By: Alex Enemana / Patience Aliede
The spate of kidnappings across the length and breadth of Nigeria appear to have traversed all sectors. Surviving victims, irrespective of status, have been left with agonizing tales of woe planted by their daredevil abductors.
Mr. Odekanle Ebenezer Olayinka, a veteran exploration geologist, member of both Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society, (NMGS) and Council of Nigerian Mining Engineers and Geoscientists, (COMEG). He holds a PGD in Mineral Exploration from Nigerian Institute of Mining and Geosciences, (NIMG) – Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria. He has over 15yrs experience in mineral exploration for base, precious metals and gemstones. Olayinka, who has worked in good capacity as an exploration geologist to the proposed modern gold mines to be sited in the south-western part of Nigeria, was one such unlucky victim. In this enthralling piece, he recounts his experience to The Rock Post Magazine:
Exactly a year ago yesterday, on the 4th day of February 2020, I arrived at a potential gemstone mining site within Babaelegan village by Obada Idi-emi, a boundary between Ogun State and Fedegbo – Igbo Ora, Oyo state, to commence exploration for Tourmaline, Beryl and Garnet, which are highly valuable and sought after gemstones. Rock surface geologic signatures well abound within the zone. My advance team had made landfall earlier and all that’s left was the commencement of the exercise. But fate had an egregious surprise in waiting.
I had taken a walk in company of the manager within the tenement’s periphery to observe some activity of illegal miners. As I advanced toward an excavator positioned at one far end of the property, I sensed rather than felt an unusual eerie calm descend upon the entire location and shortly afterward noticed a couple of strange looking men in the semblance of Civil Defence bluish-black fatigue uniforms, materialize from out of the blues. Seconds on, more bodies emerged from the woods to join the leaders. Their appearance took me completely by surprise but I managed to get over the shock and kept my cool. At the head of the group was this rangy, skinny fellow with rubbery skin. A burning cigarette was stuck between his lips. He carried himself with an air of authority and was clearly the leader. Skinny was flanked by about eight or nine other fierce-looking members, all unsmiling and bearing arms. The gang advanced menacingly towards us, closing up the distance. I attempted extending pleasantries, but observed that we were being systematically cordoned.
Inwardly, I was in a quandary. More than once had I tried to process the unfolding strange event but ended up drawing blanks. There wasn’t enough time to think. As we met, I just heard myself making a half-hearted self-introduction, an action sparked largely by reflex. But my gesture was immediately countered with a barrage of hostile questions: “Who are you? Where is manager? Who owns the company?”
At this point, instincts told me that calamity had located us! My instincts hardly fail me. Courteously, I launched into a laborious explanation of the nature of our activity. “We are not engaged in any illegality here sir. We possess valid documentation to conduct exploration within this title. I am a Geologist.”
“Who asking you questions?,” responded Skinny in anger.
“We are licensed to operate here sir,” I persisted in an effort to convince him we were legitimate. Without further ado, Skinny went on to express his essence in an accentuated and didactic semantic that gave away his stock: “We are armi robbers and kidinappers. So, be careful of yourself here”. Good God almighty, I thought, we had fallen into the hands of the dreaded criminal herders! Stricken to the marrows with fear and foreboding, it dawned on me that we were at the throes of abduction. With an AK 47 Riffle menacingly lined on us, we were ordered to move! We started moving slowly due west, or was it north? I couldn’t tell, at that point.
Moments later, Skinny cautiously demanded to know who among the petrified support staff was a security personnel. “None”, I had quickly asserted, because I’d overheard them at conversation in Hausa coldly threaten to kill whoever we had along that bore firearm.
Thereafter, we were ordered into a straight line formation. Braving the odds, I courageously pleaded to be substituted for the support staff as they had no one to negotiate their rescue. Luckily, Skinny acceded to my request by releasing everybody else except myself and the manager of the company.
And then began the arduous, unpredictable sojourn to nowhere!
By rough estimation, we trekked for about 8 hours nonstop through the thick forest. We were only ordered to halt for a breather after the first four hours of exhaustive walk. I took advantage of the break to jokingly remind Skinny I was a Geologist and by default already trained for such tasking odyssey. If I’d previously harboured any doubts over the gang’s ethnic grouping, his response removed it all. “We are Fulanis,” he volunteers proudly on the strength of the tribe’s trekking prowess. “You go one kilo, we go fifty kilo,” he adds, implicit of trekking being a pastoralist & customary pastime. The man was gradually warming up to me, opening up a bit. It gave me an advantage, however small. “I can trek more than you”, I had jokingly challenged, aiming to befriend them to deflect the possibility of violence and God forbid it, casualty. Skinny showed no signs of affront by my challenge but gave no response all the same.
Apparently, they had expeditiously mapped out their operational routes with the aid of their mastery of the jungle terrain. We waddled through familiar villages, hills, thickets and rock formations. I was able to glean this much from my professional familiarization with the vicinity all the way to Benin Republic. In the course of the never-ending trek and just to keep my mind active, I would conjure up a mental configuration of our possible location each time we struck a new station. It felt like we were traveling blindfolded, the blindfolds taken off temporarily only when we arrive at a new location. This way, a familiar location doesn’t look any more familiar. Unless you had keen memory with landmarks.
The next phase of the journey commenced after that exchange. We had arrived at the final destination after embarking on further marathon, spanning an estimated distance of another four hours. Myself and the other abductee were tied up to forestall escape. At this point in time, we were famished and exhaustingly dehydrated from long hours of trekking. We remained in this condition all through the following day – no food, no water: nothing! The situation was dire. A burning desire for survival kept us going. We were basically clawing on straws, hoping for a small amount of lady luck…. And a miracle.
