In the towns of Shapai and Igu Tsauni, Munya LGA of Niger State, North Central Nigeria, three abducted victims who were kidnapped by terrorists have managed to escape.
When the terrorists stormed the villagers’ communities two weeks ago, the guys were among the 26 villagers who were kidnapped.
The victims described how they managed to flee, claiming that Wednesday night’s intense rain allowed them to do so.
A wood trader who went by the name Chukuwdi claimed to be one of the abducted people and claimed that they were being transferred from the terrorists’ transitory encampment near Mangoro to a permanent camp in Kaduna.
The abducted victims were bound together to prevent them from escaping, he claimed, and the heavy rain made mobility challenging.
Chukuwdi noted: “They kept us at the river bank because we could not cross due to the volume of the water. Even though we were tied together to stop us from escaping, God made it possible for us to escape.”
The escaped victim claimed that the other victims were all women and children, and that they could not have fled with them because they were not bound together.
He added: “We ran and ran and trekked in some places all through the night and inside the rain so that we would not be caught in case they wanted to come after us. We were able to arrive at a village in the morning at about 4 a.m. today (Thursday).
“Our escape was a miracle, it was God because the decision to escape was a difficult one especially as they threatened to shoot anyone who escaped but when we saw that the rain was very heavy, we told ourselves that we could use the opportunity of the rain to escape and God made it possible for us.”
The three of them, according to Chukuwdi, were originally from separate locations but were brought together after being kidnapped by terrorists.
He claimed that because the three who managed to flee were Igbos, the terrorists demanded N5 million in ransom from each of their families while only demanding N1 million from the families of the other victims.