The freed kidnap victims of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Oke Isegun, Eruku, in the Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State, have narrated their ordeal in the hands of their abductors.
The victims, who had spent about six days in captivity, were rescued on Sunday following the security intervention of both the federal and state governments.
Immediately after the rescue operation, the victims were taken to the Kwara State Government House clinic for medical care, where they were attended to by medical personnel.
They complained that they suffered lack of water and food, while with their captors.
One of the freed victims, Bamidele Emmanuel, described the experience in the hands of the bandits as harrowing, saying that there was no way anyone could think of escaping.
“The experience inside the bush is unimaginable. When we got there, we didn’t know it was a dominated area occupied by bandits. They had the courage to tell us that they were bandits. They made us understand that there was no way anyone could just slip away without being caught. With what we saw there, no one could dare attempt to escape. They know all the routes in the areas surrounding the bushes around Kwara and neighbouring states.”
One of the pastors of the church, David Oluwafemi, expressed appreciation to the federal and state governments for the release of his members.
Also speaking when he received the 38 rescued victims of the Eruku church attack, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq discussed with some of the victims and assessed the situation of those being attended to inside the clinic.
He said that the release of the 38 victims did not call for celebration yet, adding that there are other captives in other states yet to be released.
He thanked President Bola Tinubu for his efforts in securing the release of the captives.
