Some of them, who recounted their ordeals in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN), said that there were many snakes in the forests inhabitated by the bandits.
They said that the snakes often bite both the kidnappers and the victims.
One of them, who craved anonymity, told NAN that kidnappers threw them into snake-infested spots.
“The kidnappers know the areas infested with snakes and would often throw the victims there.
“Immediately they see snakes, the fear-stricken victims will want to run away. The sight is used to frighten people.
“That is the time a victim can ask friends and family members to sell everything – house, land, cars, household items, shoes, just everything – to raise the ransom.”
NAN investigation revealed that the worst snake-infested forests are in Birnin Gwari in Kaduna State, and Kala-Balge, near Lake Chad, in Borno.
Other areas included Shaki in Oyo State, Borgu and Kagara in Niger, Karim Lamido in Adamawa, and Lau in Taraba.
Some of the victims told NAN that the situation is worse now with the current heat as snakes leave their holes in search of fresh air and food.
“The nights are often more traumatising. You are left outside, in the dark, and a reptile may just creep through your legs.
“While I was in captivity, snakes bit some victims. The kidnappers were not spared as some of them also got bitten,” a victim, who was taken to a thick forest in Kagara, in Niger, told NAN.
According to him, in Kagara forest, the snakes are so common that the locals refer to them as “kadangarun Kagara (Kagara lizards).”
Prof. Abdulsalam Nasidi, Chairman, Echitap Study Group, the outfit in charge of Echitap Anti-Snake Venom(ASV), who spoke on the development, confirmed that banditry was associated with areas prone to snake bites.
Nasidi, whose group collaborates with Micropharm UK Ltd and Instituto Clodomiro Picardo (ICP), Costa Rica, to bring the drugs to Nigeria, decried the rising cases of snake bites in Nigeria.
“Unfortunately for us, the cost of snake bite treatment has gone well beyond the reach of the poor,” he said.
While confirming that some abductees indeed returned with snakebite wounds, he said that the cost of treatment could only be affordable if the ASV drugs were produced locally.
“The ASV manufacturers are ready to collaborate with us to produce the ASV in Nigeria.
“It is only when we produce ASV locally in Nigeria that we can make it available at a reduced cost.
“The rise in the value of the dollar has made the cost of foreign production so high that the poor man who, in most cases, is the victim of snake bites, cannot afford it.
“In the past, villagers used to contribute money to purchase ASV, that is no longer possible.
“An ample of the Echitap G ASV, which takes care of venoms from a carpet viper, costs 59 Pounds factory price. 97 per cent of poisonous snake bite cases in Nigeria are from carpet vipers.
“For Echitap plus ICP ASV, which treats venom from puff adder, carpet viper and black cobra, an ample is 24 dollars factory price.
“If you add the cost of transportation from the two countries – UK and Costa Rica – plus the charges for clearance at the ports, the price becomes a different thing.”
He identified the most poisonous snakes in Nigeria as carpet viper, puff adder and black cobra.
“But, we even have an equally dangerous snake – Black Mamba – in Abuja. So, we also need an ASV for it,” he said.
According to him, in the past, Nigerians bitten by snakes had 40 per cent chances of survival.
“But, if the black mamba is added, the chances shrink to 10 per cent. It means we desperately need to produce ASV locally,” he said.
On kidnappers deliberately exposing their victims to snakes, he pointed out that snakes do not know the difference between a kidnapper and his victim.
He lamented the prevalence of snake bites among poor Nigerians that were already hungry.
“If a snake bites a hungry person, his case is only pathetic as he is already economically traumatised without much hope.”
He particularly condemned the inhuman behaviour of exposing abductees to snake bites, and regretted the “zero” premium placed on human life.
“From the accounts of victims, kidnapped people could see a snake coming toward them and are not allowed to run. Nothing is more traumatising.”
Nasidi said that his group had submitted a proposal to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), for the local production of ASV.
“The proposal has been approved and we are waiting for the money to start up.
“The foreign manufacturers are ready to offer the technology. So, we are hopeful that we shall soon start local production of ASV,” he said.
Nasidi advised Nigerians to be careful while moving at night, noting that snakes were moving closer to human habitats.
