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 Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State were subjected to what she described as a “dehumanising” ordeal during 56 days in captivity.
The witness, identified simply as AAA, for security reasons, told Justice Salim Olasupo Ibrahim, that the victims were moved through six different locations during their captivity, barefooted and forced to sleep on grass under heavy rain and intense sunshine before they were eventually rescued by security forces.
Led in evidence by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, the DSS witness said the situation was particularly distressing because children as young as one and a half years old, including pupils from pre-nursery schools, were among those held captive during the period.
According to her, the victims were abducted when a group of armed men invaded their schools on motorcycles, shooting sporadically and preventing the students and teachers from escaping.
She said the attackers, who arrived on about 12 motorcycles, took the victims into the bush, with each motorcycle reportedly carrying about four people. She added that a Toyota car belonging to one of the teachers was also used to transport some of the victims.
The witness said that after they were taken into the bush, the leader of the kidnappers addressed them and informed them that they were being held to negotiate the release of members of the Ansaru group, rather than for ransom.
She further revealed that on two occasions, two of the teachers among the captives were taken away and killed, with the kidnappers claiming that the government was not serious about meeting their demands.
The witness told the court that the kidnappers used the mobile phones they seized from the victims to contact their relatives and government officials to negotiate their demands.
She described the conditions in captivity as extremely harsh, saying they suffered severe hunger and were left thirsty for most of the time.
According to her, during water rationing, about four victims had to share a single cup of water. Even at that, she stressed, the water provided by the kidnappers was so stenchy that they had to close their eyes before drinking it.
“We had to drink the dirty water just to survive,” she said.
She said that initially, the captives were fed a combination of rice, salt and palm oil. However, when the salt ran out, they were given rice and palm oil, and eventually only plain white rice after they ran out of palm oil.
The witness also stated that the kidnappers flogged some of the young children to prevent them from struggling for food, adding that meals were served to the victims in plastic containers.
According to the witness, throughout the 56 days in captivity, the victims had no opportunity to bathe or wash their clothes, leaving them extremely dirty by the time they were rescued.
She told the court that their rescue occurred when they were at the sixth camp, where security forces engaged the kidnappers in a gun battle before successfully freeing them.
Following the testimony, defence counsel, Bala Dakum, is expected to cross-examine the witness on Friday, September 18.
Justice Salim Olasupo Ibrahim also ordered that the defendants remain in the custody of the DSS throughout the duration of the trial.
