One of the victims abducted alongside the late retired Major General Abubakar Rabe has recounted the harrowing ordeal they endured in the custody of notorious bandits leader, Kachalla Maha, describing weeks of fear, hardship, death threats and the final moments of the senior military officer before he died in captivity.
Speaking in Hausa in an interview by DC, monitored by SaharaReporters, the rescued victim gave a detailed account of their abduction, life inside the bandits' camp and the circumstances surrounding the death of the late General Rabe, contradicting widespread reports that the retired army officer died after suffering a snakebite.
According to the survivor, General Rabe's fatal injury occurred after he slipped while walking in the rain, sustaining a wound that later became infected and worsened due to underlying diabetes and high blood pressure.
Recounting how he and others were kidnapped, the victim said they came under heavy gunfire shortly after leaving Katsina.
"As it happened, we left Katsina at about 5:46. Then we got there immediately. We came under gunfire — they were shooting at us heavily. I was at the front then, not at the back. As I got out, I fell onto the roadside. From there, they put us on motorcycles and took us into the bush," he said.
