Mustapha Abubakar, one of the abducted students from Kuriga in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna state who escaped from the hands of bandits, has described his horror, claiming that he hid and escaped under a shrub like a snake as the bandits moved them.
Abubakar was one of the about 280 schoolchildren kidnapped, but he and 27 others were able to make their way back to their respective communities. It was reported that the kidnapped children, both male and female, ranged in age from 5 to 18.
In an interview with the BBC Hausa monitored in Kaduna on Monday, Mustapha Abubakar said that the bandits moved the children like a herd of cattle.
He described how they trekked through the bush, sometimes crawling, and became so thirsty that some of the girls became weak and fell due to exhaustion, while the bandits lifted the tired ones and put them on motorcycles until they reached a large river, where they drank water and continued trekking.
He noted that even the bandits were exhausted from the long trek. They had no food and were eating leaves and wild fruits.
“While we were moving, I noticed a brown shrub, like my trousers. I hid inside and crawled like a snake. I was there until it was completely silent before I came out and headed to the bush.”
“I had a marathon race. I was exhausted, but I pushed on, as evening time was approaching. I later arrived at Gayan, a community near us, and that was how I eventually escaped,” he said.
