Richard Ginika Izuora
A victim that was kidnapped in Niger State has narrated that bandits have changed tactics as they now keep young girls as sex slaves in their hideout.
Mr. Rufai Galadima, who is a final year HND student of Regional Planning at the Niger State Polytechnic, Zungeru, and hail from Bassa in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger, narrated to the media the experience he had while in captive.
He spent 29 days with bandits who kidnapped him, and had this to say, “I was kidnapped from my village, Bassa, in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, while resting in my family house between 8pm and 9pm by two heavily-armed men on October 17.
“I was kidnapped along my younger brother’s wife. But when I pleaded with them that the woman was pregnant and sick they let her go.’’
He added that when he was abducted, the bandits demanded for money and telephone handsets.
“I told them that I am a student and had nothing. When they asked to see other members of the family, I told them that they went out.
“They said since we did not have money they would take me to their camp in the forest. When we got to their forest camp in Gwanda in Chukuba area of Shiroro; they tied me to a tree and beat me to force my family to bring money,’’
The victim said that before they got to the forest camp; the bandits stole two fowls from a family compound which he used to prepare their meal at the camp.
“Many of the bandits in the camp ate the food and left me to stay hungry throughout the first night,’’ he said.
He added that in the camp, there were more than 20 young girls that the suspects used as sex slaves.
“They did not allow the girls to go anywhere. The ladies only cooked for them and had intimacy with them. I also noticed that the ladies were not allowed to have their baths, even when they were menstruating,’’ he said.
Galadima said that the kidnapped victims in the forest camp were fed twice per day; adding that the bandits supplied yam stolen by the suspects from farms near the forest.
He added that at the camp, the suspects possessed assorted weapons; such as AK-47 rifles, AK-49 rifles, pump action guns, rocket-propelled guns, machetes and machine guns, among others.
“They even boasted of shooting down a helicopter sometime in Shiroro.
“They told me that they got their weapons from Cameroon, Niger Republic, Sokoto and Zamfara states,’’ he said.
According to him, the suspects used camels in transporting their weapons to Shiroro from where they operated adding, that the bandits recruited youths in the forest to join the nefarious activities on daily basis.
He revealed that when the kidnappers made contact with his family; they initially demanded for N5 million ransom but the family pleaded with them to accept N200,000 or N300,000, but they refused.
“When my family later sold our properties and raised N1.3 million, the negotiation continued; before they accepted it and freed me at 9am on November 14,’’ he said.
He added that his family did not report the incident to the Police because the only Police post in the area had been abandoned because of incessant attacks.
