More revelations have emerged on the driver of Apostolic Faith Group of Schools, Emure-Ekiti, Ekiti State, who was abducted last week, but never made it out from the forest.
In a now viral clip, the freed pupils and their teachers sat on the floor, looking tired as a mother lamented the condition of her child in the background.
The kidnappers, however, reportedly killed and burnt the driver of the school bus, identified as Taiwo Olugbaye, in the forest.
One of the parents of the victims revealed that members of the community and other indigenes, both home and abroad, contributed ransom that made it possible for the children to be freed.
According to the parent, the children and teachers were freed after N15 million, food, tramadol, milk and hard drinks were handed over to the abductors as ransom.
“We had challenges locating them. When we first entered the forest, we spent about two hours without seeing the kidnappers. We had to go back and forth before we saw those who asked us to bring the money. They took us into the bush that was far from where we parked the motorcycle that we took there.
“We gave them what they demanded and they released the pupils and teachers to us. Nine persons were kidnapped, but eight persons were released; we didn’t see the ninth person.
“As they collected the money, they said we should run off. I cannot say specifically the location in the forest. It is between Ondo and Ekiti states. We entered around Ago Panu along Owo-Ikare Road in Ondo State and went deep into the expansive forest.
“When they released the victims to us, I embraced my family members. I thank God for the reunion. It was one of them who said that they shot the driver dead.”
Asked why the driver was killed, the parent said: “The children told us that they (kidnappers) asked for the phone number of relatives to call from each of them in the forest.
“The driver told them he didn’t know that of his wife and school proprietor off-hand. This made them angry and they hit him with their gun.
“For five days, he was writhing in pains from the injury he sustained. On Saturday morning, he was shot dead and painfully, his body was burnt to ashes. It was a bitter and terrifying experience for the little children, especially looking at how the driver was killed.”
