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OUR FULANI CAPTORS TELL US SAY NA DRM GET NIGERIA
Gospel artiste, wey be Tosin recount Tori of horror with kidnappers dem
Dem talk say dem dey also sell body parts of some victims dem for rituals.
UPDTAED: 2 DIE, 23 RESCUE AS BUILDING COLLAPSE FOR LAGOS
Di persistent spate of insecurity for dis Nigeria has no doubt, don reach an alarming level just as e don become obvious say di country security infrastructure dey incapable of clamping di wings of rampaging terrorist dem wey dey cause havoc for di whole country of Nigeria.
From gory tales of massacre of innocent villager dem, destruction of people’s houses and sacking communities even mass kidnap of villagers and travelers dem, di Tori na di same all over Nigeria.
Di increasing intensity of di nefarious activities of unscrupulous elements wey dey terrorize dis country, don creat palpable fear for the masses as dat nobody even know when or where next di devils go strike.
As Dem Kidnap and release three days later, di Gospel artiste, wey be Sir Oluwatosin Alao wey find im voice after two years, to take relive his experience for di kidnappers den. Fact be say, Tosin as dem dey fondly called, and his band wey survive di kidnap, dem just be few out of di thousands of kidnap victims for dis country; many of dem still dey miss while odas don become mere memory.
Tosin wey come for di The Amina Atahiru Show, narrat how im traumatic trip to di kidnappers’ hole begin. “I bin dey billed as recording artiste, for one show wey bin dey hosted by one of my friends wey be like a brother to me, for Kabba, Kogi State.
We take mini bus, about nine of us. About 20 minutes to take reach di town of Kabba, we see one military check point and we think say oh, the road though a bit bumpy, we suppose dey safe. Just about 4 minutes, I notice say one Fulani man for front, wey dey by d road side. I bin dey uncomfortable small but when we don almost dey close to di man, I stop and di man con double crossed di road with one AK-47.
So, I look for my side mirror and as I dey try to reverse, three oda people come from di back.
We don dey Kabba already. We no even fit move anymore because di men dey armed with AK-47 and other weapons dem.
You know Say na me bin dey drive. So they scatter my screen and, we con surrender when dey cocked dia guns dem. So, dey con march nine of us enter bush. Later, dey allow make five people go and con take me and three odas inside di bush. Di four of dem, dia face dem paint am. One of my guys dem go back to the military check point we saw earlier, to go seek help but we no fit get any”.
Di artiste further narrate how confusion take over di music industry upon say dem kidsnap am. “Di gospel industry enter into pandemonium/confusion and agony. Di people wey bin dey host the event all of dem also dey for confusion. I spend three days for inside the forest, I think say we don already die, they tie us like animals for inside the forest around Kabba, Kogi State. This thing na di most devastating experience for me. Di bandits dem, dem no dey fear; they say na dem get di land”.
It no even dey difficult to identify say the kidnappers dem na Fulani according to Tosin, as he don live most of his life for the north. So, as Dem capture am , he start to dey beg their captors for freedom but, na severe torture all dem give all of dem. “We start to dey trek. Our first trek experience begin from dat junction of Kabba and we begin like around past 4pm and we trek till about 1am nonstop. One of my backup singers, dat one fat small, he don dey loose breath as he no fit breathe again.
He tell me say he bin wan end am for dier, as he don tire and he no fit cope again.
They warn am say dem go just kill him because he don dey delay dia journey. Dey talk am for for my presence say dem go sell im body parts say people wey go buy di body parts go come buy am and say Dem no even get anything to lose.
Dey smack me for my head with the gun each time wey I beg dem on di guy’s behalf. We just hang on faith and we even think say na di end be dat”.
Tosin bin resist di temptation to attack dia captors and he bin escape as di drummer suggest, as he reason say fit kill dem easily or dem fit catch dem as dem start to dey run because di bandits know di bush wia werey and we Wey dem capture, we no know anything atall.
