One of the kidnap victims –travelers– that were ambushed and kidnapped by suspected Fulani bandits on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Friday, October 28, 2022, has narrated how some of them got freed on the order of the bandits’ commander after two victims had been killed.
It has earlier been reported by Punch News that bandits, suspected to be Fulani, had on Friday, October 28, 2022, waylaid and kidnapped an unspecified number of travelers on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. The bandits have reportedly reached out to some relations of their victims to demand for ransom.
While sharing testimony in church, one of the freed victims narrated how the incident happened. He stated that they were waylaid by the bandits on the road and they were blocked both in the front and behind, so that they wouldn’t reverse or move forward to escape.
He said the bandits instantly ordered all of them to park their vehicles and come out. They told them the last person to do so will be killed. Staying true to their words, they shot the last person dead on the spot.
“Our vehicles were stopped in front and behind, so we could not even reverse. Even if we thought of reversing, we were warned that they would open fire. We were instructed to park off the road and that the last person to park and get out of his car will be killed. True to their word, the last person to come out of his car was shot dead immediately” –he narrated.
The freed victim added that the bandits further instructed them to form a straight line and start marching into the forest. In the course of doing that, the bandits’ commander ordered them to stop.
When they stopped moving, he said the thought of escaping crossed his mind. He however resisted and decided to stay calm. A while later, he said one of the victims attempted to escape and was instantly shot dead by the bandits.
“Then the Commander pointed at three of us and asked us to turn around and go back and we were free.” –he said. He added that the bandits continued to lead the others into the forest after setting three of them free.