Gory details of how abducted Nigerians are treated by bandits are emerging with the brother to the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Rev. Fr. Matthew Kukah, Ishaya, and a deputy director at the National Assembly, Adesanya Michael recounting their ordeals to journalists in Abuja.
Michael watched his wife killed in his presence.
They spoke when the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, and the Minister of Defence, Badaru Abubakar, handed over 60 rescued victims to their families in Abuja on Tuesday, April 8, 2025.
Both men had given up hope of rescue before troops stormed their location and freed them.
Their ordeals brings to the fore the plight of many others, including Leah Sharibu and many others held in captivity for years. Some have become mothers in the process, others like Alice Ngaddah have managed to escape, while others have faded from the memory of Nigerians. Many are said to be held by terrorists in Sambisa Forest and the islands of Lake Chad in Borno State, without any hope of escape.
Ishaya said: “Frankly speaking, I had already given up. I didn’t think I would come out alive because of how they were treating us in the bush.
“We suffered too much. They used to chain us in twos. If you wanted to defecate or urinate, you had to move together.”
He added that the victims were pressured into agreeing to ransom demands due to the torture they faced.
“If they noticed you are reluctant, they will beat or even kill you.
“If not for the federal government, we would still be in the bush. Thank you for what you have done. God bless you,” Ishaya Kukah added.
Michael, a Deputy Director at the National Assembly Commission, who was abducted from his residence in the Kubwa area of Abuja, called for a non-combative approach to tackling banditry in Nigeria.
Michael said the bandits, mostly aged between 17 and 21, were stark illiterates and victims of circumstance.
He stated: “I was chained for 32 days. Most of them can’t even count up to a million. They don’t know what they’re doing.
“Instead of killing them, the government should arrest, educate, and rehabilitate them. Some of them want to learn trades. They can still be useful.”
Michael, who was kidnapped on January 26 and released on April 7, recounted how his wife was killed in his presence.
He said: “When they kill someone in front of you, you will give them anything they want.
“They killed my wife before me. In that moment, if they asked for my head, I would have given it.”
