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Jennifer Iorliam, one of the two members of the group who recently gained their freedom from the criminal investigation, described their plight for seven days in captivity.
Iorliam said their captors provided them with junk food and contaminated water during the week while they were tortured and imprisoned.
Our correspondent reported that Iorliam, Joseph Aondona - another member of the force - and four others were abducted last Tuesday on their way back to the National Youth Service Corps camp in Kebbi State.
They were released on Tuesday after their captors collected N9m cash. They were boarding a bus from Benue State to Sokoto State before their vehicle was stopped in the Tsafe Local Government of Zamfara State.
Board members were to board another bus from Sokoto to Kebbi State.
During the closure of communications in many parts of Zamfara State, criminals reached out to the families of the victims, demanding N2m each.
Speaking to City Round on Thursday, Iorliam said the driver of their bus slowed down to cross potholes as the kidnappers fired into the air as they exited the forest.
“Some of them were wearing military uniforms,” he said.
They directed us to a car and took us into the woods. The driver and one of them fled. The robbers took our money and led us into the forest, where some people carried us on our motorcycles.
“They stopped at a creek and asked us to cross over. We continued on our way, going up the mountains before reaching the place where they had kidnapped other people.
There were many people there; I could not count them. That night, some people escaped. The next day, they began to choke us so that we would not escape. ”
Iorliam said that two days later, the cyclists would search for a mobile phone network, adding that after a long trek through the jungle road, the kidnappers found a canyon on the mountain and contacted their families for rescue.
He said the kidnappers returned them to the dungeon and relocated them two days later to continue negotiations over whether they would be paid over the phone.
He said, “We were once terrified when there were disagreements about the ransom. They threatened to kill us. The seven days we spent there, they gave us bread and biscuits. They gave us stagnant, muddy water. When we were sick, they gave us the same water.
“One day I had a stomach ache, and at one point I had a high fever. They boiled dirty water and made me drink it. Bad memories are still new. Even when I'm with people, they still play in my head. ”
A member of the group said he and Aondona were reassigned to Benue State for the NYSC's one-year mandatory program.