A Nigerian Law School student, David Obiora, who was abducted on July 26, 2025, has disclosed that his kidnappers primarily spoke the Tiv language, contradicting police claims that security operatives rescued him and five others in Benue State.
In a WhatsApp interview with Vanguard, Obiora detailed his six-day ordeal after being seized along the Zakibiam-Mukari Expressway while traveling from Onitsha to Yola in a company transport vehicle.
“We were six law students in the bus with the driver, three other passengers heading to Cameroon, and a woman, who works in Anambra State, who was going on holiday to Yola. We were kidnapped about 9 p.m., on July 26. The incident happened between Zakibiam and Mukari, near a town called Jootar. We were taken 20 kilometres into the bush by about 10 armed men, four wielding AK-47 rifles, the others with machetes and daggers,” Obiora recounted.
He explained that the kidnappers drove their bus deep into the forest until it got stuck, then called for reinforcement on motorcycles. At their camp, they met four other captives: a non-teaching staff member of Federal University Wukari, a youth corps member named Dauda Wisdom, a post-surgery pastor, and an unidentified man. The group was released only after each paid a N10 million ransom.
“Let the record be clear, the Nigeria Police did not rescue us. The Law School did not rescue us. The Council of Legal Education did not rescue us. We were released after our families and friends raised and paid the ransom,” Obiora emphasized.
The law student revealed that most kidnappers were Tiv-speaking locals, with their leader, Matthew, allegedly a dismissed or deserted soldier. “All the others spoke Tiv, that is their language. They are from the same community where we were held. It seems the entire community has been overpowered or subdued. No one dares speak out,” he said. He described disturbing scenes of children as young as two handling guns and wives of the kidnappers cooking for captives with muddy water.
One kidnapper, also named David, reportedly boasted of nine years in the trade, claiming to own luxury cars and fund his children’s education while remaining a fugitive.
“Matthew, their boss, on the other hand told us he has a ‘juju’ man in Kano, who gives him spiritual protection. He said the army can’t kill him unless it’s the day God says he’ll die,” Obiora added.
After their release, the victims trekked through bush paths from Benue to Taraba before finding transport assistance to Yola.
