A Department of State Services (DSS) witness has told the Federal High Court in Abuja that 49 students and teachers abducted from schools in Oyo State’s Orire Local Government Area spent 56 days in captivity, enduring hunger, thirst and harsh living conditions.
The witness, identified as AAA for security reasons, testified during the trial of the alleged kidnappers. She said the victims, including very young children, were moved through six camps and forced to sleep on bare grass without shoes, while being exposed to rain and intense heat.
According to her, the attackers stormed the schools on motorcycles, shooting sporadically before taking the victims into the bush. She said the kidnappers claimed the abduction was intended to pressure the government to secure the release of members of the Ansaru group, rather than to demand ransom.
The witness also described severe deprivation during the 56-day ordeal, alleging that victims had limited access to food and water and were forced to drink dirty water. She said food supplies deteriorated from rice mixed with salt and palm oil to plain rice, while some younger children were allegedly beaten when they struggled for food.
She told the court that the victims were eventually rescued from the sixth camp after security forces engaged the kidnappers in a gun battle. Defence counsel Bala Dakum is expected to cross-examine the witness on Friday, while Justice Salim Olasupo Ibrahim ordered that the defendants remain in DSS custody throughout the trial.
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