Five corps members who were abducted along Ifon/Owo road in Ose local council area of Ondo state have regained their freedom, after allegedly paying ransom demanded by the kidnappers.
The Corp members were Oluwaseun Adewole, Feranmo Oluwadara, Patience Andrew, Taiwo Oribamise and Lekan Ajayi.
Recall that Corp members were abducted last weekend along the Ifon-Owo highway in Ose local council area, Ondo state.
During the attack, the driver of the vehicle as well as a female passenger were killed when gunmen opened fire on their commercial vehicle.
Confirming their release in a statement on Monday, the spokesperson for the police in the state, Fumilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, said, “The victims were abandoned by their assailants after the police mounted pressure on the kidnappers.”
The victims, however, said the sum of N5 million was paid to the kidnappers as ransom, while drinks and cigarettes were also bought for them to secure their release.
Narrating their ordeal to newsmen in Akure, the state capital, one of the corps members, a female, Patient Andrew, said that they were tortured and only fed with dirty water and garri.
Speaking on the ransom paid, the 25-year-old abductee said “At first they asked for N30 million per person but as the negotiations were ongoing they brought it down to N3 million per person.
”But after much negotiation, they now asked us to bring N1 million each.
“We slept inside the bush throughout the day, we heard the bark of a dog and the sound of a cow in the bush and we passed through farmland when we were coming out.
As we walked through the thick forest, we didn’t meet anybody. Our brothers came with what they asked for which is 3 Hollandia yoghurt, 2 loaves of bread, one carton of Peak milk, one pack of malt 5 bottles of Fearless energy drink, one pack of YES cigarettes and 10 packs of rice and chicken and N1 million each.
“We were treated in Owo area command clinic and later wrote our statements.
