She set out to collect the certificate that would seal her academic journey. Instead, Temitope Akinwale, then 25, now 33, found herself fighting for survival in a swampy forest, blindfolded, terrified, and praying through four days of captivity, as she recounts her traumatising ordeal to JKNewsMedia Reporter, HELEN OKECHUKWU.
FAINT TRACES of relief coloured the voice of Temitope Akinwale as she revisited the journey she took eight years ago. It was a trip intended to close one academic chapter, rather it left an imprint she continues to navigate.
Sadly, the wave of kidnapping stories across the country has done nothing to soften the painful memories she still carries.
Narrating her agonies to JKNewsMedia reporter, Akinwale, said that she had completed her studies for a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Biochemistry at Adekunle Ajasin University (AAU), Akungba, and awaited certification in 2017.
Her institution had required her original West African Examinations Council (WAEC) certificate for final clearance. So, she set out from Lagos, where she lived with her aunt, to Omoku in Rivers State to retrieve the crucial document.
Her expectation was simple: travel, collect the certificate, and return to Lagos to complete the final step of her academic process.
She said the decision to travel came naturally at the time. “I had just graduated from school. The sole reason I travelled at that time was because the school requested the original WAEC results,” she explained further.
The trip appeared straightforward and routine, and she boarded a commercial bus from Lagos to Bayelsa State with the assumption that she would arrive safely and continue her journey into Rivers State before evening.
When she reached Bayelsa, she boarded another commercial vehicle, expecting a short continuation of the trip.
The vehicle moved slowly, a delay that stretched into the late afternoon and forced her to alight at Ahoada, a bustling Rivers State town, a little after 4.00pm.
She described the pace of the journey as slow enough to disrupt the timing she had planned.
With daylight fading, she sought a quicker alternative to complete the remaining stretch to Omoku.
Quickly, she joined a private vehicle shared with two other travellers. Her plan was simply to get to her cousin’s area before nightfall.
While updating her family about her movement, she noticed the road growing quieter as they moved further from the busy areas. That silence shifted abruptly.
Gunshots pierced the air around a community located between Ede and Omoku in the Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area.
She said her first thought was that it might be a robbery. But then, the men who shot at the vehicle told the occupants to come down and hand over their belongings. She described seeing multiple armed men, swiftly sensing that the situation exceeded a robbery.
“They stopped us with gunshots. It was not one person. It was not two. I think there were about five. They asked us to calm down. I initially thought it was just rob and go. We came down,” she said.
The armed men collected their phones before ordering them back into the vehicle, placing her and the other two passengers in the middle while the men held positions on both sides of them. It became clear that she was being taken away from the main road.
She maintained that her mind fixed on survival rather than clarity about what awaited them. She said she did not anticipate being kidnapped during the trip.
The abductors then transported them through different terrains. She recalled being moved across long distances, first by vehicle, then on foot, and eventually by water.
The movements happened on the same night.
She remembered the darkness, the hurried pace, and the blindfold they placed over her face that prevented her from seeing where she was being taken.
“Before we got to the bush, we drove, we trekked, and then we went on water. All on the same night. And the condition – I can’t really give details of the condition of the bush because we were blindfolded,” she said.
During the trek, she attempted to lift the blindfold slightly to understand her surroundings. She succeeded briefly and saw a swampy landscape with thick vegetation.
The timing, I think, was around 8.30pm when she made the effort. She said the environment was difficult to describe beyond the density of the bush, as the blindfold remained on for most of the journey.
Scarier was the fact that she was the only woman among the victims.
She said she also noted that the abductors treated her differently from the men.
They gave her items to reduce the harshness of the environment even though she was beaten briefly during interrogation.
She said the abductors questioned her on the first night and again on the last day before they instructed her to contact her family.
She explained that the beating appeared intended to make her respond quickly to their demands.
“It’s not like they did not beat me at some point. They did that the first night when they were questioning me and then the last day when they wanted me to contact my family. They hit me. I think they hit me so that I would be sensible or something, but I was the only one they gave a flex to lay on. I was also the only one they gave a cardigan. I was the only one they told to come sit close to the fire,” she said.
Despite this, she said she viewed the entire experience as distressing because she did not know what would happen next.
Akinwale also recounted hearing drilling sounds coming from a boat when they were moved across water.
She also recalled a comment made by one of the abductors that intensified her fear.
She said the remark involved a threat of being killed. Her concern shifted from her own suffering to the reaction of her family if the situation deteriorated.
“I became very afraid; wondering how it was going to make her feel? How she was going to handle everything. And then my brother, too,” she said of her mother and sibling. The fears were just too unsettling,” she said.
