One of the teachers rescued after spending 56 days in captivity in Oyo State, Zacchaeus Olatunde, has claimed that he and other victims were released by their abductors before security personnel eventually escorted them home.
Olatunde made the disclosure during a telephone interview with Nigeria Info FM on Friday. He recounted the ordeal of teachers and pupils abducted from schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Victims remained blindfolded throughout captivity
According to Olatunde, the kidnappers kept the victims blindfolded throughout their stay. As a result, they never knew where they had been taken.
He said:
“It is difficult to say on air, but I will just say what I can. When we were there, we were blindfolded, not an ordinary blindfold. We didn’t even know if we were in Nigeria or another country. We were just there. We were saying maybe the government had even forgotten us.”
Kidnappers claimed to be ISWAP members
Olatunde said the abductors communicated in Hausa, Nupe, English and Yoruba. However, they insisted they were members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), not Boko Haram.
He recalled:
“They said they are not Boko Haram. They said they are ISWAP. I was the last person who was captured in the school and I was the last person that was released.”
Despite the uncertainty, he said the victims remained hopeful that prayers from family members and well-wishers would secure their freedom.
Teacher describes life in captivity
The teacher said the kidnappers fed the captives twice daily throughout their stay. Nevertheless, they placed restrictions on their religious activities.
He said:
“In terms of feeding, those people really tried for us, to be sincere. Right from the day we were abducted, they told us on the way that if we cooperated and the government cooperated, there would be no problem.”
He explained that they survived mainly on rice, beans, onions, margarine and salt.
Furthermore, Olatunde said teachers could neither bathe nor wash their clothes throughout the 56-day captivity.
He also revealed that the abductors initially banned them from praying.
“When we got there, they told us not to pray. After about a month, they allowed us to pray, but they warned us not to mention the name of Jesus and not to pray aloud.”
‘We were told we had been freed’
According to Olatunde, the captives did not expect their release until the kidnappers’ commander suddenly informed them they were free.
He said:
“Until the last day when their commander came and was smiling and laughing and said we should thank God that we had been freed. The next thing they said was that we should open our eyes.”
Olatunde added that he became the last person to leave because the key to his handcuffs had broken earlier during captivity.
At one point, he feared he would be killed after the commander called him back at gunpoint. Instead, the commander directed him to the route leading to the other victims.
Victims trekked before meeting security personnel
After their release, Olatunde said the victims trekked for nearly an hour before the kidnappers provided motorcycles that took them close to a nearby village.
They later continued on foot until they reached security personnel.
He said:
“We trekked for about 40 minutes to one hour before they provided motorcycles that took us close to the nearest village. They later stopped and told us they could not go further, so we trekked for another one and a half hours before we got to where the government people who came to rescue us were.”
According to him, the victims initially feared the security personnel because they spoke Hausa and arrived in buses without number plates.
“When we saw the buses, we were afraid because the people were speaking Hausa. We even asked them to show us their identity cards. They kept assuring us that the government sent them. The buses had no number plates and had Arabic inscriptions. We were afraid they wanted to take us somewhere else.”
Teacher recounts escape and recovery
Olatunde said he assisted several children during the journey out of the forest. He carried one young girl and helped other victims cross rivers safely.
He also explained that arthritis prevented him from escaping when the attackers invaded the school.
“I had arthritis on my left leg and couldn’t run. I hid under the grass because my clothes blended with it. A student who refused to leave me looked in my direction, and that was how their commander noticed me and ordered me to stand up.”
The teacher further claimed that medication given to him by the kidnappers unexpectedly relieved the arthritis.
Despite regaining his freedom, Olatunde said he had not received any financial support since returning home.
He concluded:
“The utmost support for now should be for my school.”
