Orire Kidnap: Victim Recounts 56 Days of Dehumanising Ordeal in Captivity
A witness for the Department of State Services (DSS) on Thursday told the Federal High Court in Abuja how 49 students and teachers abducted from schools in Orire Local Government
A DSS witness recounted the traumatic 56-day ordeal endured by 49 schoolchildren and educators abducted from Orire Local Government Area in Oyo State. The victims, aged as young as one and a half, were subjected to a "dehumanizing" captivity where they were forced to sleep on grass during heavy rain and intense sunlight. The captors, armed men on motorcycles, invaded the schools and took the victims into the bush, with each motorcycle reportedly carrying four people.
After six different locations, the captives were eventually rescued by security forces. The witness, identified as AAA, described the conditions as extremely harsh, with severe hunger, thirst, and limited water supply that had to be rationed. Meals consisted of rice, salt, palm oil, and eventually only plain white rice when supplies ran out.
The captors flogged some children to prevent them from struggling for food. The rescuers engaged the kidnappers in a gun battle at the sixth camp, successfully freeing the victims.
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