Jibril Muhammad is a Kaduna-based driver who plies the Kaduna-Kano highway. In this interview, he reveals how he escaped from kidnappers along the highway after they demanded N2million ransom. Excerpts:
Daily Trust: Tell us what happened on the day you were kidnapped?
Jibril Muhammad: I took some passengers to Kano and on my way back I equally took another set at Gedigedi roundabout to Kaduna. It was a Thursday at around 11 pm. I was behind a Peugeot J5 vehicle as we headed made the return trip when we came across the criminals. I stopped because they wore army uniforms and I saw the car in front of me also parked. After I stopped, one of them stood by the driver’s door and ordered me to go out through the passenger’s door. I obeyed and they ordered us all out of the car to lie on the floor before they searched us and took away all our belongings. They collected N50, 000 from one of the passengers in my vehicle while they only got N6, 000 from me and my phone. As we were being robbed other vehicles were being stopped. Those who refused to stop, the robbers shot at the cars. After sometime, I told them to allow me to go since they have collected all my money and that of my passengers. They shouted at me and said who told me they are only after my small money. They left us on the floor but later asked after the owner of the Sharon car.
I thought they will ask me to enter my car and go so I rose up my hand. One of them said I should come with them to the bush because they want to kidnap me.
Two people we abducted in my car and another two from a car behind me. We were five that they abducted. We started walking into the bush around 11:30 pm and we got to their destination around 3:30 pm.
DT: What did you see when you got to their hideout?
Jibril: Nothing much apart from plates and pots use to cook.
DT: Did you see women that cook for them?
Jibril: No. I did not see any woman there and the kind of food I saw there was potatoes.
DT: Are there any woman among the passengers abducted?
Jibril: None. We were all men.
DT: How did you escape from their hideout?
Jibril: Right from the time we were abducted, I made up my mind to escape. In fact, I almost fought them but later realized they were seven all holding guns and we were five without any weapon.
DT: What tribe are the kidnappers?
Jibril: They were Fulani.
DT: How did you know they were Fulani people?
Jibril: I heard them speaking Fulani language even though I do not understand the language, I knew it was the dialect because I lived with them where I came from.
DT: How then did you escape?
Jibril: After they took us deep inside the forest, they push us under a very big tree to sit. I saw chairs, which shows it was their den. Two of the kidnappers sat under another tree facing us and slept off. While the remaining ones were carried away with the over 50 phones they collected from their victims at the highway. Since I had already made up my mind to escape, I tried hard not to sleep off despite the fact that I was feeling fatigue because of the long walk. There was a phone they could not operate so they asked if I could operate it and I answered in the affirmative. They threatened to beat the hell out of me if I cannot operate it. I swore to them that I do not know the pin number of the phone. Few minutes later, one of the abductees told the kidnappers that he wanted to ease himself and they asked him to go, I also followed him as if I equally wanted to ease myself and from there I ran into the bush. Before they realized it, I had gone far. They ran after me, but because it was dark they could not see me as I ran as fast as I could. I saw their touch light beam from far but, I kept running. I ended up falling into a big ditched that was caused by erosion but I came out and kept running until I escaped from them.
DT: What about the other passengers kidnapped?
Jibril: Honestly I do not know. I left them there and ran for dear life.
DT: Where did you go after you escaped?
Jibril: I saw myself at a remote village inside the forest that was around 6 am on Friday. I asked some of the residents where I was and they told me in Zaria but I cannot remember the name of the village.
DT: Did the people in the village ask how you got there?
Jibril: Yes, I narrated my experience to them and they gave me pap to drink before a Good Samaritan took me to Zaria motor part on his motorcycle.
DT: You must have run for hours in the bush.
Jibril: Yes, I started running around 3am and I got to the village around 6am.
DT: Did they shoot while chasing you?
Jibril: No, but they were holding their guns I suppose.
DT: Were you not afraid of coming across any dangerous animal while in the bush at that time of night?
Jibril: Honestly, that did not even cross my mind. I was only running for my life.
DT: When they kidnapped you, what thought did you have?
Jibril: Truly, I did not know if I will live through the experience or die.
DT: Did they mistreat any of you while in captivity?
Jibril: No, they did not.
DT: Can you recognize the place they took you to in the forest?
Jibril: Not really because it was dark and only a very big tree was there. No houses around.
DT: Did they demand for a ransom?
Jibril: Yes, when they abducted us, they asked of my state of origin. I told them I was from Lafia in Nasarawa State so they gave me my phone to call home and requested for N2million. They said if they could get the money that night I will regain my freedom and warned that they have no food or water to give me at their camp.
DT: That means the potato you saw them cooking was not for you?
Jibril: I guess it was not.
