Armed bandits have asked the family of a police officer to pay a N200 million ransom for his quick release because they have to leave telecommunications service area.
Sambo Hosea was kidnapped alongside many other travellers on Sunday on the Kaduna-Abuja highway. He was the police orderly to Sagir Hamida, a former governorship aspirant in Zamfara State who was killed by the bandits in the incident.
The bandits subsequently demanded the N200 million ransom from Mr Hosea’s family.
In a telephone conversation with the family on Wednesday, the outlaws said they were leaving the location where they could access service and urged for timely payment of the ransom.
When tthe relatives of the abducted police officer responded that they had raised N2 million, the kidnappers gave them six hours to hand over the amount they demanded.
A personal assistant to the deceased politician, Ibrahim Musa, confirmed the situation.
Our reporter listened to a recording of the phone negotiation between the bandits and Hosea’s family.
When offered the N2 million, the bandit launched into an angry rant:
“You cannot say such to me after abducting such personality. What you are saying is nonsense. You are lucky your call was not on speaker, my colleagues could have beaten up your brother (the captive).
“This issue can escalate into something big if you cannot hasten to pay the ransom. If you mention N2 million again, we will either shoot him dead or beat him up.
“I have shown enough patience to you. I have done my best for sourcing network service to communicate with you. You have to talk sense. We are leaving network location and if we leave here, it will take you days before you hear from your brother again.”
The kidnappers then extended the ultimatum from one hour to six hours to raise the money.
It’s not easy, captive speaks on condition in captivity
When he was allowed into the call, Mr Hosea pleaded for timely payment of the ransom to the kidnappers, saying his condition was not good.
“We trekked for days to access mobile network to communicate with you. Please go to my people, even if you can borrow, help me raise the money I will pay later.
“The six hours is too much because we are moving from one location to another in search of network,” Mr Hosea said.
During the conversation, the bandits also received an airtime recharge card from the relative of the police officer.
The phone contact of the police spokesperson in Kaduna, Muhammad Jalige, did not connect Thursday afternoon to obtain his comment on the development.
Premium Times