Security operatives have rescued students of Gateway ICT Polytechnic, Saapade, Ogun State, after they were abducted from a private hostel in Ipara-Remo and taken into a forest by suspected kidnappers.
The incident occurred on July 29, when gunmen stormed the students’ rented apartment along Paraga Road shortly after 8pm. The attackers reportedly searched the apartment, accused the occupants of engaging in internet fraud and abducted five of eight students staying there.
The victims said the kidnappers tied their hands and marched them into the forest, where they were forced to identify their mobile phones. They also alleged that the gang threatened to kill them if their families failed to pay ransom.
According to one survivor, the kidnappers initially demanded N30 million from each victim before later setting different ransom amounts ranging from N5 million to N50 million. The hostages said they were subjected to physical abuse, hunger and harsh conditions while being moved through the forest at night.
The students also alleged that they encountered another kidnapped victim in the forest and saw the body of a man whom the kidnappers had reportedly killed. They said they were threatened with similar treatment if they failed to cooperate.
Meanwhile, security agencies were tracking the gang through intelligence gathering, aerial surveillance and ground operations. The victims said they heard drones and later encountered security operatives as a firefight broke out between the forces and the kidnappers.
One of the students was shot in the leg while attempting to escape during the exchange of gunfire. He said he pretended to be dead until he was located by police operatives.
“I knew it was the police, and I shouted, ‘Please, I am a student! You guys should help me!’” he recalled.
The student said the rescue operation changed his perception of the police, particularly because his late father had also served as a police officer. “I doubted that the police would be able to help us, but they kept looking for us inside the bush,” he said.
Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Bode Ojajuni, had earlier disclosed that the anti-kidnapping unit, working with the Department of State Services and other security agencies, had arrested two suspected members of the gang.
During an operation on August 6, security operatives reportedly raided the suspects’ hideout along the Sagamu-Abeokuta Expressway. Three suspected kidnappers were reportedly killed during a gun battle, while others escaped with gunshot wounds. Security personnel recovered an AK-47 rifle, an empty magazine, four mobile phones and N2.3 million from the hideout.