We dey very surprised, when we reach Ondo bank. “Na for di same morning wey we realised say we don already trek from Kabba back to Ondo. Na dem be di ones wey even tell us say we don’t dey ondo.
These guys to Tosin’s shock, dem bin dey interact dey talk to each oda; and dem be aged 24, 26, 28 and 29. Four of them, he disclosed, dem no even live for the same state; them dey stay in Ekiti, Kaduna, Kogi and Ondo states.
“So dem tied di four of us together and one was stationed in front of us with One AK-47, one bin dey behind us, one dey inside the bush, di other was dey cooksome drugs,” he continue. “Dem dey high on drugs and dem bin dey speak dia Niger language. We interact in Hausa though as Dem no dey fluent in the language. So, my drummer con dey tell me say bros, ‘make we run’, but I say no lets dey calm that what if we run and we couldn’t make it. Thank God say we no run because we later discover say na real AK-47 with several cartridges the type wey one fit release like 10 bullets. So as them dey beat us, dem con go through our phones and ask us to call our contacts for ransom”.
Tosin release di bombshell wey confirm everyone fears on why insurgency in the country fit don endure for close to a decade. “One of the things I must say here and honestly be say, I’m no dey afraid to say it is, each time somebody call our numbers, the kidnappers go take di number, dial some network to take know who di person be. So, dat one even tell us say dem no even dey do dis on their own.
Dey no dey educated but dey know and understand watin dem dey do and this na cartel; a networking thing.
Dem dey speak to di people in communication world- in di network. “Dem bin dey tell me say all dis money dem were asking- dem bin start from 40 million until they reach 5 million on di third day, no be dem go even share the money- the military, police, communication people. Each time somebody call me, they collect the number and dem go speak to somebody in the network, to know who the person be. In fact, when they collected the 5 million cash which dem bring to them, dem tell me say dem go know if tracker dey dia, tracking the money. Na a serious thing. That na why when I hear about the Kaduna attack, my spirit go back to what me I bin go through because I know what the people are going through. Na better hell!”
“Di funniest thing be say we bin dey walk around, trek for almost about 50 hours. Each time we spent up to about 10 hours for one place, they go con move us to anoda location.
Dey get people talking to dem and dem dey monitor dia location. My five band boys wey dey left, dem go report to the military checkpoint. My elder brother na king, so he too don dey already dey connect to people. Honestly, I’m dey sorry to say this, I have no get another country but if dem kidnap for dis Nigeria, you dey on your own. It only fit take God for you to come back. Make I tell una another thing wey happened; e dey online.
After Dem release me (our release na purely a miracle), di Oba, one of di Obas for Ondo, three days after my release, dem kill am. That na di Oba of Ifon. He go for one meeting and on his way back, they shoot am dead.
“So my friends, colleagues wey dey di industry, family, my pastor, so many people, dem raise du ransom and dem transfer am to somebody for Kogi state. To my surprise, they con talk say go even rent somebody wey go carry the money because majority of people wey dey carry the money no dey come back alive; the kidnappers fit kill them. They request for only di number of di person.
So, dem no fit kidnap you without di help of military, communication. When dey take the di money, dem flip am for my presence, to know whether dem dey track di money. Dey even gave me five thousand naira and told me how to get out of di place. I asked dem how Dem go know weda di money or di person wey dey convey am dey tracked, dey talk say make I keep quiet say dia intelligence dey higher dan dat of those of us wey even go to university.
Dey con collect and confirm di money and apologise to me say no be people like me dey bin wan kidnap on that particular day; Say na me just be dia food for dat day. So, dem con give us money con explained how we fit get out of di place”.
Tosin wonder how di bandits know di road map of di whole bush, and wen he con enquire, dey tell am say dey fit treck for anywhere in ds Nigeria without even getting to express sef.
