Bandits who abducted the police orderly of slain former governorship aspirant in Zamfara, Sagir Hamidu, along Kaduna – Abuja expressway last Sunday, have demanded N200m as a ransom for his release.
The bandits also handed down a 6-hour ultimatum to the family of the abducted police officer to raise the N200m.
They claimed they were about to relocate to another location as they couldn’t be able to make phone calls and they will move with the abductee.
According to a Hausa tabloid, Muryar ‘Yanci, published in Kaduna on Friday, the police orderly, Hosea, was taken to a forest on Sunday after his boss, a former governorship aspirant in Zamfara State was killed by the gunmen along the Abuja-Kaduna highway.
The newspaper claimed that its reporter who listened to the recorded phone conversation between the bandits and the policeman’s family said that when they begged to pay N2 million, the bandits replied saying “you shouldn’t say so because this is a big man in our custody. You are saying what cannot be possible.”
It said, “The bandits demanded that his family gather N200 million quickly for his release. When they called the policeman’s family on the phone, they said they were leaving the location because there is no telecom services.
“The gunmen were annoyed when the family pleaded that they could afford to pay only N2 million. The gunmen expressed their anger and gave the family a 6-hour deadline, to pay the N200 million ransom.”
It added that the bandit who was talking to the policeman’s family said they were even lucky his colleagues did not hear their plea to pay N2 million, adding that the problem will escalate if they did not heed their demand.
The kidnappers further said, “If you ever mention N2 million again, we will either shoot him dead or slaughter him.”
When the gunmen allowed the policeman to speak with his family members, Hosea pleaded with them to help and pay the money in time because where they were was an uncomfortable location.
Hosea was reported to have said, “We trekked a very long distance before we could get the telecom service to call you. Please go to my friends if you cannot gather the money, seek for a loan, I will pay back when I return.”
The police in Kaduna could not be reached for comment.
Copyright PUNCH.