It was in the early hours of the third day that Skinny demanded to know if we required anything to eat or drink. I settled for water. We were promptly served. Shortly, it was revealed they intended to cook rice. We said okay. To our amazement, cooking utensils suddenly emerged, hinting this was probably their fixed waypoint. Eventually, with cooking concluded, food was served which we hungrily ate.
We had barely rested two minutes when the moment of truth arrived. Skinny stepped forward, standing prominent among the gathering. “I hab already told you we are Kidinappers. We need money”, he announces matter-of-factly, confidently. “We call your peepu now, you tell them bring money.” A ransom of #150m was placed on both of us: #100m on me, being the geologist and 50 on the company manager.
They had carefully perused the manager’s phone and checked his banking transaction history, finding nothing close to the unrealistic figure they are demanding. The entire crew was gutted by the discovery. Skinny had flown into a rage. In the heat of it, he threatened to kill the both of us should there be foul play or delay in payment. I pleaded he spares our lives and allow us time to establish contact with our families and friends, or anyone who may assist with putting the ransom together.
Skinny suggested I instruct that my car be disposed along with other valuables to save their time, and ours. Telephone contacts were then initiated at that period informing family and friends about our predicaments. We went into a waiting period while efforts were on to secure funds for our release.
On the fifth day, an argument ensued among the gang over a location in Adamawa State known as “Ganye”. The point of disagreement was its labyrinthine roads and access routes. This was an opportunity for exerting my relevance especially having established a certain degree of rapport with them. So, I barged into the debate uninvited. What I offered them, to their amazement, was a graphic and picturesque blow by blow layout of Ganye. Skinny was clearly impressed. This was the table-turner for us, leading to a deluge of further inquisitions. “So you really know the place?”
“Yes I do”.
“What minerals are found there?” enquired another.
“Copper”. They asked about its colour and I told them, ‘green’.
The gang turned restive when I told about one small chief of the town, and his three wives. For an uncertain moment, I thought I had spoken out of turn and expected Skinny to unleash one of his boys on me. But nothing happened, much to my relief. They already have the information anyway. But I told myself that going forward I was only going to respond to what I was asked. They quizzed me over Kareem Lamido, another town in Taraba state. Again, to their bafflement, I gave an uncanny description of the town. At this point, gut feeling told me the gang must have either once resided in Kareem Lamido or conducted their nefarious business around its neighbourhoods.
“You have travel a lot”, Skinny finally conceded.
The discussion swung back to the reason we were being held. “How much you pay us?”
“3million”, I returned.
“No! 3 million small”.
I improved the ransom to #3.5m, which sparked another round of argument among them. Some agreed my offer was reasonable but insisted my colleague with nothing to offer be killed.
“No, no please”, I pleaded in desperation along with the intended victim. “The negotiation is for both of us. This man was invited from Lagos for supervision. He knows nothing. Please!” Thankfully, the gang heeded my plea.
I wasn’t inhumanely treated by my abductors as the acquaintanceship I had struck up with them played a pivotal cushioning role. Even the day ransom was delivered, I was responsible for suggesting a shorter route, which further endeared me to the gang.
It is noteworthy that in the course of relocating from one place to another within the forest, the gang’s cohorts in town fed them with intelligence information regarding movement of hunters and rescuers on their trail. It was an organized crime, well-orchestrated and professionally executed. In the end, #5m was mutually agreed upon, which was swiftly dispatched to the abductors.
Ironically, Skinny had called me aside before the gang’s final departure to tender apology on behalf of his boys for the crime committed. I had a gambit of my own to deal him too. So, in return, I had told him: “I desire to continue my exploration work here. Based on what had transpired here sir, is it safe for me to go ahead with my business or do I demobilize to avoid another kidnap saga?”
“Don’t go”, he replies me instantly, confidently. “Go ahead with your work. If any group kidnap you again, tell them it is Blacky”.
Well there it was at last. He operates under an alias. I wouldn’t be surprised. All infamous characters do. I called him Skinny and he comes at me with Blacky. He was skinny all right, but not dark hued. It doesn’t check out on that score. Blacky had also let on that his gang ruled the forest. In his own words: “All the groups know Blacky. They will call via phone to confirm the validity of your claim and I will order your release. You are covered from here on”. He further volunteered a snippet of their modus operandi, saying before kidnapping a victim, the gang normally laid siege for at least five days, studying the area and the victim’s routine.
In the wake of this harrowing experience, Olanyinka had adopted the services of a retinue of armed security men for his field assignments. Though expensive to maintain, every kobo spent on the venture is well worth it, and he is grateful to God to be alive to tell his story. However, Olayinka is afraid that insecurity may continue to scare away potential investors, which exerts an adverse effect on the Nigerian economy unless proactive measures are urgently instituted.
Olayinka observes: “I have not seen any seriousness on the part of the Government to end this menace because if they were serious, kidnappings would have ended long ago. Various regions should be empowered to seek solutions to their peculiar problems. If my Yoruba brother dare not kidnap me in my home State, why would a criminal Fulani man come around to do so? I see this as a case of brazen home invasion. It’s not acceptable. I am yet to hear of a Fulani individual getting kidnapped here. I support the idea of Amotekun. Let them enter into all these forests from where these criminal elements operate and flush them out to secure their people. It’s obvious the Government is not doing much in this regard, so regions should do whatever it takes within their capacity to secure their territories.”
