An entrepreneur and farm manager, Omogbolahan Emmanuel Olaniyi, has narrated how he spent 42 days in captivity after being kidnapped in Ekiti State, despite his family paying a ransom of ₦17 million to his abductors.
Olaniyi disclosed that he was abducted on October 23, 2025, while working on a remote farm near the boundary with Kogi State, an area that has witnessed increasing cases of insecurity and armed attacks.
In a post on his X (formerly Twitter) account, Olaniyi said he was held in what he described as “the wilderness” under harsh physical and emotional conditions.
According to him, the ransom payment failed to secure his release, and he remained in captivity for weeks afterward.
“I was kidnapped on October 23 at the farm where I work as a manager in Ekiti State close to Kogi boundary. I was in the wilderness for 42 days after paying ₦17 million.
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I wasn’t released until I escaped with some other men. We’re still in serious debt,” he wrote.
Family sources said the ransom was paid on October 30, 2025, at Egbe, with the expectation that he would be released.
Instead, the abductors allegedly contacted the family again, demanding an additional ₦55 million and threatening to kill him if the sum was not paid within 24 hours.
Olaniyi was abducted alongside another farm worker identified as Kazeem. The two men were taken from a farm in Oke-Ako, Ekiti State.
Kazeem was later killed by the kidnappers, according to family sources.
During negotiations, the abductors reportedly demanded not only cash but also food items, drinks, recharge cards, and a mobile phone.
In a video circulated online, Olaniyi’s mother was seen pleading with the kidnappers to spare her son’s life.
Olaniyi said he eventually regained his freedom through a risky escape attempt alongside other captives.
He added that his family remains in serious debt following the ransom payments.
The incident highlights the worsening security situation in parts of southwestern and north-central Nigeria, where kidnapping for ransom continues to pose a major threat to residents and workers in remote communities.
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