Abductors of Odetunde Ayodeji Emmanuel, a Sociology student of the University of Ibadan, Oyo state, collected ransom before he was freed, the family has told FIJ.

At about 5:30 pm on Monday, six Fulani herdsmen laid siege to a poultry farm belonging to Emmanuel’s father at Oke Odan in Apete, Ibadan, and demanded to see the farm owner.

They shot sporadically into the air and held all workers hostage while they operated.

When they couldn’t see the farmer, they abducted Emmanuel and also carted away the mobile phones of the co-workers.

“The Fulani herdsmen came with new rifles. It appeared they came for my father. After locking the workers somewhere, they took my brother when they didn’t see Dad”, Olumide says while narrating the eyewitnesses’ account after the attack.

On Tuesday, the abductors contacted the family to demand a ransom of N100 million before Emmanuel could be released.

While the negotiation was still ongoing, Olumide stated that the family reported the abduction to the Nigeria Police, local hunters and Amotekun.

Olugbenga Fadeyi, the Oyo state police public relations officer, assured this reporter on Wednesday that the police was “working assiduously to rescue the abducted young man”.

But yesterday evening, Olumide confirmed to FIJ that his brother regained freedom after the family paid an undisclosed amount of money as ransom.

READ ALSO: Herdsmen Demand N100m Ransom after Abducting UI Student on Poultry Farm in Ibadan 

He also noted that neither the police nor local security agents were involved in the rescue mission.

“I don’t know if the police are still tracking the phones with the kidnappers or even doing anything at all. The rescue mission had nothing to do with them. It was strictly between the family and the kidnappers,” he said.

“Three men went to pick up my brother at Iseyin on Thursday. The phone of John, a co-worker who can give full details, was also collected on the farm that day.”

Fadeyi didn’t answer his calls or reply an sms to him for comments.

Emmanuel reunited with other family members around 7:15pm on Thursday but he is yet to grant an interview about his experience.

However, he hinted his friends on social media about his diet while he was held hostage.

He wrote on Twitter that he “ate wet cassava and dirty water”.

Wet cassava and dirty water https://t.co/uUsUf9QEQP

— Ishola (@dr_emmay) February 25, 2021

Meanwhile, Iseyin town where Emmanuel was rescued is within the Oke Ogun region in OyoState battling with insecurity in spite of farmer-herder crisis.