Twenty-five-year-old Human Anatomy graduate, Funke Obatuyi, speaks with GRACE EDEMA about the fear, sleepless nights, and emotional distress she endured after her father, Mr Ayotunde Obatuyi, was abducted by unknown persons shortly after attending her convocation ceremony.
When was your convocation?
My convocation took place on November 14. I graduated from the Federal University of Technology, Akure, where I studied Human Anatomy.
What circumstance led to your father’s abduction?
My father, Mr Obatuyi, who is 58 years old and works as a welder in Abuja, attended my convocation and stayed around for some time. He decided to return two days later.
Where did he travel from originally?
He travelled from our hometown in Osun State to Akure, where he planned to board a bus to Abuja, where he resides. He took the bus at a place called Ikare Junction in Akure.
When exactly did he embark on the journey to Abuja?
That was on Monday, November 17.
What happened thereafter?
On Tuesday, I received a call that he had reached Nasarawa. I then contacted my stepmother, as my biological mother is deceased. Later, my stepmother called back to inform me that my father had been kidnapped. The abductors demanded a ransom of N10m. That night and the following day, she said she tried to seek help. I believe she went to a police station, though I don’t know all that happened afterward. She went there to notify the police.
Was there any report to the police?
My brother went to the Osun State Criminal Investigation Department to make an official report because we needed police documentation as evidence. The Osun State CID then instructed my brother to tell me to visit the Anti-Crime Unit in front of my school. They gave directions, and I went there to explain everything that had happened.
However, the officers at the Anti-Crime Unit said they could not issue a police report because the kidnapping occurred in Kabba, Kogi State. They insisted I would have to travel to Kabba to obtain the report.
I explained that it was impossible for me to go to the location where the incident occurred, especially under the circumstances. All we needed was documentation confirming what happened to my father in that state. I left without obtaining the report.
My brother also could not get the report in Osun State, so at that time, we had no police report. By Wednesday, whenever we called my dad’s phone, it usually only connected around 8 pm or 9 pm.
Who picked the calls?
The kidnappers answered the calls. They were the ones speaking whenever the phone connected.
So, what did they say?
Whenever they answered, my stepmother was instructed to stand outside to receive the calls. At first, it was my sister who spoke to them. They immediately told her to look for N10m. She said we didn’t have that amount. That was when they told her to go into prostitution to raise the money.
She refused, and then they told her to come and marry them instead. After that conversation, my sister decided that no female should call them again. Only male family members or my stepmother would communicate with them.
My stepmother called them again the following night. She pleaded, explaining that we couldn’t raise N10m. That was when they said, “Okay, bring N5m.” She ended the call and informed us.
That same night, she begged them to let her speak with my father, and they allowed it. My dad said they were kidnapped on Monday, November 7, and that everyone on the bus was abducted. He said the attackers shot at the bus and took all the passengers into the bush.
He told us the situation was worsening and urged us to act quickly.
So, what is the situation now? Has anything happened since?
Eventually, the ransom was negotiated down to N3m. That was on Monday, November 24. My stepmother handled the process. The kidnappers instructed that only she should bring the money and that no one else should accompany her.
Where did your stepmom take the money to?
Okene… Okene in Kogi State.
When she arrived at the train station, the kidnappers led her deep into the bush. She said she walked for about two hours before reaching their camp. They collected the ransom and even took her personal bag, claiming someone might be tracking her. They seized her belongings, and she kept pleading with them because she feared they could abduct her as well.
After collecting the money, they told her to leave and instructed her to return to a petrol station at the bus stop, saying my dad would meet her there.
She waited there until about 9 pm on Monday night. Then they called her and said my dad couldn’t come, that he was about three hours away. They told her to return to Abuja and said my dad would meet her there.
We advised her to leave. She departed the petrol station that night, slept in a room there, and continued her journey the next morning.
So, she got back to Abuja two days later?
Yes, she returned on Wednesday morning. She kept calling them for updates, but they told her to stop calling. They said the legs of the men they kidnapped had been tied for about seven days and that they couldn’t walk.
They explained that they couldn’t release them yet because they were trying to avoid being seen by people moving around the bush. They said my dad and the others were unable to walk.
Were the victims injured during their stay in the kidnappers’ den?
Yes. Their legs had been tied for a long time. The kidnappers said the ropes injured them severely. Their legs were swollen, and they couldn’t walk. They said they had to wait until the men could walk before releasing them and told us to stop calling. But since we hadn’t heard anything, we kept trying, and they kept asking us to calm down.
What did you do after the kidnappers’ directive?
On Tuesday, we saw a Facebook post asking families of kidnapped victims to call a specific number. My brother called immediately.
The man who answered said he found someone—my dad—by the roadside. He said my dad was almost dead. He explained that he stopped his vehicle when he noticed him and asked what happened. My dad told him he had been kidnapped.
The man took him to his home in Kogi State, took his picture, and sent it to my brother. He told us that our father had been released.
This happened on Wednesday evening.
We told him that my dad couldn’t travel to Abuja immediately. They said that today (Thursday, November 10), someone from Kogi would bring him to Abuja.
They are taking him straight to the hospital because, according to what my dad said when he spoke to us, he was almost dead. So, he will be taken directly to the hospital. That is the full situation.
How did you feel when you heard about your dad’s abduction after he attended your convocation?
It was devastating. It was an awful experience. The fact that he came to celebrate my convocation and this happened right after he left broke me.
I couldn’t sleep for about seven days. People were calling me from everywhere, even those who saw the story online from different parts of the world. It was overwhelming.
At some point, I couldn’t pick calls anymore. I was emotionally exhausted. I cried constantly. The emotions were unbearable.
What hurt me most was that I danced with my dad on Friday. We were happy, and before I knew it, he had been kidnapped on his way back to Abuja. When the kidnappers told us they were beating them, it made everything worse.
I had to leave FUTA and come home. I returned to Lagos because I had completed my programme, although I hadn’t collected my transcript. That is the entire experience. It was truly not a good one for me.
Do you have anything to tell Nigerians?
Honestly, what I want to tell the government and Nigerians is this: kidnapping is not new, and our security agencies can do much better.
People already know that the area is dangerous. Several people have messaged me, sending videos of how they escaped kidnap attempts at that same spot. That alone shows the government needs to act.
At the very least, checkpoints should be established there or security strengthened, because it has become a hotspot. For me, I don’t think I can ever travel by road to that region again.
Missing my dad made me realise I would always prefer to fly whenever possible. This experience has been traumatic. I believe the government must improve security across Nigeria, especially in that axis, because many incidents have happened there.
It wasn’t only my dad who was kidnapped that day; other families were affected, and some people are still in captivity. Yes, some are still with the kidnappers. The government really needs to look into this.
