The schoolchildren rescued from abduction at St Mary Catholic School, Papiri in Agwara, Niger State, have recounted their experience with their captors’ brutality, saying they were kept near a river and were threatened that they will be beaten to death if they made noise.

TheNewsGuru.com(TNG) reports that the children were released on Sunday evening in a handover coordinated by the office of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).

Speaking, one of the rescued girl, identified as Florence Michael, recounted, “We were taken down into the forest and bushes before they camped us near a river, and we were made to sleep on a trampoline. They said if we made noise, we would be beaten and killed; they said if we were not calm, we would not go back home.”

Another boy identified as Emmanuel added, “We were threatened with guns not to cry or wail; they were with big guns, and we were in fear throughout.”

One of the parents of the abducted students, Elizabeth Samuel, said she was grateful for her daughter’s rescue, but still shudders at the thought of her child being at the mercy of armed men.

“We thank all those who helped us with their rescue. We thank those who stood for us and prayed for us,” she said.

The rescued children were handed over by the ONSA, represented by Wing Commander Abdullahi Idi Hong, to the Governor of Niger State, Umaru Bago.