TheNewsGuru

Tag: Ransom

  • Why FG cannot accede to release of 16 terrorists commanders, sponsors in custody for abducted passengers of Kaduna train attack

    Why FG cannot accede to release of 16 terrorists commanders, sponsors in custody for abducted passengers of Kaduna train attack

    The Nigerian government has reportedly stalled negotiations between them and terrorists, who attacked the Kaduna-Abuja train on March 28, following the refusal of the government to accede to the release of 16 of their commanders and sponsors in custody.

     

    The terrorists are keeping about 100 passengers, who were abducted from the train, which derailed at Katari, Kaduna, after it was bombed.

     

    Eight persons were killed and 26 others injured when gunmen attacked the train and kidnapped the victims.

     

    The Nigerian Railway Corporation said it was unable to establish contact with 163 of the passengers and seven crew members, who boarded the train.

     

    Security sources said the authorities were still negotiating with the terrorists, while exploring other options to rescue the abductees, who were seen in a viral video sitting under a tree at an unknown location, believed to be the bandits’ camp.

     

    It was gathered on Friday that the government was also not ready to pay ransom on the abductees.

     

    A source said, “The Federal Government is looking into their demands because of the hostages, but the government is being cautious; it cannot meet the demands of the terrorists. The last time the government released some commanders, they went back and the insurgency became worse.

     

    “So, nobody is considering releasing the commanders. The terrorists were also given money previously and the situation did not improve.”

     

    Following the lack of progress in the negotiations, it was learned that the terrorists might start asking the families of the hostages for ransom.

     

    Some of the family members had protested the abduction of their loved ones and also complained that the terrorists had not contacted them since the victims were held captive over two weeks ago.

     

    Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, has ordered intensive security patrols of all public spaces and critical national assets ahead of Easter.

     

    He directed all state Commissioners of Police and their supervising Assistant Inspectors-General of Police to ensure adequate deployment of personnel and operational assets in areas of security interest in their respective areas of responsibility.

     

    The acting force spokesman, Muyiwa Adejobi, disclosed in a statement that the IG also instructed the supervising officers to ensure that “confidence-boosting, proactive and high visibility patrols” were carried out on the highways, motor parks, train stations, airports, worship centres, recreation centres, banks and other financial institutions, while taking adequate measures to provide a peaceful, crime-free, and enabling environment for religious, cultural and other socio-economic activities to thrive.

     

    “In addition, the commissioners of police and their supervising AIGs have been directed to ensure proper supervision of the men assigned for these assignments. They must be professional and courteous to law-abiding citizens, but firm and ruthless with criminal elements, who might want to take advantage of the festive period to perpetrate their unholy acts,” the statement added.

  • SHOCKING: Court remands pregnant woman for kidnapping herself, as facebook lover pays N2m as ransom

    SHOCKING: Court remands pregnant woman for kidnapping herself, as facebook lover pays N2m as ransom

    Chief Magistrate Court I, Yola, has ordered the remand of a pregnant woman, Jamila Ardo, 25, for allegedly kidnapping herself and collecting N2m as ransom from her facebook lover, Adamu Ahmed.

    Ardo, who hails from Wauru Jabbe in the Yola South Local Government Area of Adamawa State, allegedly connived with one Abdulaziz to fake her own kidnap to defraud her lover.

    She was said to have used the proceeds to buy a house.

    The suspect and Ahmed reportedly fell in love after meeting on Facebook, unknown to the man that he was dealing with a married woman.

    It was gathered that all through their dating, the duo never had physical contact, but the relationship blossomed as they kept in touch online.

    Details of the fraud, as contained in the charge sheet indicated how Abdulaaziz, while conniving with Ardo, put a call through to her lover, informing him that she had been kidnapped and demanding a ransom.

    During negotiation for her release, Adamu was said to have heard Ardo crying, as she pleaded with him on the phone to pay the ransom.

    Adamu was said to have deposited the money in a bank account with the name, Amina Mohammed.

    “After sending the money, Adamu was informed by his lover that the kidnappers had released her.

    “Adamu, however, became suspicious and filed a complaint at the State Investigation Bureau on November 16, 2021,” the charge stated.

    Detectives subsequently apprehended the owner of the bank account used to collect the ransom, Mohammed.

    Ardo was subsequently arrested and arraigned before Magistrate, Abdullahi Digil, on criminal conspiracy and kidnapping, contrary to sections 60 and 248 of the Penal Code Law.

    When the charge was read to the accused, she pleaded not guilty.

    The police prosecutor, Inspector Abubakar Nurudeen, prayed the Magistrate to adjourn the case to enable the prosecution to forward the case file to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions for legal advice.

    Counsel for the defendant, C. Crowealth, who appeared alongside T. K. David, pleaded with the court to allow his client have access to a medical facility considering her condition.

    Crowealth further asked the court to order the prosecution to avail them with all necessary documents to enable them to prepare for their defence.

    Ruling, Digil granted the application and adjourned the matter till March 10, 2022, while ordering the remand of the defendant.

  • Diri rules out payment of ransom for kidnapped Bayelsa commissioner

    Diri rules out payment of ransom for kidnapped Bayelsa commissioner

    Gov. Douye Diri of Bayelsa has ruled out the payment of ransom to secure the release of the Commissioner for Trade and Investment, Mr Federal Otokito.

    Otokito was kidnapped on Thursday at his country home, Otuokpoti in Ogbia Local Government Area of the state.

    A statement by Diri’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr Daniel Alabrah, on Monday urged youths of the state to shun kidnapping, which the governor described as counter-productive.

