Some of the recently released students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, have narrated how they were subjected to physical torture without a bath for 56 days in captivity.
Speaking to newsmen, one of the students, Zakariya Magaji noted that it was an experience she does not wish for her enemy.
According to her, “the bandits need prayers. All that we have to do is pray for them for God to touch their hear hearts. As for me, I have forgiven them for whatever I went through in their hands. The experience was hell.
Another student, Sarah Sunday said that she and her colleagues were subjected to all manner of torture, dehumanising conditions and were not even allowed to take a bath while in the kidnappers’ den.
In her words, “A lot of things happened while we were there. We were subjected to hunger. We were subjected to trekking and all sorts of dehumanising experiences. We were insulted but thankfully, they did not molest or kill any of us. They only beat us on the first day when they did a video of us.
On their feeding routine, Sarah said that, “The boys used to go and fetch water for us to cook. We cooked tuwo with Miyan kuka and tuwo with dry okro. We only cooked rice once and we cooked spaghetti once too.
Speaking on whether the kidnappers used to leave them to go for other operations, she said “Yes, they used to go out but they always left some of their armed members to say with us.
“Even our male colleagues who used to go and fetch water were always escorted to the stream by gang members bearing AK-47 rifles.
“Our living condition in the jungle was very bad. We never had a bath. We were exposed to the rain. Although there was a hut that we always ran to hide whenever it was raining, still there was no escaping the rain because the hut was poorly built. But we have forgiven our kidnappers. And we pray that God will give them the chance to change for the better.”
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