“We must all be very watchful and observant. Treating snake bites is very expensive. So, prevention is better than any form of cure,” he said.
The disturbing claims have been made by influencer and former OnlyFans star Lauren Pisciotta, who has already sued West once before.
In June, the social media star alleged that he sexually harassed and stalked her while she worked for him from 2021 until 2022.
West, 47, denied the previous claims and branded them ‘baseless’. While yet to file a defence, he accused Pisciotta, 36, of ‘blackmail and extortion’.
Now, her latest bombshell lawsuit makes a string of unsettling accusations, including West having sick sexual obsessions and fantasising about wanting to sleep with his targets’ mothers, including the family of his wife Bianca Censori.
Former Yeezy employee Pisciotta has said she first met the Gold Digger hitmaker when he invited her and a client to a studio session and party co-hosted by himself and Combs.
According to legal documents obtained by DailyMail, she was handed a drink by West himself, after which she ‘started to feel disorientated’ before she slipped into ‘a highly impaired state’.
‘She felt less in control of her body and speech, and that is where [her] memories of the night escape [her],’ it has been claimed.
The next day, Pisciotta felt ‘ashamed and embarrassed’ that she couldn’t recall the evening’s events while her musician client, who attended with her, refused to discuss what happened.
Pisciotta has said she only discovered the truth years later in West’s final weeks as her boss, understanding why her client felt ‘too traumatised’ to speak out until then.
After originally believing she had been drugged by a studio assistant but managing to get home without being attacked, Pisciotta learnt the extent of the night’s events from West himself.
West’s ex-wife – not named in the lawsuit but believed to be Kim Kardashian, who is his only former spouse – allegedly commented on him and Pisciotta having an affair in November 2022, to which Pisciotta said she wanted to contact her to set the record straight.
Pisciotta believed Kardashian, 43, who married West in 2014, was ‘under the wrong impression’ about their working relationship.
However, she has claimed West told her she couldn’t send a message to clear the air, because of what happened at the Santa Monica party.
‘We did, kind of, hook up a little one time,’ the lawsuit claimed West told Pisciotta.
‘[West] then immediately proceeded to reminisce about the time he was referring to… where he “hooked up” with [Pisciotta] after she had been drugged,’ the lawsuit added.
Pisciotta claimed West had told Kardashian they ‘hooked up’ but ‘left out the true nature and severity of what he did to [her]’.
Had Kardashian ‘been told the truth and known [Pisciotta] was, in fact, drugged and sexually assaulted by Kanye West’ she would never have made the comment, the lawsuit states.
Pisciotta allegedly told West that she did not remember anything from the party, to which he laughed in response.
He is said to have told her: ‘Women love to say they don’t remember’, before changing the subject.
He has been labelled a ‘premeditative and sadistic groomer’ who has taken advantage of his superstardom to fuel his ‘insatiable sexual gratification’ and ‘animalistic desires’ with ‘little boundaries’.
West married Censori, 29, two years ago. The Australian architectural designer met him when she began working at Yeezy in November 2020.
Their relationship has been a hot topic ever since they were first spotted together, with Censori frequently seen in public wearing extremely revealing outfits while her spouse is fully clothed.
In her lawsuit, Piscotta claims West sent her a screenshot on September 28, 2022, of a text chain between him and his wife, talking about having sex with her mother.
‘I want to f**k your mom. Before she leaves,’ he wrote, as per the suit.
He asked Pisciotta: ‘Should I add I meant I want you to watch me f**k your mom?’
‘Is [young A-list fashion model] better for me than [different A-list fashion model]? How do I tell her I need to f**k her mom baaad’.
While shooting for the campaign, West headed for breaks, during which he instructed wife Censori and other female guests to perform oral sex on him and fellow men in the changing rooms.
He later boasted about this to Pisciotta, as well as the time in June 2022 when he allegedly drank a bottle of wine with a model before inserting it into her vagina.
‘I feel like you could be a spectator… I just feel like she needs an audience. A beautiful audience lol,’ he wrote, the lawsuit claimed.
Other disconcerting texts sent from West to Piscotta include the time she was delayed with travel due to work visas.
