The Afenifere chieftain revealed that his recent altercation with some Fulani herdsmen, who invaded his farmland few months ago at Ilado in Akure North Local Government Area (LGA), might have led to his abduction.
Olu Falae, the former Secretary to Federal Government, on Monday confessed to paying a ransom to his abductors so that he could be set free after four days in captivity.
Falae, made this statement shortly after the former Nigerian Chief of Defense Staff, General Alani Akinrinade, paid him a visit at his Oba Ile residence in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
"They gave me until 3 pm and if they did not get the money they will execute me but I thank God that at 2:49pm one of them came and said the money was complete. They did not shoot me and they set me free", Falae said.
His abductors had earlier demanded the sum of N100 million ransom but it was later reduced to N90 million, while the family said they could only raise the sum of N2 million.
Falae's latest revelation contradicts police claims that no ransom was paid before his release.
The Afenifere chieftain revealed that his recent altercation with some Fulani herdsmen, who invaded his farmland few months ago at Ilado in Akure North Local Government Area (LGA), might have led to his abduction.
He disclosed that his abductors manhandled him during the harrowing experience, threatening him that he would only be freed after payment had already been made.
SaharaReporters reported that the former presidential aspirant also detailed how he trekked several kilometers, wandering inside the bush as his abductors continuously threatened his life.
Mr. Falae narrated his experience saying, "these hoodlums came to my farm, they approached me with cutlass and said I was not cooperating with them.”
"They dragged me bared foot into the bush for about two hours. They stopped somewhere to rest then they instructed me to phone my wife that I had been kidnapped and taken out of Ondo State by a car.”
"Although it was a lie. Thereafter, we started wandering the bush at about 2: 30pm on Monday until 2 am the following morning (Tuesday). My calculations were that I must have covered a minimum of fifteen kilometers.”
"That morning, I didn’t even eat at all. All day, I had no food and no water. How I survived I cannot even remember because I have nothing in my stomach.
"My cloth (Buba) was turned into shreds. I had no shoes on my legs and at some point one of [my abductors] gave me rubber slippers to put on. We walked from about 2 O'clock to midnight.”
"At some point they called for the services of commercial motorcyclist [Okada] in the night and the rider, whom I suspected is one of the terrorists, took me a long way down in the bush.”
"I had no clue of where they were taking me, finally they dumped me somewhere until they released me on Thursday", he said.
The National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) continued with his narration, noting that his abductors forced him to walk barefoot as he was drenched by heavy down pour.
When it began to rain "one of them brought an umbrella to cover my head but the rest of my body was not covered. They offered me food like bread but I said I couldn’t eat it. Then, I demanded for bottle of Cocoa Cola, which I drink everyday to have the requisite strength to survive and be able to be on the march.”
"These guys were permanently moving. They were changing locations at least two three times a day but I suspected they did not want the police to succeed in tracing them.”
"There were six of them with guns and every half and hour they would say Baba we are going to kill you. If you don't give us money, we are going to kill you.”
"But, on Wednesday one of them came and said we are going to leave here on Thursday morning. Since, we cannot leave you here alone if you don't get us what we want, we will kill you before we go.”
"They now gave me until 3pm and by then if they did not get the money they will execute me. I thank God that at 2:49pm one of them came and said the money transaction was complete. They did not shoot me and the following morning they set me free.”
"When I came out of the bush, I was able to find a Okada man who gave me a ride to Owo. The place I was kept was about ten kilometers to the town, which I believe is between Owo and Ifon. I walked most of the distance from my farm to that place which is at least twenty-five kilometers.
"Miraculously, I was not tired and was not hungry. I was also not afraid of them. Each time they threatened that Baba we will kill you, I would reply 'No'. I thank God I didn't break down but am now not 80 percent but 100 percent yet fit" he added.
He condemned the incident noting that the activities of the Fulani herdsmen must be tamed to forestall future occurrence in the State.
"It is an insult to our race that a man like me could be abducted by these bunch of hoodlums. One of them even threatened that if after we set you free and you went ahead to talk nonsense we would come for you again" he said.