An Ondo entrepreneur who returned from abroad to start farming, Mr. Olanrewaju Oyeleye, has said that he paid N25m ransom for his abductors to release him.
Olanrewaju said the money was paid in Ekiti State.
He and his farm manager were abducted at Oba-Ile area near the Akure Airport while he was going to his farm at Abo-Ashakin, Akure North local government area of Ondo State.
Recounting his experience after release, Olanrewaju said he was kidnapped the day his wife gave birth to twin.
Olanrewaju stated that it was a traumatic experience for his family because he spent five days in the kidnappers’ den.
He said his abductors were armed Fulani herdsmen who ambushed him and farm manager on a Friday morning.
“I was driving my Toyota Camry when I suddenly found the road barricaded by five to six armed men wielding AK-47 rifles.
“They shouted at me to stop but I attempted to reverse. Before I could react further, they opened fire on my car. The gunshots were relentless, I lost count of how many times they fired.
“Realising I could not escape, I eventually surrendered.
“The kidnappers dragged me and my companion into the dense forest, forcing us to walk all night to an unknown location.”
He said he was beaten and brutalised after he insisted he did not have up to N100m to pay as ransom.
His words: “They used cutlasses on my head and back for days. Every morning, they would start hitting me before they gave me a phone and forced me to call my family members, demanding the money.
“The kidnappers, who referred to themselves as ‘the Mafia’, boasted that they feared no one, not even the military.”
What worsened his fears were the calls his abductors made to various individuals demanding supplies and weapons.
He said items were supplied at various places inside the forest for the kidnappers
“They don’t operate in isolation. They have a network and godfathers.
“After days of starvation, my captors provided only water once, which was unfit for human consumption. My family managed to negotiate the ransom down to ₦25 million which was delivered to Ise-Ekiti.
“I am now living in fear. Yesterday, as I was heading home, I was terrified. Today, stepping outside, I am still scared. If they could kidnap me in daylight, what could happen at night?”
Olanrewaju said impunity emboldened the kidnappers and called on government to overhaul security architecture, equip agencies with modern technology, and strengthen community policing
