A witness for the Department of State Services (DSS) on Thursday narrated to the Federal High Court in Abuja how 49 students and teachers kidnapped from schools in Orire Local Government Area of Oyo State spent 56 days in captivity under harsh conditions.
The witness, identified as “AAA” to protect her identity, told Justice Salim Ibrahim that they were moved to six different locations, barefoot, and made to sleep on grass under heavy rain and sunshine before security agents finally rescued them from captivity.
The defendants, accused of being members of the Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi-Biladis Sudan (ANSARU) terrorist group, are Mahmud Muhammad (aka Abu Bara’a, Abbas Mukhtar); Abubakar Abbas (aka Isah Adam, Mallam Mahmuda Al-Nigeri); Abdulrazak Umar (aka Abu Khalifa/Abu Khalid); Yunusa Musa (aka Abu Yunusa Bin Musa); and Shamsu Adamu Sani (aka Abu Itisar).
Led in evidence by the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, the DSS witness told the court that their ordeal was particularly pathetic because children as young as one and a half years from pre-nursery schools were among those held in captivity throughout the period.
The witness claimed that on the day of the kidnapping, a group of fully armed bandits invaded their schools on 12 motorcycles, shooting sporadically and preventing the students and teachers from escaping.
She said the bandits, who came on the 12 motorcycles, “carted” them away into the bush, with one motorcycle carrying about four persons. She added that a Toyota car belonging to one of the teachers was also used to move other victims into the bush.
While in the bush, the witness said they were addressed by the bandits’ leader, who told them that the kidnapped people were being held to negotiate the release of their Ansaru group members and not for the purpose of ransom.
On two different occasions, the witness said two teachers among them, Deacon John Olaleye and Michael Oyedokun, were brought out and openly beheaded on the excuse that the government was not serious about yielding to their demands for the release of their detained members.
She also told the court that their phones were seized and used to contact their relatives and government officials to relay their grievances to the government.
The witness further said that while inside the bush, they faced hunger and acute shortages of water, adding that about four victims were being served with one cup of water during rationing.
She said that at the initial stage, they were fed rice, salt and palm oil. But when the salt ran out, the kidnappers resorted to feeding them with rice and palm oil, and later only white rice when the palm oil also got finished.
Further narrating their ordeal, the witness claimed that the little children among them were usually flogged by the kidnappers while being fed to prevent them from struggling for white rice. She added that they were given food inside a dirty rubber bucket like chickens.
Throughout the 56 days in captivity, the witness asserted that they had no opportunity to wash their clothes or take their baths, leaving them very dirty and exposed to danger before their rescue.
She further said the victims had to close their eyes before they could drink the dirty water being served to them by the kidnappers, adding that they had to drink it just to survive.
She said it was at camp six of the captivity that security forces arrived and exchanged gunfire with the bandits before finally rescuing them.
Meanwhile, defence lawyer Bala Dakum is to cross-examine the DSS witness on September 18.
Justice Salim Ibrahim has also ordered that the defendants remain in DSS custody throughout the duration of their trial.
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