A SURVIVOR of the May 15, 2026, abduction, Mr. Zacheaus Olatunde, has recounted the harrowing 56-day ordeal in the hands of terrorists, revealing how two of his colleagues, Mr. Michael Oyedokun and Deacon John Olaleye, were killed while in captivity.
Speaking about the incident, Olatunde said the terrorists accused Oyedokun of disobeying their orders after allegedly discovering a mobile phone in his pocket shortly after the victims were taken into the forest.
According to him, the kidnappers had instructed all captives to surrender their phones, and everyone appeared to comply. However, one of the terrorists riding on a motorcycle with Oyedokun reportedly found a phone in his pocket, leading to an altercation.
“The terrorist slapped him immediately after discovering the phone. When their General Commander was informed, he became furious and declared that someone had to be killed for disobeying his order,” Olatunde recalled.
He said the kidnappers operated under two leaders, a General Commander and a Camp Commander, and that the General Commander allegedly ordered Oyedokun’s execution.
Olatunde said Oyedokun was taken away the following day and killed at a different location.
“We heard him crying and begging as they dragged him away. His voice gradually faded until there was silence,” he said, adding that a teenage terrorist later celebrated the killing by singing and dancing.
He also recounted that Deacon John Olaleye was killed on June 7 after the terrorists accused security forces of moving too close to their hideout despite previous warnings.
“They never killed anyone in our presence. They always took the victims to another location. We only heard the cries,” he said.
Describing their conditions in captivity, Olatunde said the victims were kept inside tents, chained and handcuffed throughout the 56 days, while their eyes were blindfolded. They were only allowed to relieve themselves after seeking permission from their captors.
He said the terrorists frequently moved them from one location to another and often assaulted them with gun butts. According to him, the adult captives were also punished whenever the children committed any offence.
Olatunde said the kidnappers strictly observed their daily prayers and Qur’an recitations without fail. He added that they prohibited the Christian captives from praying or mentioning the name of Jesus, warning that anyone caught praying would be severely beaten.
According to him, the terrorists repeatedly claimed that their objective was not to collect ransom but to secure the release of their associates who had been arrested by security agencies.
On how they eventually regained freedom, Olatunde said the terrorists voluntarily released them after informing the captives that security forces had detained some of their family members.
“They told us to leave so that their families could also regain their freedom. They directed us on the route to follow and said that after crossing two streams, we would meet soldiers waiting for us,” he said.
Olatunde said many of the children were too weak to walk after weeks in captivity, forcing him to carry several of them across the streams until they reached security personnel.
He described the food provided in captivity as mainly plain rice, sometimes mixed with red oil but without pepper or salt. On one occasion, he said, the kidnappers killed a deer and a grasscutter to feed the captives.
According to him, the terrorists became noticeably less brutal after Deacon Olaleye’s death and after learning that some of their own family members had been arrested by soldiers.
He further disclosed that before their release, the terrorists offered them an opportunity to bathe, but the captives declined because they were eager to leave the forest immediately.
After arriving in Ibadan, Olatunde said military officers showed him photographs of suspected terrorists, and he was able to identify one of his captors. He added that security officials informed the survivors that eight suspected terrorists had been arrested while others had been neutralised.
Reflecting on the experience, Olatunde expressed gratitude for surviving the ordeal but said the survivors remain deeply saddened that Mr. Michael Oyedokun and Deacon John Olaleye did not return alive.
Culled from: TheInsightLensProject.com.
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