Thursday, June 25, was meant to be the beginning of a much-needed break for Temiloluwa Faith, an information technology officer in Edo State, who is returning home to her parents for her yearly leave.
Along the Ogbere axis of the Sagamu-Benin Motorway, what started out as a complimentary ride from her company’s senior manager became an absolute nightmare.
Minutes after imagining the safety of home, she found herself spitting out her teeth as she stared into the faces of five masked, highly armed kidnappers.
With her voice quivering from the pain, Temiloluwa remembered, “It was around 4pm and then we just heard a gunshot.”
A car was ahead of us and another was following closely behind. I banged my head on the front seat when all three cars slammed into each other. She revealed that it was that which had extracted her teeth.
It was stated that the vehicle’s owner had swung around to the left, but Temioluwa was stuck inside due to the stuck door.
But a guy passenger in front of them saw that she was bleeding and remained behind to protect her from the kidnappers who were closing in on their Toyota Camry.
They were yelling for me to get down from the truck as they touched it with cutlasses. When they asked the man why he was holding me back, he begged them to stop since I was hurt. “However, they removed him from the car,” she recalled.
The assailants took Temiloluwa’s bracelet, watch, and the N500 naira she was using to purchase plantain chips.
They led Temiloluwa and four other captives into the dense woodland after snatching them from three separate vehicles.