Some of the schoolchildren rescued after being abducted from Oriire local government area of Oyo State have recounted the horrific treatment they endured while they were held captive by their abductors.
The rescued children, who have now been reunited with their families, said the kidnappers subjected them to physical abuse and forced them to obey every instruction without question throughout their captivity.
Speaking in a video , they revealed that the terrorists repeatedly beat them, forced them to lie on the ground, and constantly ordered them to sleep while threatening them with violence.
One of the rescued pupils narrated the terrifying experience, saying the terrorists routinely assaulted the abductees and forced them to lie down whenever they gave an order.
When asked whether the kidnappers beat them, the child replied: “Yes, they did. They beat me. They beat all of us. They said we should lie down and sleep. They ordered us to sleep. They kept saying, ‘Sleep! Sleep!’ They would also beat us.”
The child further explained that the abductees had no choice but to obey every instruction issued by the armed men.
“They ordered us to lie down and sleep. They kept saying, ‘Sleep! Sleep!’ They would beat us. They only made us obey their instructions. Whenever they wanted something done, they insisted we followed their orders exactly,” the child said.
The emotional reunion between the rescued children and their families was marked by tears of joy and painful memories of the tragedy that had already struck some of the victims’ homes before the abduction.
One of the mothers disclosed that her family had suffered an earlier attack when bandits allegedly killed her husband in March before returning months later to abduct her child.
“They killed their (my children’s) father in March. It was the bandits who killed him along Reserve Road. Then, in May, they kidnapped my child. But I thank God they did not kill my child the way they killed the father. God did not allow it,” she said.
The grieving mother expressed gratitude that, despite the trauma her child endured in captivity, the child returned home alive.
Another woman whose family was also affected said five members of her household were abducted during the attack.
She said: “As you can see today, they are back home. Five of my family members were kidnapped: my four children and the wife of one of them. They were all taken away.”
When asked how she felt after the abduction, the visibly emotional woman struggled to hold back tears before describing the devastating impact the incident had on her.
“Ah! I almost died.”
After a brief silence, she continued: “I was completely devastated. But now my heart is relieved. I thank God. I thank everyone around the world because people everywhere prayed for us.”
The rescued victims are currently being reunited with their relatives following their release from captivity, bringing relief to families who had spent weeks in anguish over the fate of their loved ones.
NAIJAONPOINT reported that armed gunmen abducted 39 pupils and seven teachers on May 15 from three schools in the Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.
The victims spent 56 days in captivity. They were held in hideouts, including the Old Oyo National Park. A coordinated, intelligence-led operation by Nigerian military special forces and other security agencies reportedly freed all the captives.
Hafsoh Isiaq is a graduate of Linguistics. An avid writer committed to creative, high-quality research and news reportage. She has considerable experience in writing and reporting across a variety of platforms including print and online.
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