Four students of Gateway ICT Polytechnic, Saapade, Ogun State, have recounted an eight-day ordeal of abduction, beatings, hunger and gunfire after suspected kidnappers stormed their private hostel in Ipara-Remo on Wednesday, 29 July 2026, before a joint security operation rescued seven victims alive on Thursday, 6 August.

The attack happened at a private hostel along Paraga Road, outside the polytechnic’s main campus, at about 7.45pm.

Also read: FG commissions upgraded Ijora, Apapa substations, adds 208MW in Lagos

The Students’ Union Government confirmed that five students had been abducted, while early reports gave varying figures as the extent of the attack remained unclear.

What followed was a terrifying journey through thick forest, where the students said they were threatened with death, beaten and forced to walk for hours at night while their families faced ransom demands.

According to accounts, the students were relaxing at their accommodation when gunshots and cries of “Ole, Ole” suddenly erupted outside.

Several students hid inside a bathroom, hoping the attackers would move past the apartment. Instead, the gunmen forced the bathroom door open, fired towards the hiding place and ordered everyone out.

The captors searched their belongings, took their shoes and clothes and questioned them about who owned the house.

The students said the kidnappers accused them of internet fraud and insisted that some of them must be taken away so that their supposed “boss” could pay for their release.

Five students were eventually taken into the surrounding bush.

The survivors said their captors later made them identify their mobile phones before throwing the remaining devices into the forest.

During the journey, they allegedly encountered another kidnapped victim, identified as “Biggie”, who had been abducted a day earlier.

The students described the ransom demands as changing repeatedly, with amounts ranging from N5 million to N50 million for individual victims.

One survivor said his captors initially demanded N30 million each and forced him to contact his mother and brother.

The students also described sustained psychological and physical abuse.

They said they were kept away from sunlight, blindfolded for much of the ordeal and forced to move through the forest during the night to avoid detection.

“We only moved at night; during the day, they hid us in the bush,” one survivor said.

The group reportedly crossed about three rivers and drank rainwater mixed with dirty water when supplies ran low.

The ordeal became even more dangerous when security forces began closing in.

Unknown to the kidnappers, police and other security agencies had been conducting intelligence-led operations across the forest corridor.

Ogun authorities later said the rescue effort involved the police, military, Department of State Services, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, local security personnel and other operatives.

The sound of a surveillance drone eventually alerted the kidnappers that security forces were approaching.

The students said the gunmen responded by moving them deeper into the forest, forcing them to walk from about 8pm until 6am.

The decisive confrontation came when security personnel engaged the kidnappers in a gun battle.

Caught between the fleeing gunmen and advancing security forces, the hostages had to make split-second decisions over where to run.

One student said he was shot in the leg after mistakenly approaching a person he thought might be a police officer.

He fell to the ground and pretended to be dead as the attackers came close to him.

“I fell to the ground and played dead. I could hear footsteps coming close to me.

They checked me and said, ‘This one looks like he’s dead.’ So they left me,” he recalled.

The injured student later heard a drone overhead and the voice of a police officer approaching.

“When I heard that, I knew it was the police, and I shouted, ‘Please, I am a student! You guys should help me!’” he said.

A police officer reportedly carried him to safety, while the injured survivor urged the team to continue searching for his friend.

The rescue operation eventually brought seven abducted victims out alive.

Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun said the operation was conducted in phases, with five victims rescued initially and the remaining two freed during a subsequent operation supported by a police helicopter and ground forces.

One victim sustained a gunshot wound during the operation but was stabilised after receiving medical treatment.

Police Commissioner Bode Ojajuni subsequently disclosed that two suspected kidnappers had been arrested.

Security forces also raided a suspected hideout along the Sagamu-Abeokuta Expressway on 6 August. Authorities said three suspected kidnappers were neutralised during a gun battle, while others escaped with gunshot wounds.

An AK-47 rifle, an empty magazine, four mobile phones and N2.3 million in cash were reportedly recovered from the hideout.

The successful rescue brought an end to an incident that had initially generated conflicting reports about the number of victims and the circumstances surrounding the attack.

When the abduction was first reported, the polytechnic’s SUG confirmed that five students had been taken and warned against unverified information.

The union also described the hostel’s isolated location and surrounding vegetation as vulnerabilities that could expose residents to criminal attacks.

The incident prompted wider concern about security around tertiary institutions in the area.

The National Association of Nigerian Students called for the immediate rescue of the victims and stronger security around campuses, describing the abduction as another disturbing indication of insecurity affecting students.

Students of Gateway ICT Polytechnic also called for a stronger security architecture in surrounding communities after the attack, particularly for off-campus accommodation located away from populated areas.

For one of the rescued students, the experience also changed his perception of the police.

His father had served as a police officer before his death five years earlier, but the student admitted that he had previously doubted whether security personnel could successfully locate and rescue abducted victims.

“Before, I didn’t have confidence in the police,” he said.

The experience in the forest altered that view.

“I understand what it feels like for them to leave their families behind and hunt for us inside the bush. I am grateful and happy to be alive today.”

The students’ survival came at a heavy cost, with their accounts revealing the physical and psychological strain endured during eight days in captivity.

Yet their eventual rescue also demonstrated the importance of intelligence gathering, aerial surveillance and coordinated operations across security agencies.

Also read: FG commissions upgraded Ijora, Apapa substations, adds 208MW in Lagos

For the rescued students and their families, the most significant outcome was ultimately much simpler: seven people who entered the forest as hostages came out alive.