E no dey certain for how long dis guys don infiltrate and pass tru di country with di help of insiders dem, but di gospel artiste believe say dem bin dey tell am the truth. “Yes because I experience am for three days; dey pick us from Kabba, carry us go Ondo, we reach to Auchi bank, dem bring us to Kogi bank back; as we dey trek.
Each time negotiation happen for dia, dem dey talk to dis people dey tell dem di nature of di negotiation. So, e no dey ordinary! E dey very sad say the country wey I belong to, serving and playing music for over three and half decades; I don even get di opportunity to stay abroad with green card, but I couldn’t can’t, this na wia I belong. I feel green being as i be Nigerian but guess what?, all my friends dem wey dey abroad dey say boss, ‘you wan kill yourself for that country’”.
Continuing with dis sad tale of horror and hunger, Tosin say, “When we bin dey for the Bank of Ekiti, dey ask if we dey hungry because for about 28 hours, we no even see anything to eat. We dey so thirsty so tey we gats to drink water meant for dia cows. We no even get choice. Because dem dey on drugs and dem dey use juju- one jazz dem use of which with am you fit trek from here to Ibadan and the road go look say e short, so, dem no even dey tired”.
“In fact, we say our last prayer more than 30 times.
The experience no be watin i wish for an enemy. One of dem bin go market for over 5 hours because of di distance wey e trekked. He con come back with garri and palm oil, mixed am and talk say make we eat. We rush the garri”,
Di artiste recall more bad harrowing moments with the dare-devils wey he reveal, dem dey live like normal humans among us. Here are na some more surprising revelations. “Dem no dey fluent for Hausa language but I bin dey able to communicate with dem”, Tosin say, add, “Dey bin tell me say dia father dem own di land (Nigeria) and since dem no dey get watin belonged to them, dey resort to watin dem dey do (kidnapping). Dat one dey deep!
Dey say na Fulani own Nigeria, whether true or false, I just dey listen. Dey say dis place belongs to dem since 16th or 18th Century and all of a sudden, dey no dey get watin belong to them. Dey reveal say na only three jobs dem dey do; kidnapping, joining Boko Haram, and rituals. Dey said dem do rituals wen dey kidnap people and dey no fit get ransom or, somehow it go results to death. Wen dat happen, dem go cut di body parts of dem victims and sell them. Dis na why dem threatened to kill my band member and sell him body parts as I Take narrate earlier”.
Tosin wey get one daughter three months before di ugly incident still dey haunted by di traumatic experience even two years after. Di spike for di rate of terror attacks dey bring back sad memories of his ordeal for the hands of the bandits and e dey make am to believe say government don fail in terms of securing di country. “Dis tin dey on di increase. Government fit do more.
Wen Dem hold conventions nothing dey happens there. Yet dem dey kidnap people for days, weeks; remember di Chibok Girls…nowhere dey safe anymore. “Dey no fit operate smoothly without di connection of an insider wey dey di government or anywhere.
Make we no sugar-coat these things. How can dey get to di train, hold everybody hostage? Na due to lapses in terms of security; dem get cartels for our security system wey dey run dis tin because AK-47, gun no even dey licensed for Nigeria.
Di 24 year-old kidnapper wey dey amongst dem tell me say he dey stay for Ado Ekiti and he talk say he don dey learn how to shoot since di age of 12. He talk say, dem don dey take dem outside Nigeria to teach them how to dey shoot”.
For Tosin and his men dem, as dem con release dem, another set of kidnappers con come after dem. “When we reach to the express, we bin dey try to look for taxi, so we con see another band of kidnappers. Dem dey everywhere.
Dem get network everywhere, dis people I fit categorically say, dey no dey work by themselves but with di people wey dey give dem di guns; with security agents, networks.
So, as my people dem dey try to get to me, di kidnappers dem dey also get information from dia helpers. That na why we con changed location for over 6 times in three days. If you dey kidnapped and released, no be di money or your smartness because dose people dey mean and wicked. Dem get two tins at the back of dia mind- either to get di money or dem go kill you. Dem also dey very ready to lose dia lives”.
