The parents of five abducted pupils from the Apostolic Faith Group of Schools in Emure Ekiti have narrated a challenging journey to secure the release of their children.

According to them, the kidnappers demanded N15 million ransom and additional items, including fried rice, energy drinks, and cigarettes.

The school proprietor, Gabriel Adesanya, confirmed that the driver kidnapped alongside the pupils and staff members was killed, with his body yet to be found.

Adesanya revealed that negotiations with the kidnappers involved reducing the initial demand of N100 million to N15 million after discussions.

The kidnappers released the victims upon receiving the N15 million and the specified food and beverages, instructing the parents to leave immediately.

When contacted by Punch, one of the parents of the kidnapped victims, Adebisi Jegede, confirmed that a ransom was paid to the kidnappers.

He said, “A ransom was paid to the kidnappers, and the money raised was around the N15million they demanded. I was not the one that counted the money, but it was around that amount.”

Relatives of the victims said the kidnappers, who initially demanded N100 million, reduced it to N15 million after negotiations.

A man whose wife and son were among the kidnapped persons said that N15m ransom and some other items were handed over to the kidnappers in an expansive forest before the abductees were released to them.

The man who spoke anonymously for fear of being abducted said, “Nine persons were kidnapped. But eight persons were released; we didn’t see the ninth person. The kidnapped persons told us after their release that the gunmen shot the driver dead.

“It gave us a lot of problems to see the kidnappers. When we first entered the forest, we spent about two hours without seeing them. We had to go forth and back before we saw the kidnappers.

“When we eventually saw them, they took us into the bush far away from where we parked the motorcycle that we took there. We gave them what they demanded, and they released the kidnapped persons to us.

“We gave them N15 million, and the food items they asked us to buy for them – eight packs of fried rice with chicken and drinks – can malt drink, fearless energy drink, bullet energy drink and cigarettes. As they collected the money and the items, they said we should run off.”