Saying he wanted to go back to Los Angeles, he wrote: ‘Aaaaaaaaand there’s soooo much p***y in LA I may rent a room, take the honey pack, drink some tequila and just take appointments…
‘I’m a great guy and dad. But I love bad b***hes and I love the f*k the s**t outa bad b***hes and make them fall in love too.’
Pisciotta makes several other claims about West abusing his connections at high-profile brands, such as Adidas and Gap, to get women into the US on work visas so he could sleep with them.
They were given ‘obscure job titles’ at his companies and made to sign non-disclosure agreements.
However, he is believed to have been ‘brazenly open’ with Pisciotta and other staff about what happened, divulging ‘grotesque details’, including telling them that he filmed his sexual encounters to ‘get the full picture’.
The lawsuit also claims West often ‘offered up’ his sexual partners, employees, and women he trafficked as ‘gifts’ to his friends and colleagues.
Pisciotta claimed he tried to ‘gift’ her too, but was unsuccessful.
•’EFCC’s silence on Ganduje despite monumental corruption allegations no longer golden’
A Coalition of 30 Anti-corruption Civil Society Organizations have called for the resignation of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, over his alleged failure to prosecute a former Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, despite multiple petitions against him on multi-billion naira fraud and bribery allegations.
The CSOs, under the umbrella, “Global Initiative for Corruption Eradication”, also called for the immediate arrest of Ganduje, who they said had no immunity, but was allegedly enjoying the cover of the Federal Government through the EFCC.
The spokesperson for GICE, Comrade Anthony Onoja, who addressed a press conference in Abuja on Friday, said, “N50billion diverted LGA funds, dollar video and N1billion naira probe seem to have all been swept under the carpet. It’s been over 2,200 days since the dollar video scandal broke and yet EFCC is silent.”
The activists urged well meaning Nigerians and relevant international organizations to join in stopping the EFCC from further insulting the sensibilities of Nigerians by calling for the immediate arrest and prosecution of Ganduje.
“The chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) must resign from his position if he fails to arrest and prosecute Governor Ganduje in line with our extant laws.
“The continued silence of the EFCC despite the monumental corruption allegations against Ganduje, despite the many petitions, the avalanche of evidence(s) available and protest from various groups and the Kano state government to probe and bring Ganduje to book is no longer golden. It also negates its constant rebuttal of keeping sacred cows.
“The general perception of Nigerians now is that the EFCC, as it is, has abandoned its original mandate by becoming a political tool in the hands of the government of the day for eliminating political rivals and perceived enemies,” Onoja said.
He added that the EFCC was now seen by Nigerians as a major conduit of misappropriation of public funds and a tool for political persecution.
“While these perceptions have become increasingly prevalent, the agency has further justified and vindicated the majority of Nigerians that hold this view with its recent selective prosecution of alleged corrupt public officers; and allowing very corrupt ones to walk free after suppressing the wheel of justice from taking its full effect against them.
“An example of these sacred cows that have continued to walk free despite the monumental corruption allegations against him is the former governor of Kano and current National chairman of the ruling party, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje,” the activists said.
They stated: “It would be recalled that the Kano High Court was to arraign the former Kano Governor, Umaru Ganduje and his wife on April 17, 2024, over allegations of bribery and misappropriation of funds by the state government. Neither he nor his wife went to court. They also disrespected the court so much that they didn’t send a legal representation.
“The case was adjourned to 29th April but was stalled again. No representation, no appearance. Ganduje was not present. The case was again adjourned to May 16, and on that day, arraignment was rescheduled to June 5. Still, the former governor, who no longer has immunity under our extant laws and is not above the laws of Nigeria by virtue of being the Chairman of the ruling party, did not show up. No representation still.
“The last arraignment was supposed to be July 11. At the resumed proceedings on July 11, Ganduje and his co-defendants were again absent. The judge declined a prayer by the prosecution counsel for a warrant of arrest but ruled that the defendants could be tried in absentia.”
According to them, while the creation of the EFCC by the Obasanjo administration was greeted with commendations, EFCC has derailed.
“Finally, our group is of the considered view that perhaps if the EFCC in its current form is disbanded because of its constitutional illegality as pointed out by the states in the current case against the EFCC at the Apex Court, it would be able to perform its real functions of stamping out corruption when its law is properly enacted,” the CSOs added.