KIDNAPPERS HAVE BEEN OPERATING BETWEEN TWO CHECKPOINTS IN TARABA FOR 15 YEARS, POLICE EVEN KNOW GANG LEADER- RESCUED VICTIM

David Obiora, a Nigerian Law School student from Anambra State who was recently abducted along the Zaki Biam–Wukari Expressway in Taraba State, has revealed that the kidnappers have been operating in the same spot—close to a police station and between two police checkpoints—for over 15 years.

Obiora, who recounted his horrifying ordeal in captivity, where he and other victims were forced to pay N10 million ransom each to regain their freedom, also said that a policeman from the nearby police station identified the leader of the kidnappers as Matthew, but the police did nothing to rescue them.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Sunday PUNCH, Obiora said that a policeman told him that the leader of the kidnappers must either be a runaway or a dismissed soldier, and that the police could not attempt to rescue them because the kidnappers might have shot the victims dead.

Speaking on how the abduction happened, Obiora said, “It happened around 9 pm on Saturday, July 26, 2025, along Zaki Biam–Wukari Expressway.

“We were kidnapped by people from a particular tribe in Benue State, and not Fulani men. For the first time, I was surprised that people who are not Fulani are involved in kidnapping.”

He added that he identified the abductors through their language and names, noting that their abductors were not Fulanis but from a particular tribe in Benue state.

“I was listening to their language, and I knew because I’m very sure they were not Fulani. They were even speaking Nigerian Pidgin. Some of them bore the names Mathew, Felix, and David. It was the bank account of the one bearing Felix that was used in receiving the ransom,” he said.

Obiora said that the abduction was not the work of isolated criminals but rather a community-backed operation.

“We were taken deep inside the forest. It was a community, and there were buildings, which were not modern houses. They were huts roofed with palm fronds. Whether their victims were rich or poor, that was where they would be kept, and there was no modernised house in there,” he said.

“Yes, they beat us. They brought us out in front of the children because the house where we were at first was isolated. Later on, they predicted that our people had called the army, and that we should tell them to go back; if not, they would kill all of us,” he said.

“They later moved us from that isolated house to what seemed like a family house, where they had the father, mother, two aged grandmothers, wife, and children.

“We were surprised that those people even knew that they were kidnappers, and did not condemn such abominable act.

“They just pretended as if nothing was happening. It showed that it was already a norm in the community. We were surprised because it was then that we knew it was a community business.

“We felt that the kidnappers were not doing it in isolation. It dawned on us that even other members of their family knew, and it had become a normal thing there because they claimed they had been doing it for more than 10 years in the same spot.”

He expressed shock that children in the community were growing up around armed men.

“There was one woman there who used to cook for us. She would bring the food and fetch water for us. The children there were not even going to school,” he said.

“They woke up in the morning to see armed men, test-running guns in their presence, while they looked at them. The children were learning things they were not supposed to learn at that tender age, seeing where they were cocking their guns, changing cartridges, and all those things.”

Obiora revealed that they were fed only once a day with poor meals and were beaten whenever their families hesitated to send ransom.

“The experience was that we were fed once a day. It was that bad; we were fed with the same food the kidnappers ate, and forced to drink dirty water. I think they were already used to eating the food given to us. I don’t know if I should call it Amala or not. I just know that it was very black, and a red soup. I don’t know what to call the soup,” he said.

“So, we ate once a day. Then, sometimes we ate rice mixed with palm oil with no crayfish or any other ingredients in it. They were the two foods they used to give us once a day at 10 am or 11 am, and after that we’d have to wait till the next day to eat again.”

“So, they said it was our school that called the army, and that fighter jets were looking for us. So, they threatened to kill all of us and run away,” he said.

He added that the abductors released a woman and her young daughter without ransom after the child fell sick.

Obiora said that all the male victims had to pay a ransom before being released.

“We paid N10m each. We were all 10. When we got there, four people were already there, and when we were released, those four people joined us, making it 10. So, those people had to pay their money,” he said.

Obiora also accused the police of negligence, claiming that despite having identified the gang leader, no action was taken.

“The police said they would have come to rescue us, but they were scared that the kidnappers would shoot us if they came in,” he said.

“The police said they would have come to rescue us, but they were scared that the kidnappers would shoot us if they came in. But what I’m saying to the police is that those people have been operating for more than 15 years at the same spot, and there’s a police station close to that junction where they used to operate.

“There are two checkpoints in-between, and these boys have been operating for years. The policeman showed me a video to recognise if I should know anyone, and I said, ‘Yes, I know one of them.’

“One of them was that oga. The policeman said identified the man as Matthew, and that he was either a runaway or a dismissed soldier.

“The man was boasting that he had been running this operation for years at the same spot. He has made a lot of money, and the police have him on video, but they couldn’t get him.”

Obiora further disclosed that he spent nearly six days in captivity, sleeping in the forest, wearing the same clothes, and denied basic hygiene.

“It was still the clothes we wore when we were kidnapped. For days, we neither had our bath nor brushed our teeth, and if it rained, it would beat us with the same clothes, and dried up on our bodies, so it was messed up,” he said.

When asked how he is coping with the trauma, he simply said, “I’m strong.”

He, however, urged the government and security agencies to take decisive action against the kidnappers’ stronghold.

“My advice is for the army and other security agencies to go down there and clear the whole community, burn down every house, so that from the main road one could be safe in a very dry land,” Obiora said.

“Because the mindset of the kidnappers is that security agencies cannot start killing innocent villagers in the community. That is why they use the villagers as a shield.”