By Ajani Okanlawon
Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae, who was rescued from kidnappers on Thursday, has recounted the ordeal he went through.
Falae regained his freedom four days after his abduction by alleged Fulani herdsmen on his farm in Ilado village, Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State.
Speaking when Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, paid him a visit at his Oba Ile residence, the former finance minister recalled that when he told the kidnappers that his family could raise N2m against the N100m the abductors demanded, they rejected it.
He said the kidnappers told him, “Is it Boko Haram you are giving N2m to?”
According to him, he slept on bare floor for four days.
“I slept on the bare floor for four days. I did not sleep in one location during the four days. I was being moved from one location to another to avoid being caught by law enforcement agents.
“The kidnappers were always abreast of media reports and were moving me from one location to another within hours. All the rains that fell during the four days caught me in the deep bush,” he recounted.
Presenting Falae to his family earlier in the day, the Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, said no ransom was paid to the kidnappers.
Arase, who personally took Falae to his house, said it was not possible for criminal elements to hold the state to ransom.
He told excited family members and newsmen that even before President Muhammadu Buhari gave the 48 hours ultimatum to the police to rescue Falae, the men and officers of the Force had commenced moves to apprehend the kidnappers.
He said: “Before the President gave the directive, the police had taken steps.
“Since Monday we have been doing our job to rescue him even before the directive.”
Asked if any arrest had been made, Arase said: “I will make that known later.”
