The kidnappers of an American citizen, Philip Nathan, who was abducted from his farmhouse at Nasalata village in Niger Republic on October 21, have revealed how American soldiers swooped on them in a helicopter to rescue their victim in the dead of the night.
The suspects, Aliyu Umar, 23, and Ali Abdulahi, 21, said that they had taken their hostage to a thick forest in Sokoto State, where they kept him for one week and provided 24-hour security to ensure he does not escape when from nowhere an helicopter hovered around where he was kept with white soldiers jumping down and killing all their gang members before taking their victim away without stress.
Aliyu told Sunday Sun in an interview that the whole operation did not last more than five minutes.
He said that he and his colleague Ali Abdulahi escaped being killed by the invading soldiers because they were off duty on the night that the American Seal carried out the operation.
He said that he watched the whole drama from a distance in a house they had taken refuge not too far from the spot they kept their hostage when the helicopter arrived in the area, hovered for sometime before the soldiers jumped out.
The suspect, however, said that he cannot remember the exact time of the night as he and his colleagues were too afraid to go out.
He also said that they did not hear the sound of any gunshot during the operation, but that it was only when they got there in the morning that they met the dead bodies of all their colleagues.
The suspects who are in police custody narrated how they kidnapped the American while he was relaxing in his farmhouse.
According to him, they went in about 12 motorcycles and worked with two other kidnap gangs, making them a total of over 20, that went for the operation.
On getting to the farm, he said that they met the victim who was in his house relaxing on the fateful day and surrounded him.
On sighting them, he said that the American offered to give them 20,000 Cefas, but they rejected the offer and took him away because they wanted their money in dollars.
After rounding him up, he said that they put him in one of the motorcycles with three other people to ensure he does not act funny and rode to the forest in Sokoto, where they have their hideout.
