Bandits tried to behead me, but I blocked the machete with my hand – kidnap victim recounts ordeal
A rescued kidnap victim, Joshua Daniel, has recounted how he was nearly beheaded by bandits after her was abducted with 15 other passengers in Kogi State.
Daniel and his fellow abductees were freed by a joint security operation that stormed the forest where they were held hostage.
Daniel was among the six adult males, six adult females, and four children—abducted on Sunday, August 9, 2026, along the Ojuwo–Ajengo–Memarebo and Ojiwo–Itobe transit corridors in the Ofu Local Government Area of the state.
A combined force of the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, Nigeria Police Force, local vigilantes, and hunters engaged the armed gang in an intense gun battle, forcing the kidnappers to abandon the captives and flee into the forest with gunshot injuries.
Speaking on Tuesday during an interview at the Kogi State Police Command, Daniel revealed that he sustained severe injuries after he was struck with a machete by one of the abductors following his attempt to escape into nearby bushes shortly after the abduction.
“One of them who was chasing me brought a knife to cut my head. So I blocked it with one of my hands; that is when the cutlass landed here and cut my vein. So, I was bleeding throughout the night,” Daniel said, adding that he used local herbs to stop the bleeding before security personnel rescued them.
Daniel noted that the armed gang comprised a mix of individuals who communicated in Igala, Fulani, and Hausa to conceal their identities.
He commended the rapid response of the joint operational team, though he expressed condolences over the death of a local hunter killed during the gunfight, as well as a police officer who sustained injuries.
N100 million ransom demands and threats
Another rescued victim, Ngozi Stephen, disclosed that the abductors used her to translate ransom demands to fellow captives due to her fluency in Hausa.
Stephen explained that the gang demanded sums ranging between N50 million and N100 million per victim, threatening to sell them to ritualists if their families failed to comply.
She added that the gunmen panicked and fled into the bush as soon as security forces opened fire, abandoning bags containing stolen mobile phones and laptops, which were subsequently recovered by the victims.
In a statement signed by the Acting Director of Army Public Relations, Col. Appolonia Anele, the military confirmed that all 16 rescued individuals underwent medical evaluation and documentation before being reunited with their families.
The military authority praised the seamless coordination among the security services and community-based hunters, urging citizens to maintain vigilance and continue sharing actionable intelligence.
