Mr. Zacheaus Olatunde, one of the survivors of the abduction involving staff and pupils of Oriire School, has shared a harrowing account of the 56 days they spent in captivity, revealing why two of his colleagues, Mr. Michael Oyedokun and Deacon John Olaleye, were killed by their abductors.
According to Olatunde, the terrorists accused Mr. Michael Oyedokun of disobeying their instructions after allegedly failing to surrender his mobile phone when they were first taken into the forest.
"They instructed all of us to drop our phones, and we obeyed. Unknown to the rest of us, Mr. Michael Oyedokun still had his phone in his pocket. One of the terrorists riding with him discovered it and confronted him. Mr. Oyedokun said he did not hear the instruction. The terrorist slapped him, and when their General Commander heard what happened, he became furious and declared that someone had to die for disobeying his order," Olatunde recalled.
He said the following day, Mr. Oyedokun was taken away and killed.
"We heard him screaming and pleading for his life as they dragged him away. His cries were loud, but after a while, everything went silent. Later, a teenage terrorist returned, dancing and singing in celebration of his death," he said.
Olatunde also disclosed that Deacon John Olaleye was killed on June 7 after the terrorists accused him of violating their warning that military personnel should not approach their camp.
He explained that neither of the victims was killed in the presence of the other captives, but they could hear their voices as they were taken away to another location.
Describing their conditions in captivity, Olatunde said the victims were chained and handcuffed throughout the 56 days, with their eyes permanently blindfolded.
"We stayed inside a tent and could only relieve ourselves after begging the terrorists. They moved us from one location to another frequently, and whenever the children made mistakes, all of us were punished. We were beaten with gun butts," he said.
He added that the terrorists were highly devoted to their religious practices.
"They never joked with their prayers or Quran recitation. However, they warned us never to pray or mention the name of Jesus. If they caught anyone praying, the person would be severely beaten."
According to him, the abductors repeatedly insisted that money was not their primary demand but the release of their members who had been arrested.
Olatunde said their captors eventually released them after informing them that security forces had detained some of their family members.
"They told us to leave so that their families could also be released. Before we left, they directed us on the route to follow and said we would cross two streams before meeting soldiers waiting to receive us."
He recalled carrying many of the weak children across the streams because they were too exhausted to walk.
Reflecting on the experience, Olatunde said the captives survived mainly on plain rice, sometimes mixed with red oil but without pepper or salt. On one occasion, the terrorists provided deer and grasscutter meat.
He noted that the terrorists' behaviour changed after Deacon Olaleye's death and after learning that some of their relatives had been arrested by the military.
"The day we were to be released, they even asked if we wanted to bathe, but we declined because we were desperate to leave the forest," he said.
Upon arriving in Ibadan, Olatunde said military officers showed him photographs of suspected terrorists.
"I was able to identify one of them. The officers told us that eight of the terrorists had been arrested while others had been neutralised."
Expressing gratitude for surviving the ordeal, Olatunde said the joy of regaining freedom remained incomplete because two of their colleagues never made it home.
"We thank God that we survived, but we are deeply saddened that Mr. Michael Oyedokun and Mr. John Olaleye did not return with us," he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment