TheNewsGuru

Tag: Kidnappers

  • Kidnappers demand N30m ransom for abducted Council boss in Kaduna

    Kidnappers demand N30m ransom for abducted Council boss in Kaduna

    After days of silence, abductors of the Chairman of Kaura Local Government Area (LGA) of Kaduna State, Hon. (Dr.) Humble Katuka have agreed to free him if the sum of N30 million is paid to them.

    A family source disclosed this to TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) via a phone call, revealing the negotiation started on Saturday when they asked for N100 million ransom.

    “We pleaded and they later reduced to N80 million… we kept pleading and they agreed for N30 million….” the source said.

    Recall that TNG had reported that Katuka, an APC chieftain in Southern Kaduna as well as a sitting Council Boss of Kaura LGA was kidnapped on his way to his farm in Juji Village, Chikun LGA of the State.

  • Kidnappers of ex-US army officer contact family, demand N20m ransom

    Kidnappers of ex-US army officer contact family, demand N20m ransom

    The kidnappers of a retired United States Army officer, Maj. Jide Ijadare, who was abducted at his palm oil factory on Ijan-Ise EKiti road have demanded N20 million ransom.

    Ijadare and one of his staff were abducted by gunmen at Ijan Ekiti, Gbonyin Local Government area of Ekiti State, on Tuesday.

    A man identified as a contractor with the factory was allegedly shot dead by the kidnappers during the broad day attack.

    A member of Ijadare’s family confirmed to journalists via telephone, on Wednesday, that the abductors had contacted one of them and demanded for N20 million ransom.

    “Yes, they contacted one of the family members this morning (Wednesday) and demanded for the sum.

    “Though, the matter had been reported to the police since life was involved and they are also doing their own bit to ensure that the abducted are released in time.”

    However, the Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti Command, Mr Sunday Abutu, said the command was not aware of any ransom being demanded by the abductors.

    “We are not aware of any ransom being demanded by the abductors. But our men are in the bush combing everywhere to ensure their release.

    “The police Commissoner, Mr Babatunde Mobayo had deployed different units of police operatives in the factory and the surrounding forests.

    “We are assuring the people that the abductees will be released safe and sound and in good health, but we appeal to the public to give us useful information that can help our men and other local hunters we are working with.”

    The retired military man’s abduction came barely 48 hours after the Director, General Administration with the Local Government Service Commission, Mr David Jejelowo, was shot dead by assailants.

    Jejelowo was killed at his residence at Igirigiri, Odo Ado area of Ado Ekiti metropolis.

  • Kidnappers block Kano road, abduct three

    Kidnappers block Kano road, abduct three

    Daredevil kidnappers on Monday morning mounted a roadblock along Falgore Forest in Doguwa Local Government Area of Kano State and abducted three persons.

    A witness, Ado Musa, told Freedom Radio that the incident happened around 7am.

    Doguwa is south of the state.

    The witness said a number of commuters sustained injuries during the attack, adding that the Hisbah commander of the local government, Mukhtar Abdulmumin, was among those injured by the gunmen.

    Spokesman for the Kano Police Command, Abdullahi Kiyawa, confirmed the incident.

    Kiyawa said the police have begun investigation into the incident.

  • Police kill three suspected kidnappers, rescue victim in Yobe

    Police kill three suspected kidnappers, rescue victim in Yobe

    Bala Ajiya

    The Yobe State Police Command reportedly killed three suspected kidnappers, arrested four others and rescued a victim.

    According to reports, kidnappers numbering about 15 reportedly stormed Kesawa village in Yobe state and abducted a wealthy Fulani man named (name yet to be ascertained) in the process

    The kidnappers armed with AK 47 rifles were said to have collected about 4 million naira from the victim’s family before whisking the man to an unknown location in the bush

    However, the Nigerian police chased and ambushed the suspects killing three , arrested four, and rescued the victim from the hands of the kidnappers.

    The arrested kidnappers are currently undergoing interrogation at the Damaturu police station B Division.

  • 99 percent of terrorists, kidnappers are Nigerians – Buratai

    99 percent of terrorists, kidnappers are Nigerians – Buratai

    The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Yusuf Tukur Buratai, has said the various shades of insecurity in different parts of the country will end as soon as Nigerians want them to end.

    Buratai stated this on Monday when he addressed State House Correspondents after a closed-doors meeting with President Muhmmadu Buhari in the Presidential Villa.

    Buratai, who noted that various ongoing military operations in the north and other parts of the country were progressing successfully, also said that the security situation in the north had been brought under control, saying the situation had become better than it was a few months ago.

    However, it would be recalled that a couple of bloody incidences had been reported in different parts of the country, especially in the north, in the last few days.

    Reports had it that 19 persons were shot dead in Kukum Daji Village, Kaduna State Sunday night, while suspected bandits ambushed and killed 16 soldiers in Katsina on Saturday.

    Responding to a question posed by correspondents on whether there was a possibility of the various violent crises across the country being finally put down, the Chief of Army Staff said the various criminal activities besetting the country would end if Nigerians come together to end them.

    According to him, those engaging in the violent and criminal activities were almost all Nigerians, saying “these terrorists, 99 percent of them are Nigerians. These kidnappers I will say 100 percent of them are Nigerians.

    “As to whether banditry, terrorism and so on will end, I think it all depends. If Nigerians want it to end today, I can assure you it will end today, if everybody joins hands because these bandits are not outside Nigeria, they are not from foreign land.

    “So it’s not just a military, security agency task to end the insecurity in this country. It’s only when it goes bad that we are called in, but everybody has the responsibility to handle that.

    “Some of the insecurities are as old as history itself and it all depends on what you are doing to contain or defeat it at a particular time. It is the totality of your effort that will determine the escalation or containment of the insecurity in the country.

    “There are set backs that can occur in such military operations or any security operations but that not mean inability to handle it, incompetence to handle it, as long as the efforts are there and are visible, the support of all and sundry will be required to address it squarely.

    “Like I said, if we want it to end, the totality of the people’s effort must be put into it to see that insecurity in the country is reduced to the barest minimum.

    “But if we don’t do anything and continue to complain, and continue to accuse the agencies involved in fighting it, then we are not helping matters. You are supposed to find solutions as something is being done on daily basis.

  • Ex-minister Labaran Maku’s brother, wife kidnapped, sister killed

    Ex-minister Labaran Maku’s brother, wife kidnapped, sister killed

    Unidentified gunmen have killed the sister of former minister of information, Labaran Maku and also kidnapped his elder brother and wife.

    Maku’s brother was identified as Salisu Usman-Maku, an officer with the Nigeria Immigration Service.

    According to a family member, gunmen stormed the family house in Gudi village of Akwanga Local Government Area in the early hours of Tuesday.

    The source said the gunmen killed Labaran Maku’s sister and kidnapped his brother and his wife.

    According to the source, the gunmen shot sporadically, killing the woman.

    When contacted, Comptroller of Immigration in the state, Zainab Lawal, confirmed the kidnapping of the Maku couple.

    “Nigeria Immigration Officer (NIS) Supt. Salisu Usman and his wife have been abducted at gun point.”

  • BREAKING: Senate okays life imprisonment for Kidnapping

    BREAKING: Senate okays life imprisonment for Kidnapping

    The Senate on Tuesday raised the punishment for anyone found guilty on the offence of kidnapping from 10 years to life imprisonment.

    The upper chamber also deleted the statute of limitation on defilement as well removed gender restrictions on the offences of rape.

    These resolutions of the Senate followed the third reading and passage of “A bill for an Act to amend the Criminal Code Act CAP. C.38, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 2004.”

    The Bill sponsored by Senator Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central), seeks to delete the statute of limitation on defilement, increase punishment for the offence of kidnapping, and remove gender restrictions in the offence of rape and other related matters.

    The Bill also eliminated the present time frame for reporting and prosecuting defilement cases in the country.

    It also removed gender restrictions on the offence of rape by explaining that both male and female could be raped.

    If the Bill becomes law, defilement cases can be actionable at any time.

  • Obasanjo raises alarm: Nigeria’s 14 million out-of-school children may become terrorists, kidnappers soon

    Obasanjo raises alarm: Nigeria’s 14 million out-of-school children may become terrorists, kidnappers soon

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has warned that the 14 million out-of-school children in Nigeria may become terrorists, kidnappers, and armed robbers if their education is not taken seriously.

    Obasanjo’s warning was published the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) bulletin on Monday, revealing that in the next 10 years, these out-of-school children could become perpetrators of heinous crimes and constitute a nuisance in the society.

    This is coming months after education minister, Adamu Adamu had also said there were 10 million out-of-primary-school children but that the figure could rise to 14 million when added to those out of junior secondary schools.

