A member of Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Eruku, Kwara State, has shared harrowing details of his time in captivity after he and dozens of others were abducted during an evening service on November 18.
President Bola Tinubu announced on Sunday that all 38 abducted congregants had been rescued.
Speaking with TVC, the survivor said the gunmen stormed the church not long after the service began.
“It was a sudden act, a terrifying act. Because that evening, after 30 minutes of the programme, we just heard gunshots,” he recalled.
He explained that he initially did not recognise the sound for what it was. “Even to my own perspective, I didn’t know it was gunshots. I thought it was just sparking of some wire.”
According to him, the attackers quickly took control of the premises.
“By the time we got up, they surrounded the whole church. Even some people there began to narrate that they were seeing drops of blood everywhere,” he said.
The victims were subsequently marched into a thick forest that the abductors appeared to dominate.
“It was unimaginable because when we got there, we didn’t know that it was a dominated area,” he said.
He added that the gunmen identified themselves as bandits and made clear their confidence in the terrain.
“They made us know that there is no one who can slip away without being caught. And with what we saw, nobody can escape.”
He noted that the group seemed well-acquainted with the network of routes across Kwara and neighbouring states.
“From that place, they have dominated. They knew all the routes surrounding all those bushes within Kwara and other cities. They knew it,” he added.
The attack on CAC Oke Isegun, Eruku, is one of several recent abductions reported across Kwara and other northern states.
Despite the ordeal, the church resumed worship the following Sunday.
