Daring breakout follows deadly twist after N11 million extortion demand in Edo woodland

A bullet not intended for 66-year-old Mrs. Favour Nosakhare claimed her life, after it first passed through 45-year-old Stella, in a chaotic scene within a dark forest, where kidnappers were enforcing their deadly demands on families unable to pay, on May 15, 2026.

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A 15-year-old boy witnessed the tragic event in silence as the old woman took her last breath, with Annabel Emmanuel, her voice still laced with the horror of the experience, recalling the moments leading to her mother's death, saying she heard her mum's voice as she prayed, before her breathing became labored and eventually stopped.

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The nightmare began six days prior, on May 9, 2026, when Annabel, a businesswoman, was visiting her mother in Iyowa, Ovia North East Local Government Area, and armed men stormed the house, dragging Annabel, her elderly mother, and her assistant into a terrifying ordeal.

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The kidnappers marched their captives through the dense bush, covering six different locations, only moving at night and resting by day, with Annabel's family initially being the only ones held, before other families were brought in, including four girls from one house and two more families, totaling four separate families, all held by a seven-man gang.

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The gang's initial demand was N200 million, but when the families expressed their inability to pay, the kidnappers resorted to torture, with Annabel recalling that they would inflict pain on them whenever their families claimed the raised amount was insufficient.

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Annabel's family managed to gather N7.5 million, while another family scraped together N1.5 million, and a third family only had N1 million, which further enraged the kidnappers, who were furious at the meager amounts.

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On the night of May 15, the gang separated the elders, inquiring about their ages, with Mrs. Nosakhare stating she was 66, and another woman saying she was 45, before the 15-year-old boy was spared from questioning, and the gang argued among themselves about whether to kill everyone, as the families had failed to meet their demands.

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The night took a deadly turn when the kidnappers opened fire, with a bullet passing through one woman and into Annabel's mother, while the 15-year-old boy was told he was lucky to have been spared, but would still die, before the surviving hostages were ordered to march again.

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The kidnappers continued their demands, even after the deaths, with Annabel's family being ordered to pay a total of N11 million, plus a bizarre list of items, including two big school bags, 14 plates of rice and turkey, three grams of "Ice" (methamphetamine), five crates of Fanta, two crates of Black Bullet drink, N30,000 worth of suya, and seven power banks.

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Other families supplied the requested items, and only then were all the surviving hostages released, with Annabel quietly stating that they were all set free at the same time.

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The police have since arrested 24-year-old Haruna Musa, a Fulani herder, who claims he was coerced into joining the gang at gunpoint, with his confession revealing a tragic tale of coercion, as he was hired in Ogun State to tend to cows before being lured into the kidnapping operation.

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Musa told police that he was invited by a fellow Fulani to "accompany him to work" in Benin, where he was presented with a gun and told that if he did not join them, they would kill him, as they feared he would bring people after them if he were to leave.

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Musa named his gang members by their aliases, including Doctor, Smally, Akhere, Yellow, and Blakky, and led police to the forest where the bodies of Mrs. Nosakhare and the other woman were found decomposing on June 2, with the 15-year-old boy's body having been recovered earlier.

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Edo State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Eno Ikoedem, confirmed that the Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU) engaged the gang in a gun duel on May 19, resulting in four suspects escaping with bullet wounds, before Musa was arrested while seeking treatment for his own gunshot injury.

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Ikoedem stated that Musa has confessed to being part of a kidnapping syndicate terrorizing the Benin–Lagos and Benin–Akure roads, with the police vowing to leave no stone unturned in their pursuit of the remaining suspects, as the Commissioner of Police, CP Monday Agbonika, appealed to the public for timely and credible information.

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Annabel's story comes amid allegations of local collaborators, with an indigene of Ubiaja in Esan South-West LGA having been arrested just weeks prior for allegedly using his house as a kidnapping base, where ransoms were negotiated and operations planned, and which has since been demolished.

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For Annabel, justice will not bring back her mother, nor will it silence the haunting memory of that night in the bush, as she recalled the kidnappers' brutal act, saying they didn't ask the victims anything else, they simply shot them.