Bandits kill 3 more abducted Abuja victims, raise ransom to N700m

Bandits, who abducted 10 persons from an estate, Sagwari Layout, Dutse, Abuja, on January 7 have reportedly killed three more of their victims as a warning to their relatives negotiating ransom.

Thereafter, the bandits increased their demand from the initial N60 million per person to N100 million. The total sum is now N700 million.

Residents said the victims were allegedly killed over the ‘delay’ in raising the ransom demanded by the kidnappers.

The kidnappers dumped the remains of four victims they executed, around a former military checkpoint behind Idah Junction along the Bwari-Jere SCC Road in Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

Among the corpses so far identified include a secondary school student identified as the daughter of the Ekiti state-born chief legal officer of the National University Commission (NUC), Folorunsho Ariyo, and a 500-level student of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, Nabeeha Al-kadriyar.

While Ariyo was abducted along with her mother and three siblings two Sundays ago, Nabeeeha was seized with her father and five of her female siblings on January 9.

In a chat with newsmen, Nabeeha’s uncle had said they found the corpses of three other victims – two females and a male – when they went to pick the remains of their daughter.

It was gathered that Ariyo’s corpse was released to her family from the Umaru Musa Yar’adua General Hospital, Sabon-Wuse, Niger State, where it was deposited by the police.

The teenage girl was buried on Sunday, January 14, 2024, in Dutse Cemetery, Abuja, while the other members of the family remain with their abductors.

A community leader in the area, John Alpha Dogo, had said the bandits dragged the victims to the location on Friday night and executed them.

The situation has caused confusion at two communities –Bagye and Pashin– at Dnatan chiefdom, with residents leaving in droves out of fear.

Dnatan chiefdom, carved out from Kagarko chiefdom in 2022 by the Kaduna State Government, has been under series of bandits’ attacks lately.