The kidnappers threatened to sell the victims’ body parts if the ransom was not paid.
Some yet-to-be identified gunmen have abducted a female resident of Starwood Estate, Galadimawa, in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mistura Olasinde, alongside her two daughters, Hauwa and Fatima.
The three were kidnapped on Friday, September 8, 2023, in the nation’s capital.
Speaking of the kidnap incident, Mistura’s husband, Surajudeen Olasinde, a staff member of the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority, revealed that the incident happened at Kabusa Garden Estate.
According to Olasinde, his wife and children were driving home in their Toyota Highlander from Garki to Starwood Estate located in-between Galadimawa and Lokokogoma areas of Abuja, where they reside, when the kidnappers ambushed them.
“Their abduction happened around 7pm on their way from Garki. Immediately they reached Kabusa Garden Estate at the spot where the road was terribly bad, the kidnappers came out from the nearby bush and attacked them.
“They started shooting to scare people away before they marched them into the bush.” Olasinde said.
He further noted that residents quickly called on the Galadimawa Divisional Police Officer, Jerry Cole, who immediately led a team of policemen in collaboration with vigilante operatives, to comb the bushes, adding that the search effort was, however, unsuccessful.
Olasinde, who said he was away in the state when the incident happened, arrived in Abuja on Saturday, adding that his family’s captors contacted his brother-in-law to demand a ₦100m ransom.
“They asked for ₦100m. Later, they brought it down to N50m, then to ₦10m. But at the end of the day, they asked us how much we had with us.
“The kidnappers even told us that if they killed my wife and my two daughters, they could sell their body parts above whatever amount we claimed to have. We resorted to begging, pleading with them not to harm or kill my family,” he narrated.
Olasinde further noted that when they informed the kidnappers that they didn’t have much money, the abductors asked about the Toyota Highlander that was attacked, leading him to inform them that it was part of the valuables sold out to raise money for the ransom.
The NNRA staff added that he and his brother-in-law were able to raise ₦2.840m, which they (the kidnappers) later collected as ransom. He explained that the kidnappers directed them to bring it on Saturday, September 9, using any motorcycle from Kabusa village. They were able to recover the victims after paying the ransom.
