After 56 days in terrorists’ den: Their commander came smiling and said we were free —Oriire teacher

A teacher released after spending 56 days in captivity following the mass abduction of pupils and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State has narrated how he and the other captives were unexpectedly released by their abductors.

Speaking during a live interview on a radio station, 99.3 Nigeria Info FM, school counsellor, Mr. Olatunde Zachaeus, said the militants’ commander suddenly appeared in a cheerful mood and announced that they were free.

He said the militants unlocked the chains on the adult male captives before directing them out of the forest. Zachaeus, whose handcuff could not immediately be opened because its key had broken, said one militant suggested cutting off his hands to free him before another eventually picked the lock.

“The way we were freed was miraculous. One day, their commander came and they were just laughing and smiling. They said we should thank God that we had been freed. They told us to open our eyes. They removed the blindfold and the handcuff and asked us to go.

“My people had run far (by the time his handcuff was off). I was just running towards a direction.  Their commander called me back. He pointed his gun at me and said, ‘come’. I went back to him.  He asked me to follow another direction. I then ran towards that direction.

“He [the terrorist leader] followed me. We trekked for like forty minutes to one hour. We met others and then they provided motorcycles that took us from that bush to the nearest village.  At that village, they stopped and asked us to move with our legs. We trekked for one hour, thirty minutes before we got to that place, Alawusa, where those security men sent to come and receive us were waiting for us.

“The terrorists told us we were going to meet two rivers. We got to the two rivers. The second river was filled to the bank. I carried the children across the river, even some of the elders, I carried them. There was a little child that fell into the river. I quickly picked her.

“After crossing the river, we asked the secondary school students to be at the front. Then they ran back and said they saw a bus. We thought we had moved from frying pan to fire.  We met two security officers in the bus. They were smiling. They said they were sent to rescue us.  We asked for their ID cards. What made us to panic the more was that they were speaking in Hausa language. We said God has just saved us from some Hausa people, we are falling into the hands of another Hausa people again.  That would be a tragedy. So, when we demanded to see their ID card, they smiled and said we should calm down and that it was the government that sent them.

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“I checked the bus’ number plate. I told my principal that I was afraid. This bus has no number plate and with tinted glass, what if they take us to Mali as the terrorists had earlier threatened to do to go and sell us? I went to the back of the bus and saw a sticker with Arabic inscriptions. The two security men then called someone who told us in English that we should be calm, that it was the government that sent them.

“Another person was called who spoke to us in Yoruba and said: “Eyin eniyan mi, e fokan ba’le.” That was how they brought us back to our school, then to Ibadan.”

Zachaeus told the radio station that throughout their 56-day ordeal, the male captives were kept blindfolded and chained, surviving on two sparse meals daily.

He also recalled the killing of Vice Principal Michael Oyedokun and teacher John Olaleye, saying the militants accused Oyedokun of hiding a mobile phone and executed Olaleye to send a warning to security forces.

“They said they are not bandits and they said they are not Boko Haram,” Zachaeus said, adding that the group identified itself as members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

The teacher said the captives were forbidden from mentioning the name of Jesus or praying aloud, although the militants later told them they could pray silently when circumstances became difficult.