Mr Zacheaus Olatunde, one of the seven teachers rescued after spending 56 days in captivity following their abduction by terrorists from their school in Ori Ire Local Government Area of Oyo State, has opened up on the ordeal he and other hostages, including dozens of schoolchildren, endured while being held by the terrorists.
Speaking with journalists, he disclosed that their abductors prohibited Christian prayers among the captives.
“They warned us never to pray or call on Jesus. Whenever they caught us praying, they beat us mercilessly,” Olatunde disclosed.
He spoke the same day that the Nigerian government filed 10 terrorism charges against three men over the 15 May abduction of pupils and teachers from schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.
The three suspects named as defendants in the charges filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday are Abdulrazak Umar (also known as Abu Khalifa/Abu Khalid), Yunusa Musa (also known as Yunusa bin Musa) and Shamsu Adamu Sani (also known as Abu Itisar).
The charges, filed by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, include terrorism, conspiracy, aiding kidnapping, and concealment of terrorist activities.
The defendants’ other alleged offences are membership of a proscribed terrorist organisation, incitement to terrorism, provision of terrorist training, cyber-related offences and unlawful mining.
The prosecution alleged that the trio all from Suleja Local Government Area of Niger State, conspired with Muhammad Sani, Jibril Mohammed and Ibrahim Khabab, who are said to be at large, to kidnap the pupils and teachers between January and May.
Narrating the moment the attackers struck, the rescued teacher narrated that the assault began with the sound of motorcycles before gunfire erupted. “So what we just heard, we just heard the movement of a bike. Immediately we heard a shot of guns. They were shooting things sporadically,” he said, adding that panicked students began shouting warnings as the attack unfolded: “Our students, the voice we were hearing from our students, they were saying, bandits, bandits, bandits, bandits.”
The teacher, while recounting life inside the terrorists’ camp, detailed how two of his colleagues – Mr Michael Oyedokun and Deacon John Olaleye, lost their lives under brutal circumstances.
According to him, the kidnappers had laid down strict rules from the very first day they arrived in the forest. One of the first instructions was that every captive must surrender all mobile phones.
Everyone appeared to comply. Unknown to the others, however, Mr Michael Oyedokun still had a phone in his pocket.
“The terrorist sitting with him on the motorcycle discovered the phone and immediately questioned him,” Olatunde recalled. “When Michael explained, the man slapped him. Their General Commander heard about it and became furious.”
The commander reportedly declared that such disobedience could not go unpunished.
According to Olatunde, the terrorists had two leaders – a General Commander and a Camp Commander. The General Commander allegedly announced before everyone that if no one else would be killed for violating his orders, Michael would pay with his life.
The following day, the threat was carried out.
“We heard him crying and begging as they dragged him away,” Olatunde said quietly.
“His voice was very loud at first… then suddenly, everywhere became silent.”
Moments later, one of the younger terrorists whom he estimated to be about 17 or 18 years old, returned dancing and singing in celebration of the killing.
The horror did not end there.
Weeks later, on June 7, another teacher, Deacon John Olaleye, was also taken away and killed
“Mr John Olaleye was murdered on June 7. They killed him because they said they have warned that military men should not move closer.
“They never killed them in our presence. They would take them away to another location. We only heard their cries before everything became quiet.”
Life inside the camp, according to him, was a daily struggle for survival.
The adult male captives were kept inside makeshift tents, their hands handcuffed and their legs chained for virtually the entire period of captivity. Their eyes were often blindfolded, while even basic human needs depended on the permission of their captors.
“If we wanted to urinate or defecate, we had to beg them,” he recalled.
The terrorists rarely stayed in one place, moving the captives from one forest location to another to avoid detection by security forces. Adult captives, he said, often bore the punishment for mistakes committed by frightened children.
“Sometimes they struck us with their guns. If any of the children did something they didn’t like, it was the adults who suffered.”
Food was barely enough to sustain life.
Most days, the captives survived on plain rice or rice mixed only with palm oil, without pepper or salt.
Occasionally, the terrorists hunted wild animals, including deer and grasscutter, which were shared among the captives.
Religion also became another instrument of intimidation.
According to Olatunde, the terrorists were meticulous about observing their own prayers and Qur’anic recitations, never missing the prescribed times of worship.
Ironically, they prohibited Christian prayers among the captives.
“They warned us never to pray or call on Jesus. Whenever they caught us praying, they beat us mercilessly,” he said.
Perhaps one of the most revealing aspects of his testimony was the kidnappers’ claim that money was not their primary objective.
“They kept telling us they were not interested in ransom,” Olatunde said. “Their demand was that members of their group who had been arrested should be released.”
Eventually, events appeared to shift in the captives’ favour.
According to him, the kidnappers became noticeably less hostile after learning that some of their own family members had been arrested during security operations.
“Their attitude changed after that,” he said. “They treated us better than before.”
Then came the unexpected announcement that would end the two months of hell and horror.
“They told us to prepare because we were going home.”
The terrorists reportedly directed the captives along a particular route, telling them they would cross two streams before meeting soldiers waiting to receive them. By then, many of the children were too weak to walk unaided.
“I carried almost all the little children across the streams because they had become very weak,” Olatunde said.
Shortly afterwards, they encountered security personnel who escorted them to safety, bringing an end to one of the most traumatic experiences of their lives.
Back in Ibadan, he recalled, military officers showed him photographs of suspected kidnappers. He said he was able to identify one of them and was informed that several members of the gang had already been arrested while others had been neutralised during security operations.