During her four days in captivity, she said she prayed more consistently and fervently.
“That was the only action that could control my emotions and kept me stable and calm at that moment and in that scenario,” she stressed.
She also told jknewsmedia.com that she believed her family was also praying given the fact that not hearing from her for a few days must have gotten them worried sick too.
She described her face as trembling while she prayed, but she continued because she could not think of any other action that could help her endure the situation.
“I prayed. I knew that back home they were praying as well. I was afraid… I sensed my face was shaking, but I kept praying. That was all I could do. I was crying and praying,” she said.
Then, the outcome of the situation changed when rescue came.
She said she learned later that the two men taken alongside her were soldiers, although the abductors were unaware of this. She said she did not know how the information about their abduction reached the military.
What followed was a coordinated operation targeting two separate camps operated by the kidnappers. The rescue exercise led to the liberation of her group and others who had been abducted earlier.
She described hearing intense gunfire during the operation.
“Remember, we were blindfolded, so I could just hear. But, the scenario was raining bullets. There was heated exchange with droplets of bullets everywhere,” she said.
However, the rescue team succeeded in securing the area, and someone removed my blindfold when the confrontation subsided. Seeing the military personnel brought immediate tears with a huge sense of relief.
“The relief really felt overwhelming because I did not expect rescue so fast like that. I had imagined how long I may be in such a place.
“For me, it was very far. I did not believe that they could come to our rescue. That was just God,” she said.
After her release, she said she stayed in the barracks for about a week before returning home.
The days after rescue brought a considerable number of visitors who came to check on her, including people she did not know personally or never met before.
She also explained that many in the community were moved to support her because of what she went through. Not just friends but even neighbours, relatives, and strangers reached out to me. Their presence, she said, contributed to her recovery.
Battling Trauma
Akinwale said, the trauma did not end with her rescue.
“I experienced acute emotional discomfort for months, especially whenever I heard loud noises or sudden sounds.”
These noises triggered memories of the abduction.
In fact, she explained that she remained fearful even in safe environments until the feelings gradually eased with time.
I then because a sudden counselor. I would encourage anyone recovering from trauma to surround themselves with supportive people and said that healing varies from person-to-person.
She maintained that her four-day experience required a long adjustment period.
“Some people might even get traumatised after just a day of an horrific experience as it happend to me,” she said, noting that “recovery is not uniform.
Though it’s been eight years after, she said she still remembers all the events clearly, as though they occurred a few days ago.
The details remained vivid despite the years that have passed since 2017.
Call for Improved Security In The Country
She said her reflections extend beyond her individual experience to a broader call for improved security.
Akinwale then began to highlight the importance of avoiding travel at night and taking precautions, particularly on inter-state routes.
She also advocated for stronger security measures which could prevent similar incidents and reduce the risk others face on Nigerian roads.
She said she believed that the presence of a familiar companion might have influenced her decision to continue travelling that day and possibly altered the course of events.
Timeline of Nigeria And Insecurity Nags
However, her experience sits within a wider context of insecurity in Nigeria.
Over the years, the country has faced rising incidents of kidnapping across multiple regions despite government assurances.
According to the European Union Agency for Asylum, insurgency by Boko Haram affected about 15 million people when it began in 2009, with consequences that have continued through widespread abductions and violence.
Kidnapping incidents have also recently included travellers, schoolchildren, and community members in different parts of the country.
Data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics’ Crime Experience and Security Perception (NBSCESP) Report 2024 indicated that over 2.23 million kidnapping incidents had been recorded, with 63.5% occurring in the North-West geopolitical zone.
During a one-year period examined in the report, ransom payments amounting to N2.2 trillion were made.
Several high-profile abductions have also taken place over the years, including the abduction of 276 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State in 2014, with majority of them haven grown older and remaining in captivity till today.
The last few days abduction of 25 students from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, and have been released uniting with their parents, add to the scary records of unrest in the country.
Additionally, on November 20, more than 30 members of Christ Apostolic Church, Oke Isegun in Eruku, Kwara State, were kidnapped, and three individuals were reported dead. But they have also been rescured and reunited with their families.
However, unconfirmed reports indicated that a ransom of N100 million per victim was demanded.
Back to Akinwale, she said her four days experience in the captors’ den reinforced her belief that improved security and vigilance are essential to all Nigerian populaces.
She also maintained that better community awareness and increased security presence could help reduce such risks.
As she wraps up on the discourse, Akinwale added that her journey that day might have turned out different if circumstances had allowed her to postpone the trip or travel with someone familiar or even travel another day.
Yet, with that four-day experience, she emphasised that caution, informed decision-making, and government intervention are necessary to address the issue of kidnapping in Nigeria.
