“Our Kidnappers Spoke Tiv, Not Fulani — and Police Lied, They Didn’t Rescue Us,” Says Freed Law School Student

A Nigerian Law School student, David Obiora, who was abducted alongside others on July 26, 2025, has revealed that their kidnappers spoke Tiv and were not Fulani, as widely speculated. In an interview conducted via WhatsApp, Obiora refuted the Nigeria Police’s claim that he and the five other abducted students were rescued by security operatives in Benue State.

Obiora, a student at the Nigerian Law School, Yola campus, explained that the group was kidnapped along the Zakibiam-Mukari Expressway after boarding a company vehicle from Onitsha en route to Yola. The vehicle was carrying six law students, the driver, three passengers heading to Cameroon, and a woman travelling to Yola for holiday.

According to Obiora, the abduction occurred around 9 p.m. between Zakibiam and Mukari, near the town of Jootar. About ten armed men, some carrying AK-47s and others wielding machetes and daggers, forced them deep into the forest, about 20 kilometres from the highway. The attackers later received reinforcements on motorcycles and took the victims further into the bush.

At the final camp, the students met four earlier victims — a non-teaching staff member of Federal University Wukari, a youth corps member named Dauda Wisdom, a pastor recovering from surgery in Benue, and an unidentified man. Obiora said they were all held for six days before being released after each person paid a ransom of N10 million.

He categorically stated that no authority was responsible for their release. “Let the record be clear, the Nigeria Police did not rescue us. The Law School did not rescue us. The Council of Legal Education did not rescue us. We were released after our families and friends raised and paid the ransom,” he said.

Obiora said the kidnappers communicated in Tiv, and their leader, known as Matthew, is believed to be either a dismissed soldier or a deserter. “All the others spoke Tiv, that is their language. They are from the same community where we were held. It seems the entire community has been overpowered or subdued. No one dares speak out,” he said.

He described disturbing scenes in the camp, including children as young as two playing with guns and watching the victims being paraded in the open. The women in the camp, presumed to be the kidnappers’ wives, cooked and fetched muddy water for the captives. “The same food we ate was what the kidnappers ate too,” he added.

Obiora also recalled conversations with one of the kidnappers, also named David, who bragged about being in the kidnapping business for over nine years. The man claimed to have bought a Highlander SUV and another car for his wife, who drives them both, while he remains in hiding because he is a wanted man.

He also recounted how Matthew, the gang leader, claimed to have a ‘juju’ man in Kano who provides him with spiritual protection. “He said the army can’t kill him unless it’s the day God says he’ll die,” Obiora said.

Recalling the moment of their abduction, Obiora said he initially assumed the attackers were Fulani. “But their dialect and appearance confirmed that most of them were not,” he noted. He added that although the captors did not physically assault them, the conditions were dire — they ate only once a day, drank unclean water, and were constantly in fear.

After being freed, Obiora and the other victims trekked for hours through dense forest paths from Benue into Taraba State. They eventually found a restaurant near a motor park, where they spent the night before being assisted by a transport company manager who helped them continue their journey to Yola.