Olusegun ARIYO
Five students of Gateway ICT Polytechnic, Saapade, in Ogun State, have recounted their experiences after they were rescued from kidnappers.
Urban Express News recalls that a simple trip for food ended in a traumatic abduction of the five students. They were kidnapped on the Isara-Ode road.
To them, last Tuesday was more than just a day of freedom.
Relieved but visibly shaken, the rescued youths shared their ordeal with DAILY POST, detailing the moments between their abduction in the Remo North local government area of the state and their eventual return to safety.
Driving an ash coloured Toyota car, the students, comprising four men and one lady, were flagged down by torchlight-wielding gunmen stationed on a bridge.
it happened barely 48 hours after the attack on students of the College of Engineering, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ibogun campus by suspected gunmen.
The gunmen, numbering 12, allegedly forced the students’ doors open, stole phones, necklaces, valuables and even beverages, and left them injured.
Giving details of how they were kidnapped, the victims said the kidnappers used the lights to lure them into a stop before seizing control of the vehicle and its occupants.
Checks reveal that the victims were made to trek three hours on a stretch into the thick bush before they were allowed to sit and call their families for ransom.
Taye (not his real name) described the incident as a shock, disclosing that the kidnappers demanded a ransom of 20 million naira each.
“We were coming from the restaurant before they stopped and attacked us. They acted like policemen, flashing torchlights for us to stop the car, and all I could remember next was a gunshot.
“At some point, they threatened to take our lives if we were unable to pay a ransom of N20 million; they even pointed the gun at us and threatened to take our lives,” he stated in a faint voice.
The students alleged that their captors were not strangers to the Remo North vicinity.
One of the victims pointed to the kidnappers’ ethnic identity, describing them as Fulani men who appeared to have deep knowledge of the local community.
Recounting a tense moment in the bush, he disclosed that there was a near-fatal confrontation when they called them “Fulani.
“The kidnappers are Fulani who know the whole community and vicinity.
“One of us even tried to call them Fulani, and they became very mad to the extent that they pointed the gun at him, so that’s how we knew they were Fulani,” he insisted.
Meanwhile, another victim told Urban Express News that three of the students were asked to pay a ransom of N20 million, but the driver and owner of the vehicle was shot in the leg and asked to pay a ransom of N40 million.
Recall that the police spokesperson, DSP Oluseyi Babaseyi, stated that operatives of the command, on receiving the information, deployed a patrol team to the scene where their vehicle was found abandoned with visible bullet impacts and bloodstains.
Babaseyi added that officers of Isara Area Command, Ipara Division, SWAT, Anti-Kidnapping Unit, Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU), Quick Response Squad (QRS), and OP MESA were immediately mobilised, leading to the safe rescue of the victims on penultimate Tuesday.
Briefing members of the press shortly after handing over the rescued students to the school, the State Commissioner of Police, Bode Ojajuni, disclosed that the operatives had engaged the kidnappers in a gun duel.
The Commissioner said, “The sustained operational pressure led to the successful rescue of the five (5) victims from the custody of the abductors on 28th April 2026. The victims were immediately evacuated, debriefed, and taken for medical attention due to conditions sustained while in captivity.
“During the rescue operation, the kidnappers engaged operatives in a gun duel but were overwhelmed by superior firepower and tactical response, forcing them to flee with suspected gunshot wounds. No casualty was recorded among security operatives.”
The police boss assured that the command had put all safety measures in place to protect all students and staff in the state.
He, however, called for collaboration between institutions and the command, assuring them of a quick response to any emergency or distress call.
“I’m using this opportunity to assure the management of all schools and institutions in Ogun State that the police will put in all we have to secure these schools and the students.
“We are equally encouraging them to constantly get in touch with the local police officers and me, the Commissioner of Police, or any other senior officer in the command for us to quickly respond to any emergency or distress call that may occur from their end.
“Like the OOU, we discovered that the police station is just too far from the campus and immediately I established a police post there to take care of their immediate security needs.
“We are in touch with all the school managements across the state and we are putting in place extra structures to protect students.
“We appeal to the school authorities and students to cooperate with us and see us as partners in progress and collaborators to ensure that we have secured campuses and secured students,” Ojajuni added.
He warned criminals in the state to change their ways or be ready to face the wrath of the law.
“It is up to them to change their mind and be law-abiding or the long arm of the law will catch up with them in a jiffy, not even in the long run,” he warned.
