Aminat Taiwo was one of the victims that left the hideout of the kidnappers that struck the Lagos-Ibadan expressway some days ago. In this chat the 22 year old narrated her experience in the hands of kidnappers that wore security uniforms to hide their real identities…

How did you become a victim and how can you describe the experience?

It was really a horrible experience for me. There was no traffic on the road and it was not night. We were on our way to Ibadan when we discovered that kidnappers had laid an ambush for vehicles passing around that period along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. They ordered us to lie down and started shooting sporadically.

Some people who wanted to escape were hit by bullets. It was terrible and not a good experience at all, but all thanks to God.

Three of us from our vehicle were kidnapped, the other victims were from other vehicles. Many people fell victim. Some people in their private cars were also attacked and some people escaped in the midnight when we were being taken into a deep forest.

The kidnappers were more than 30, they covered their faces. They wore soldiers and police uniforms.

They were armed to the teeth; they have guns, swords, knives and other dangerous weapons.

On our way, they asked us to lie down. They collected all our money and phones. They collected gold chains, wristwatches, and other pieces of jewellery.

We were moving in the bush for several hours; they did not give us water or food. We were licking water on leaves inside the forest.

For the two days I spent with them, we were moving around the forest, we don’t stay too long in one place before they move us to another place.

They did not have a house or anywhere to hide us. We sleep wherever the night meets us; we were sleeping inside the forest for two days. Some of us will sleep on trees, while others will sleep on the grass.