Nigeria: kidnapped child reveals captors threatened to shoot him

A child released from a school abduction in Papiri, Nigeria has revealed his captors threatened to shoot him and others if they tried to run away, according to a report by AP on December 11th.

Onyeka Chieme, an elementary school student at St Mary’s Catholic School, provided a publicised account of the horrific ordeal.

He described some of the children’s efforts to evade capture upon the kidnappers arrival at their school on November 21st, attempting an escape through a window before the gunmen chased them down on motorbikes.

“They said if we ran, they would shoot us,” Chieme informed AP during a visit to his family home in Papiri, Niger state.

The children then watched on as they set fire to a Nigerian flag and a statue of Mary before loading them on to buses and motorbikes and taking them away.

Reportedly, 303 children and 12 teachers were recorded as taken from the school in one of Nigeria’s most high-profile school abductions in recent years.

Ultimately, 50 were able to escape in the aftermath of the attack and just over a fortnight after the incident 100 have been freed and returned to their parents, including Chieme. However 153, including his brother and all the teachers, remain in captivity.

The Nigerian government has released little information regarding their efforts to liberate the victims, but analysts informed AP that ransom payments are common in cases of this type.

Aisha Yesufu, co-convenor of the Bring Back Our Girls movement, said that if ransom payments are made it encourages crimes of this nature to continue.

Chieme said the bandits leader informed the abductees that they should not fear for their lives, they only wanted payment. If the correct sum was offered, the captives would be released and sent home.

He described the inhuman conditions they endured, with protestors being beaten and guns never out of sight.

Military aircraft often flew overhead, making their captors force them under the cover of trees to avoid detection.

On the day of their release, they were ordered to form a queue. In fear of punishment, some students ran to the back of the line. The criminals then picked out the first 100 students, before transporting them away in buses.

Associated Press, Maghrebi.org