After the gruesome m*rder of the Olukoro of Koro in the Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State, General Segun Aremu (rtd), one of the kidnapped victims, 83-year-old Pa Adeyemi Simon Aremu, has been released by the kidnappers.
The monarch was brutally k!lled during a violent invasion of his palace two days ago, a situation that has left the community in grief and panic.
Pa Aremu, who found himself among those abducted in the chaotic aftermath of the attack, shared his harrowing experience with journalists.
According to him, after the assailants killed the monarch, they forcibly took him along with the late king’s wife and two other residents of the town into the dense forest, where they were subjected to a terrifying journey under constant threat of violence.
He said, “The kidnappers moved us quickly into the forest, firing shots sporadically to scare off any potential rescuers.”
Despite his advanced age and the fear instilled by the ordeal, he was eventually released by the kidnappers, who continue to hold the other hostages.
Recounting his ordeal, Pa Aremu, a retired pastor, said, “I was having my dinner when suddenly 6 armed men entered my house and ordered me to follow them. It was while they were taking me away that they saw Olori under an Orange tree where she hid alongside a girl called Feranmi. They dragged the three of us inside the forest, shooting heavily in the process.
“It was a terrible and frightening situation for us. When I lost the energy to run, they began to drag me on the ground until we got to a spot where they ordered all of us to lie down facing the ground. Then, one of them told me to stand up and go back home. But I was afraid and my heart was literally in my mouth because I thought they would shoot me from behind while going.
“I think they saw that I was weak and my health status may cause them a setback on the way which made them release me.
“It was when I got home that I saw the crowd at the palace that they had k!lled the monarch who was met in the pool of his blood.”