A member of the National Youth Service Corps, Rofiat Lawal, who was kidnapped along the Benin-Ore Expressway last Tuesday, has revealed that her abductors threatened to marry her off and relocate her to Sokoto if her family failed to meet their ransom demands.
Speaking to The PUNCH on Sunday, Rofiat detailed her harrowing experience, including how one of the kidnappers, identified as a Fulani man, took her NYSC uniform and wore it.
Rofiat was on her way to Oyo State, where she had been posted for her service year, when her journey was interrupted by the armed gang. Initially, the kidnappers demanded N20 million as ransom but later reduced it to N5 million after negotiations.
Her friend, identified as Agbakwara, raised the alarm about her abduction in a Facebook post.
He later confirmed her release, stating that her family secured her freedom after paying N1.1 million into an account reportedly belonging to the relatives of another kidnap victim.
Recounting the terrifying encounter, Rofiat explained that the gunmen ambushed the vehicle she was traveling in near the Ore area of the expressway.
“On our way coming from Benin to Ore, they stopped our vehicle. I was sitting at the front and what I heard was gunshots. When I raised my head, I saw three people with guns in front of the vehicle and three people at the back. The driver tried to escape but he could not. So, they asked us to lie down and took six of us,” she narrated.
She disclosed that out of the 10 passengers onboard, six were forced into the forest after the attackers seized their valuables, including money and mobile phones.
“They led us into the bush, searched us and collected our phones and money. Some of the victims were marked women, and they collected all their money, which ranged from N600,000 to N1.2 million and so on, but I was with N15,000, which they took from me. One of them took my NYSC uniform and wore it.
“After they collected our valuables, we trekked from 3 pm to 10 pm in the bush. During the day, they would ask us to sit somewhere in the forest, and at night, they would ask us to start trekking. That was how we spent the four days with them,” she recalled.
According to her, the captors were ruthless toward the older victims, who were frequently beaten. Though she was not physically tortured, one of the gunmen warned her that she would be taken as his wife if her family did not produce the ransom.
“One of them said he would marry me and take me to Sokoto if my family refused to pay ransom. I was less harassed, unlike the other victims who were older than me. I was the youngest among those of us who were kidnapped. They did not even know if I was a corps member or not; they were just concerned about the money they wanted to get from us,” she explained.
While she was unsure of the total amount paid for all six victims, she noted that some hostages’ families parted with as much as N2 million to N3 million, depending on negotiations.
For sustenance, the kidnappers only provided garri, which they carried in a cooler.
“They carried a cooler with them which was stored with garri. That was what they gave us on a few occasions.
“They were prepared for the operation, and it does not seem like that was their first time doing it,” she said.
Now free, Rofiat is appealing to the NYSC authorities for some time to recover from the trauma.
“The NYSC authority has reached out to me. The State Coordinator and my Local Government Inspector have called to check up on me. My appeal is that they should give me some days to rest and get medical attention because of the traumatic experience I had gone through for the four days.
“I do not regret participating in the NYSC because what will happen will happen. Others whom we were kidnapped together were not NYSC members,” she stated.
She expressed gratitude to her family for securing her release, acknowledging the sacrifices they made to pay the ransom that bought her freedom.
