How I Spent 11 hours On Treetop To Escape Abduction---Senator Dino Melaye.

The senator said he was travelling from abuja to lokoja for a court appearance on Thursday in his ongoing trial for alleged criminal conspiracy and shortly after passing gwagwalada which is roughly 50 kilometers southwest of Abuja, a convoy of three vehicles drove recklessly by his vehicle, intercepting him on the highway and forcing him to stop.

According to the senator, the assailant tried to open fore to force themselves Into the vehicle only to find out it was a week fortified vehicle with bullet proof. Without much time to waste at the scene, the attackers devised an alternative.

"They started saying shouting they wanted to burn me, they said burn him, burn him down and crossed the road to set the vehicle on fire" Mr Melaye said.

As the attackers dispersed on different direction to scavenge for tyres, Mr Melaye said he feared for his life and made an instinctive calculation to jump into the bush and bolt, rather than remain in his car in defiance.

"I jumped into the bush and I started running", Mr Melaye said. " They followed me and I was able to outmaneuver them and climb a tree". "I was on top of the tree when I saw them run pass frantically looking for me and when they didn't find me, they also ran back".

The senator said it was on that tree that he perched until his assailants left. While on the tree, he saw four of them passing but remained hushed to avoid being detected. He would go on to spend 11 hours trying to ensure that he was no longer at immediate risk from his assailants and navigating his way out of the overgrown weeds.