We Paid ₦15m Ransom to Free Our Children, Teachers – Family
Family pupils and teachers of the Apostolic Faith Group of Schools, Emure-Ekiti, in Emure Local Government Area of Ekiti state have revealed that the gunmen collected 15, million Naira, Fried Rice, Energy Drinks, Milk, Tramadol before they could secure the release of the victims.
The gunmen had last week Monday ambushed the school bus conveying the pupils and staff to Eporo-Ekiti, at a bad spot and whisked away five pupils and four members of staff including the driver to the forest
The kidnappers later reached out to the families of the victims and demanded a ransom of N100m for the release of their loved ones but after much plea the gunmen reduced the ransom to N15 million on Thursday and insisted on the amount.
Relatives of the victims said that the hostages were released in a forest between Owo and Oba-Akoko in Ondo state at about 1:30am on Sunday.
However, the Kidnappers killed the driver of the school bus, identified as Taiwo Olugbaye in the forest.
A parents of the victim who didn’t want his name mentioned noted that members of the community and other indigenes both home and abroad contributed the ransom.
The family source disclosed that the driver was killed by the kidnappers after he was said to have reneged in dropping the telephone numbers of his relatives to be contacted for ransom.
We have to thank God for the safe return of our children and wives from the forest after they were kidnapped since Monday.
The kidnappers insisted on collecting ₦15 million on Saturday and we rallied round the communities including our people outside the country to see the ransom. They even collected a cartoon of tin milk , black bullet, fried rice with chicken, soft and energy drinks and tramadol from us.
We were asked to take the money and the items to a bush in Ondo state , a farmstead called Ago Paanu at about 7pm. It is between Oba Akoko and Owo. Before they could release them, they confirmed the money and those items. We walked through the bush till around 1am when we saw the victims.”
On why the driver was killed by the gunmen, the family source said, ” The children told us that when they(Kidnappers) were asking for telephone number of relatives to call from each of them in the forest, the driver told them he didn’t know that of his wife and school proprietor of hand, this made them angry and they hit him with their gun.
For five days , he was said to be having issues after the injury he sustained and was shot dead on Saturday morning. The most painful was that his corpse was burnt in the bush, according to what they pupils told us.
