EXCLUSIVE: ‘They beat my knees, touched my body’ — Lagos kidnap survivor recounts ordeal

Oluwafeyisayo Mate was on her way to work on an otherwise ordinary Friday morning in Lagos when a commercial bus ride turned into a terrifying ordeal involving kidnapping, torture, sexual harassment, ransom demands and threats to her life.

Mate, a human resources professional with a real estate company on Victoria Island, said she left home around 6:15 a.m. on October 9 and boarded a Sienna bus at Ajayi Junction, near the Ogba-Aguda axis, shortly after 6:25 a.m. The vehicle appeared to be a regular commercial bus, and its occupants did not initially arouse her suspicion.

However, her journey took a frightening turn when the vehicle diverted towards Ashabi Cole Road, where she said the occupants attacked her and ordered her to lie on the floor.

“I greeted them when I entered, and they all answered. Nothing seemed suspicious until they wound up the windows, attacked me from behind and told me to lie on the floor,” she recounted.

“They collected my bag, emptied it, asked me what I had inside and wanted to know who they could call to get money from. I was the only victim among them. There were about five men and a woman, and they were all working together,” Mate added.

‘They beat my knees with a rod’

Mate said the incident brought back painful memories of a similar attack she survived on July 9, 2024, adding that the latest experience was particularly distressing because she was surrounded by several assailants who identified themselves as kidnappers.

“They asked me who they could call, and the only person who came to my mind was my mother. They asked what she did, and I told them she was a teacher,” she said.

According to her, the kidnappers used her phone to contact her mother and demanded ₦5 million for her release, threatening to take her to their camp in Bayelsa if the money was not provided.

“It was a whole case of negotiation. They were saying, ‘Can you pay ₦3 million?’ My mum responded by saying, ‘Nobody keeps such a huge amount of money somewhere to just dish out for ransom,’” she said.

Mate added that the gang repeatedly beat her knees with a heavy metal rod in a bid to force her mother to pay the ransom by making her scream loudly. They also threatened to inflict further injuries if their demands were not met.

Additionally, she said the kidnappers gave her mother just two minutes to transfer the money and threatened to take her out of Lagos if the payment was not made.

“They were saying all sorts of things just to frighten my mum and get her to send the money,” she told Western Post.

Mate said her mother eventually transferred about ₦169,000, although the kidnappers had initially demanded millions of naira, stressing that the amount was all she could gather at the time.

‘He kept touching my body and threatened to rape me’

Beyond the physical torture, Mate said one of the men seated beside the driver repeatedly touched her body while threatening to rape her.

“The guy sitting right beside the driver was assaulting me. He kept touching my body and private parts and saying all manner of nonsense, including that he was going to rape me,” she said.

Mate added that the kidnappers also forced her to disclose her phone password and bank card PINs, which she said they intended to use to access her accounts. She said the men became more violent when one of the PINs she provided failed during an attempted withdrawal.

“I was in a state of shock when he asked me for the PIN, so I gave him the first one that came to my mind. I had changed it after the first incident in 2024, but I could not remember that at the time. So, when one of them got off to use a roadside POS, he called back to inform their leader that the PIN was wrong,” she said.

“He kept beating me and saying I was lying. I maintained that I had given him the correct PIN because I was afraid he might kill me if I admitted the mistake.”

She said the kidnappers also questioned her salary and savings, apparently hoping to determine how much money they could obtain from her accounts.

‘I heard them say “officer, officer”’

As the gang drove her around, Mate said she became increasingly afraid that the men might kill her, particularly when they appeared to discuss whether it was safe to abandon her. She also became suspicious of a possible connection between the gang and a police officer after repeatedly hearing one of the men call out “officer, officer”.

“I feel like there was probably a policeman among them, but I do not know who the person was,” she said.

Mate, however, stressed that she could not identify anyone or confirm whether a police officer was involved because the kidnappers had ordered her to keep her eyes closed. She said the kidnappers appeared to use coded language among themselves, making it difficult for her to understand their conversations.

“At some point, I heard something like, ‘Maybe we will off her,’ and then they said the place was not safe,” she recounted. “I was scared because I thought that was how my life was going to end.”

Abandoned on Adeniyi Jones

Mate said the kidnappers eventually abandoned her on Adeniyi Jones Avenue, near her former workplace at an Access Bank contact centre, a location she said was unknown to them, after repeatedly moving her around while discussing where to leave her.

Before abandoning her, she said, the men applied a peppery balm to her eyes, worsening her vision and making it difficult for her to navigate her surroundings.

“They rubbed the balm directly into my eyes. They opened my eyes and made sure it went in. By the time I got down from the vehicle, the effect was severe,” she said.

She added that the kidnappers instructed her to knock on a gate before zooming off, but she remained cautious because she feared they might have arranged for someone else to abduct her.

“I was afraid of knocking on a gate and finding out that it belonged to somebody who would apprehend me again. I did not trust anybody at that point,” Mate said.

Mate further disclosed that a man approached her to ask if she was all right, but she denied needing help because she could not determine whether he was a genuine Good Samaritan or someone connected to the gang.

“I told him I was fine because I did not know if he was actually a good Samaritan or if he was part of the same people who had kidnapped me,” she said.

She eventually recognised the area and found her way to her former workplace, where a former colleague helped her block her bank account.

‘I can barely walk, and my sight is still very bad’

Mate said her colleague acted quickly to restrict access to her account, although she had yet to establish whether the kidnappers successfully withdrew or transferred any money before the account was blocked.

“He (her former colleague) told me they had initiated a transaction, but he was not sure whether it went through,” she said.

“I have not been able to go to the bank to request my statements and find out what happened because I can barely walk, and I have been placed on bed rest. My sight is still very bad.”

She said the ordeal had left her physically incapacitated and forced her to depend on others while recovering from her injuries and the effects of the substance applied to her eyes.

The survivor also spoke about the psychological trauma caused by the ordeal, saying she had been replaying the incident in her head since Friday. Recalling that she suffered panic attacks following a “one-chance” encounter in 2024, she said she could not help but worry about the psychological toll of the latest attack.

“I have been advised to see a psychotherapist. I plan to do that once I am better,” she said.

Mate’s account highlights the dangers commuters face when boarding seemingly ordinary commercial vehicles in Lagos and raises concerns about the safety of passengers travelling to work in the early morning hours.

Her allegation that a member of the gang repeatedly referred to an “officer” could also warrant investigation, although she acknowledged that she could not identify the person or establish whether the reference was to a police officer.