Bandits moved students like ‘herd of cows’, escaped Kaduna pupil recounts ordeal

Mustapha Abubakar, one of the abducted students from Kuriga in Kaduna State’s Chikun Local Government Area who escaped, has described his horror at the hands of their captors, claiming that he hid under a shrub like a snake as the bandits relocated them and departed.

Abubakar was one of the about 280 pupils kidnapped, but he and 27 others were allowed to return to their homes.

It was alleged that the kidnapped children, both male and female, ranged in age from 5 to 18.

In an interview with the BBC Hausa monitored in Kaduna on Monday, Mustapha Abubakar said that the robbers moved the children like a herd of cattle.

“We trekked in the bush; sometimes we crawled. We were so thirsty that some of the girls were becoming weak and falling down due to tiredness. The bandits were lifting them up and putting some of them on motorcycles.”

“Afterwards, we reached a big river, where we drank water and continued trekking. There was a plane that hovered above us. That was when the bandits ordered us to remove one of our clothes and lie down.”

“Even the bandits were exhausted. They had no food and were eating leaves and wild fruits. They gave us nothing to eat.”

“While we were moving, I noticed a shrub that was brown in colour, like my trouser. I hid inside and crawled like a snake. I was there until it was completely silent before I came out and headed to the bush.”

“I later met an old man who had difficulty walking. I asked him the pathway to the main road or any close place so that I could get water to drink.”

“I had a marathon race. I was exhausted, but I pushed on, as evening time was approaching. I later arrived at Gayan, a community near us, and that was how I eventually escaped,” he said.