    Obasanjo called on policymakers and key players in the education sector to brace up for challenges as well as ensure that the quality of Nigeria’s education meets the UNESCO Education for All (EFA) standard.

    “If we don’t take care of these 14 million out-of-school children in the next 10 years or so, they will be the terrorists, armed robbers, and kidnappers of the future,” he said.

    The former president also said that quality education in Nigeria should not always be about the number of universities available.

    “It should be about whether they’re doing what they should be doing, whether they meet the needs of the industry where they are situated, or whether they are delivering quality education,” he said.

    “We should be preoccupied with what product is coming out and not about the number or the size. America has varsities with multi-campuses where student populations number in the thousands.

    “I used to be a member of the Board of Trustees of Wilberforce University with a total population of 1,500, a small university but one which is making meaningful and impactful contributions.

    “We should build on what we have now, improve on them. A population of over 200 million people having 170 or more universities is not too many for me as what matters are content and quality

    “And the ability to turn out appropriate products for market and industry. If that is achieved, then universities could be said to be doing what they should be doing and we should hail them for it.”

  • We only need your daughter’s virginity – Kidnappers tell parents

    The family of Emmanuel Kushi has been distraught over the kidnap of their daughter, Patience, which occurred four days ago.

    Their fears were further raised by bizarre messages from suspected cultists who kidnapped the 20-year-old undergraduate in Bauchi State.

    One of the messages stated that they didn’t need money but the victim’s virginity.

    Speaking with journalists on Saturday, the victim’s father, Emmanuel Kushi, said his daughter, a 100 level Pharmacology student at the Bauchi State University, Gadau, left the house on Wednesday and was abducted on her way home after visiting his younger brother.

    He said, “On Wednesday, June 24, around 2 pm, she left my younger brother’s house in Rafin Zurfi and told him she was coming to my house at Kafin Tafawa (a distance of about four kilometers) to pick something and he gave her permission to come.

    “By evening my younger brother’s wife kept calling her mobile to know if she had arrived but there was no response. They thought she was already in my house working.

    “Later on, they tried again but the number was switched off. The next day (Thursday) around 1pm, my younger brother’s wife called me and asked why I delayed Patience and didn’t let her come back. She asked if there was any problem.

    “I told her that I didn’t see Patience because she had not come to my house. She expressed shock about what I told her and said she would call her friend to confirm.”

    He further explained that his brother’s wife told him that when she called Patience’s friend, he told her that he also tried calling her on Wednesday but her phone rang out.

    The father added, “So he sent a text message to her mobile. Then, a reply came in. The response read, ‘Do you think you will ever see her again? Fool.’”

    Kushi said he came back from the farm and also saw a text message in his phone sent by the abductors through his daughter’s number.

    The text message, which was forwarded read, “Father, your daughter is with us (BLACK AXE CONFRETANITY (sic)). We don’t need your money what we need is her virginity. Don’t bother looking for her.”

    He said that he got another text from the abductors on Saturday morning informing him that she was dead.

    “This morning, at exactly 10.25 am, they sent me another text message and said ‘she is dead’.

    He said the family had reported the matter to the Yelwa Divisional Police Headquarters.

    The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Ahmed Wakil, confirmed the incident.

    He added that the police were investigating the matter.

  • Police liberate abducted Lagos-bound passenger in Ondo forest

    Police liberate abducted Lagos-bound passenger in Ondo forest

    Operatives of the Ondo State Police Command have rescued a kidnapped target from forest in Akoko area of the state.

     

    The victim was among several passengers heading from Abuja to Lagos that were kidnapped by gunmen suspected to be herdsmen

     

    It was gathered that the passengers boarded a Toyota Sienna Van marked AKY 715 GD in Abuja and were heading to Lagos but were abducted at Akoko Isua area of Ondo State around 1pm.

     

    A family member of one of the victims, Bamidele Ojo, confirmed that the kidnappers have demanded N100m ransom.

     

    Ondo Police spokesman, Tee-Leo Ikoro, confirmed the abduction and said one of the victims had been rescued.

     

    Ikoro said the police was working with local vigilance groups, hunters and other security agencies to ensure release of other victims.

     

    Akoko area of Ondo State which shares borders with Edo State is notorious for high rate of kidnapping incidences.

     

    Last month, a naval officer and an Army Captain including the wife of a traditional ruler in the area were abducted.