“How We Were Kept with Hyenas, Snakes,” Ex-NYSC DG Tsiga Recounts Ordeal in Kidnappers’ Den
- Former NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Maharazu Tsiga (rtd.), has spent over two months in captivity and survived dangerous encounters with wild animals and terrorists
- The terrorists used abductees, including Tsiga, as human shields during military airstrikes, endangering their lives to avoid being targeted
- However, Tsiga, who expressed gratitude to national security officials led by NSA Nuhu Ribadu, has narrated how he and 18 other rescued kidnap victims fared in captivity
TheTalk.NG journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.
FCT, Abuja – Former Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier General Maharazu Tsiga (rtd), who spent over two months in captivity, has recounted his harrowing experience in the hands of terrorists and kidnappers.
Ex-NYSC boss Tsiga recounts 56- day ordeal in kidnappers’ den.
Photo credit: Maharazu Tsiga RtdSource: Facebook
Speaking with newsmen on Thursdays, April 3, Tsiga revealed that he and other abductees were held in a dense forest surrounded by hills, teeming with dangerous animals.
The ex-NYSC DG described his survival as nothing short of divine intervention, Vanguard reported.
The 72-year-old said:
“We were kept with dangerous animals—hyenas, snakes, and scorpions. A day before I was released, just the day before yesterday, while on the mountain where I was staying, we suddenly noticed a hyena circling us, looking for food. And what kind of food? Us, human beings.”
“Throughout our time there, we constantly lived with snakes and scorpions. But the most terrifying experience was how they treated those of us whose ranks they knew. Whenever troops attacked them, they would bring us out and use us as human shields, hoping to get us killed by the military strikes. They wanted us to be hit by the aircraft. But God is merciful.”
“The National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) have said it—the good ones will survive, and ultimately, the bad ones will meet their end.”
Tsiga further narrated a particularly chilling experience involving an unexploded rocket:
“During an airstrike, a rocket was fired at the terrorists, but it didn’t explode. Instead, they carried the unexploded rocket and placed it where I was sleeping, hiding it in a way that if I touched it, it would detonate. Yet, by God’s mercy, I survived.”
Nuhu Ribadu receives former NYSC DG Tsiga, 18 other rescued kidnap victims.
Photo credit: @el_uthmaanSource: Twitter
He also highlighted the kidnappers’ belief that military officers have access to government funds, which led them to attack his home.
“They believe that those of us in uniform are given money by the government. That’s why they tried to break into my house. They couldn’t, so they went to my home in Kaduna and used explosives to destroy it, including the gates.”
The National Counter Terrorism Center on Thursday, April 3, handed over the former director-general (DG) of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Maharazu Tsiga, to the national security adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu.
The handover took place in Abuja.
Source: TheTalk.NG
