaged the suspects in a gun battle, during which three of the suspected kidnappers were neutralised, while others escaped with gunshot injuries.