In a jaw-dropping tale of survival, a former Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier General Maharazu Tsiga (rtd), has recounted the night he came face-to-face with death—not just at the hands of kidnappers, but from the jaws of wild hyenas.
The ex-NYSC DG shared the chilling experience during a recent security forum, opening up for the first time about a traumatic encounter that almost claimed his life. According to him, he was abducted along a remote highway while on a private trip, his vehicle ambushed by armed men who whisked him into the wilderness.
“I was blindfolded, beaten, and dragged for hours into what seemed like the middle of nowhere,” he recalled. “The terrain changed from bushland to deep forest. You could feel civilization slipping away.”
The kidnappers held him captive in an open, makeshift camp surrounded by nothing but thick bush and ominous sounds of wildlife. But the real horror began on the third night.
“I woke up to a deep growl. Then another. At first, I thought it was my imagination, but soon, I could hear the unmistakable sound of hyenas circling the den,” he said.
The kidnappers, amused and drunk, began mocking him. “One of them said, ‘If your people don’t send money soon, we’ll let our bush friends have you for dinner,’” he recalled with a shiver.
Tied up and defenseless, the former NYSC boss watched as glowing eyes pierced the darkness. The hyenas had caught the scent of blood—likely from earlier torture—and were inching closer, snarling and pacing. The kidnappers occasionally scared them off with gunshots into the air, but only just enough to keep them from attacking.
“It was mental torment. Every minute, I expected sharp teeth to tear into my flesh. The kidnappers used it as psychological warfare—they wanted me to break down, to beg, to cry,” he narrated.
Fortunately, the ransom negotiations progressed faster than expected. On the fifth day, a large sum was paid, and the former DG was dumped by the roadside, weak and traumatized but alive.
“It was God’s grace,” he said simply. “I saw death. I smelled it. I heard its voice in the laughter of my abductors and the growl of wild beasts.”
The former DG now uses his voice to advocate for increased security in rural areas and along highways, calling for urgent reforms in how the government tackles kidnapping and wildlife threats in remote zones.
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