VIDEO: Kidnappers let us go before soldiers took us home - Rescued Oyo teacher

One of the teachers rescued after spending 56 days with kidnappers in Oyo State, Zacchaeus Olatunde, said he and the others were released by the kidnappers before security forces took them home.

Olatunde shared this during a phone interview with Nigeria Info FM on Friday. He talked about the ordeal faced by teachers and pupils taken from schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.

He explained that the captives were blindfolded all through their time in captivity and could not tell where they were.

“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,” he said.

Olatunde mentioned that the kidnappers spoke in Hausa, Nupe, English, and Yoruba, claiming to be members of the Islamic State West Africa Province.

“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,” he said.

He added that despite the tough situation, the captives kept hope alive, believing that prayers from people would bring their freedom.

“All I can say is that God answered all the prayers that people were praying for us,” he said.

Talking about life in captivity, he said the kidnappers fed them twice a day but restricted their religious practices.

“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 said.

He continued, “We were fed twice a day, morning and evening. We ate only rice, little beans, onions, margarine, and salt. Throughout our stay there, we did not taste pepper.”

According to him, the teachers could not bathe or wash their clothes during the 56 days.

“For the 56 days, we the teachers did not bathe. We did not wash our clothes,” he said.

Olatunde also recalled that at first, the kidnappers did not allow them to pray.

“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,” he said.

He shared how they were released unexpectedly when the kidnappers’ commander told them they were free.

“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,” he said.

Olatunde explained that a handcuff key had broken earlier, making him the last person to leave the camp.

“When they released us, everybody had gone. They said I could not carry the handcuff home because the key had broken. One of them suggested they should cut off my hand, but another said no. They later used a small rope to remove the handcuff,” he said.

He also claimed that when he tried to follow the others, the commander called him back at gunpoint and showed him the way out.

“Their commander called me back. He pointed a gun at me and said, ‘Come.’ I thought I was going to die because I was the only one left in the bush. He asked where I was going, and when I said I didn’t know, he showed me the correct route and told me to follow where the others had passed,” he said.

Olatunde said the group walked for about an hour before motorcycles from the kidnappers took them close to a village.

“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,” he said.

He added that they were initially scared of the security personnel they met because they were speaking Hausa and the buses they came in had no 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,” he said.

Olatunde shared how he helped younger pupils cross rivers on the way out of the forest.

“There were some children that could not walk. I carried one little girl on my neck. At the river, I used a stick to check the depth before helping the children and some adults cross safely,” he said.

He also told how he was captured after he could not run away due to arthritis in his left leg.

“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,” he said.

Olatunde mentioned that the kidnappers gave him medication for his arthritis, which surprisingly helped ease the pain.

“The leg that I had spent so much money treating got better after they gave me one drug,” he added.

He also said that even though he returned home safely, he had not received any financial support.

“The utmost support for now should be for my school,” he said when asked about help from the authorities.

The teachers and pupils were taken in May when armed men attacked schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.

After their release, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde announced that the victims had regained their freedom after 56 days in captivity.

The governor also called for a UN-backed investigation into the abduction, saying Nigerians deserve a full account of what happened. He directed that the rescued victims should receive medical care and support for their mental health.