Victor Akinkuolie, Ado-Ekiti

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After four days in the den of his captors, Mr Jide Ijadare, a former officer of the kidnaped United States Army and a native of Ijan Ekiti, has recounted his ordeals in the hands of his abductors.
Ijadare, was kidnapped at about 2.05pm last Tuesday and released four days later.
The victim currently, recuperating in a private hospital in Ado-Ekiti, told our correspondent that he was in his palm oil producing factory alongside his staff on the fateful day.
According to him, some group of boys whom he said he could not identify suddenly emerged from a tinted Siena bus and started shooting sporadically, during which one of his staff was killed.
He said he was grabbed and dragged into the waiting bus and whisked away to an unknown destination where he spent four days with the abductors before he was released.
The trumatised retired US military officer said his family paid ransom which he declined to disclose as at the time of filing this report.
It would be recall that a source close to the family in Ijan-Ekiti had earlier revealed that the abductors had contacted the family after the kidnapping and demanded N20 million ransom before it later reduced to N15 million.
“After due consultation between the kidnappers and my family, I was released this afternoon around 4.15pm and I immediately proceeded to reunite with my family,” he said.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Ekiti state command, Mr Sunday Abutu, confirmed that the retired officer and another person abducted had been freed.
The police spokesman said the police were not aware of any ransom paid before Ijadare’s release.
“We are not aware of any ransom paid. We believe he was released after pressure from the security agencies and local hunters piled up by combing the surrounding bushes.”