‘We were treated like cows’ — abducted Kaduna student narrates how he escaped from captivity

Mustapha Abubakar, one of the students who were abducted by bandits in Kaduna, has narrated how he escaped from captivity.

On Thursday morning, bandits invaded a primary and secondary school in Kuriga community in Chikun LGA of Kaduna and abducted 287 school children, including their teachers.

Speaking with BBC Hausa, on Monday, Abubakar said their abductors treated them like cows, adding that they were made to walk for a long distance till they got exhausted.

“We were all thirsty; some of us were exhausted and even started falling. The bandits carried those that fell on their motorcycles,” he said.

Abubakar said they later arrived at a place where there was a river. He said they drank water from the river after which they continued walking.

He further said a plane was surveilling the area, adding that the bandits instructed them to lie on the ground.

“The bandits instructed us that whoever has two shirts should remove one and lie on the ground,” he said.

“Even the bandits too were tired. They did not have food with them. They were just plucking fruits from trees. They did not give us anything to eat.

“While we were walking, I saw a bushy place which had a similar colour to my trouser and quickly hid there. I started to move in there like a snake.

“I spent some hours there waiting for the bandits to leave the area before I came out and started running.”

He said he met an old man who was walking very slowly and asked him where the nearest village or road was or where he could find water.

Abubakar noted that he kept running, even though he was feeling dizzy, he did not stop until he luckily found himself in a community called Gayan.

Uba Sani, governor of Kaduna, has assured that all the abducted school children and teachers will be rescued.