An Ondo graduate has shared his harrowing experience after spending 40 days in captivity following his abduction on his family’s farm in Kogi State, despite 15 security personnel being stationed there.

In an interview with Punch Newspaper, he said he never saw it coming because an army base was situated close to the farm’s entrance.

He recalled riding his motorcycle into the farm one morning when he noticed their tractor was parked in the wrong direction. As he moved closer to check, armed men surrounded him and threatened to shoot.

He gave himself up and later realised that three other victims and his tractor operator had also been seized. The operator had reportedly been shot in the arm.

The kidnappers led the five of them into the forest, where they suffered beatings, torture, hunger and nights sleeping on bare ground. They survived on roasted maize, yam taken from farms and river water.

On the fifth day, the kidnappers reached out to their families to demand ransom. By the eighth day, they asked for ₦15 million for his release. However, his tractor operator was killed after his family could not raise the ransom.

After 22 days, he was handed over to another group that demanded a further ₦55 million.

His mother eventually raised ₦2 million, which the kidnappers accepted on the 40th day.

In a dramatic twist, an errand boy who cooked for the captives reportedly got ₦15,000 from the ransom before abandoning the kidnappers and leaving behind the key to their handcuffs.

The captives seized the chance to free themselves and escape. After trekking through the forest for three days, they arrived at Isanlu-Esa, where they found an army base.

Looking back on the aftermath, the man revealed that his family had been forced to borrow money and now lives in an uncompleted building because of the ordeal.