A survivor of the May 15 abduction of pupils and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State has told the Federal High Court in Abuja that the victims endured severe hunger and thirst during their 56 days in captivity.
The witness, identified as “AAA” to protect her identity, said the abductors moved the victims through six camps in the bush, where they slept on grass and were exposed to rain and scorching sun.
She said some of the victims were children as young as one-and-a-half years old.
Testifying against five men accused of belonging to the proscribed Ansaru terrorist group, the witness said the abductors stormed the schools on 12 motorcycles while shooting sporadically.
She said the victims were taken into the bush, with about four people carried on each motorcycle, while a Toyota car belonging to one of the teachers was also used to transport some of them.
According to her, the abductors later told the victims that they were not kidnapped for ransom but to pressure the government to release detained members of Ansaru.
The witness said two teachers, Deacon John Olaleye and Michael Oyedokun, were later taken away and killed after the kidnappers accused the government of not taking their demands seriously.
“They said the government was not serious about releasing their members,” she told the court.
She also said the kidnappers seized the victims’ phones and used them to contact relatives and government officials during negotiations.
Describing the conditions in captivity, the witness said water was so scarce that about four victims sometimes had to share one cup.
She said their food initially consisted of rice, salt and palm oil, but they later ran out of salt and palm oil.
“They later gave us only white rice,” she said.
The witness said the younger children were beaten when they struggled for food, adding that meals were served in “a dirty rubber bucket like chicken.”
She further told the court that the victims did not bathe or wash their clothes throughout the 56 days in captivity.
According to her, the water supplied by the abductors was so dirty that they had to close their eyes before drinking it.
“We had to drink the dirty water just to survive,” she said.
The witness said the victims were eventually rescued at the sixth camp after security forces engaged the abductors in a gun battle.
The testimony was given in the trial of five defendants — Mahmud Muhammad, Abubakar Abbas, Abdulrazak Umar, Yunusa Musa and Shamsu Adamu Sani — who are facing seven counts bordering on terrorism, kidnapping, conspiracy, aiding terrorism, concealment of information about an impending terrorist act and the killing of the two teachers.
The prosecution alleged that Muhammad and Abbas ordered other members of the group to kidnap and kill Nigerians in different parts of the country to pressure the government to release detained Ansaru members.
It also alleged that the defendants were involved in the abduction of about 46 pupils and teachers from three schools in Oriire and the deaths of Olaleye and Oyedokun.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The prosecution, led by the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), asked the court to protect the identities of its witnesses and allow them to testify while wearing masks.
Defence counsel Bala Dakum did not oppose the request.
Justice Salim Ibrahim granted the application and ordered that the defendants remain in DSS custody throughout the trial.
The defence is expected to cross-examine the witness on September 18 when the case resumes.
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