    Diri called for the immediate and unconditional release of the commissioner, vowing that the state’s laws against kidnapping would be followed to the letter.

    He said, “I left Yenagoa for Abuja and within the period one of my cabinet members was kidnapped. A lot of people expected me to make statements but I am not a man of too many words.

    “I advise those who settle scores by kidnapping and criminality that there are laws of Bayelsa State against kidnapping.

    “Let me call on those that kidnapped my Commissioner of Trade and Investment to immediately release him without any conditions.

    “I have been on it from the beginning till now and I will ensure that he is released unhurt.

    “I advise all others involved in that criminal, ungodly and inhumane act to have a change of mind and leave that illegitimate business.’’

    It was gathered that the gunmen who abducted the commissioner had demanded the release of the father of their leader, who is in police custody as condition to free Otokito.

    They were said to have contacted the paramount ruler of Otuokpoti to demand the swap of the father of their leader with the commissioner.

  • Bandits kill pastor after receiving ransom; abduct woman, four children in Kaduna

    Bandits kill pastor after receiving ransom; abduct woman, four children in Kaduna

    Bandits have killed one Pastor Dauda Bature who was in charge of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) parish in the Narayi area of Chikun Local Government Area (LGA) of Kaduna State.

    Bature, who was initially abducted by the armed men, was killed despite the payment of an unspecified amount of money to his captors as a ransom for his release.

    Although police authorities in Kaduna have yet to react to the killing, a top member of the church confirmed the death of the clergyman on Saturday.

    The source who does not want his identity disclosed explained that the bandits kidnapped Bature on November 8 while he was working on his farm.

    His farm is said to be situated at a location not far from the Rigasa Train Station on the outskirts of the Kaduna metropolis.

    According to the church member, the body of the pastor was found some days ago after his family had paid the ramson demanded by his abductors.

    In a related development, bandits invaded Oil village in Chikun LGA where they forcefully took away a woman and her four children to an unknown location.

    The Police Public Relations Officer in Kaduna, Muhammed Jalige, who confirmed the incident in a statement, revealed that the assailants carried out simultaneous attacks on a residential area at Sabo GRA in the LGA.

    “In the early hours of 11th December 2021 at about 0105hrs, the Kaduna Police Command through Divisional Police Officer Sabon Tasha Division Kaduna acted on a distress call received from a good Samaritan to the fact that some suspected armed bandits numbering about 30 with some in military gears and bearing dangerous weapons, were making ferocious effort to break into a residential area at Sabo GRA in Chikun LGA of the State in an attempt to commit a heinous crime,” he said.

    On receiving the distress call, Jalige stated that operatives were immediately mobilised with the support of other security agents to the scene with a view to thwarting the bandits’ intention.

    He added that the criminals, on sensing the presence of security agents, started shooting indiscriminately while the operatives swiftly returned fire and succeeded in foiling the attempt.

    The command’s spokesman explained that the criminals, who were frustrated by the police and other security operatives, set the residence ablaze and fled into the bush.

    “Unfortunately, it was discovered that the bandits operated simultaneously with one at oil village in the same Sabo location where they kidnapped a woman and her four children to an unknown destination,” he said.

    According to Jalige, the police have launched investigations into the two incidents and effort is ongoing to rescue the abducted victims.

    He assured the residents that the police were doing everything possible to restore normalcy in the area and called for the support and cooperation of the people.

  • Gunmen kidnap eight in Ekiti, demand N50m ransom

    Gunmen kidnap eight in Ekiti, demand N50m ransom

    Eight people were allegedly kidnapped on Tuesday at Itapaji Ekiti, in the Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti State.

    This is coming a week after four persons were kidnapped in Ayebode-Ekiti, in the same local government.

    The kidnappers were said to have demanded N50 million ransom from the family of the victims on Wednesday, 27th of October.

    According to an eyewitness, it was revealed that the gunmen had stormed a house located in the town around 9:30pm, shot intermittently into the air, and made away with eight occupants of the building.

    During the occurrence that lasted over an hour, the community was said to have been in the fear of the unknown.

    It was gathered that the terrible incident happened at the time the owner of the building was preparing for his mother’s burial.

    According to the source, the gunmen numbered seven, came around 9:30pm, surrounded the building, shot into the air, and made the people in the community to scamper for safety.

    “Occupants who were 14 were forcefully made to lie down as they came out of the house and were later taken away into the bush, but six of them escaped.”

    “One of the family members got a call from the abductors and demanded for a ransom of N50m”, the eyewitness said.

    The source lamented on how the lack of police stations in Itapaji -Ayebode and Irele-Oke Ako axes was responsible for increasing rates of kidnapping in the area, saying that the nearest police station is in Ikole Ekiti, which was over 40 minutes drive to the troubled spots.

    When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti Command, Sunday Abutu, confirmed the incident.

    Abutu said: “The Command is working on that . Already special police operatives, as well as the JTF, have been deployed in that axis to ensure they rescue the victims and for possible arrest of the culprits”.

  • Why bandits now release kidnap victims without collecting ransom – Zamfara Government official

    Why bandits now release kidnap victims without collecting ransom – Zamfara Government official

    The Deputy Chairman of Zamfara State Committee on finding a lasting solution to Armed Banditry, Dr. Abdullahi Shinkafi, says bandits no longer have food to feed their kidnap victims and are releasing them freely without collecting ransom.

    Shinkafi said this during an interview on Saturday in Gusau while hailing the efforts of the state government aimed at tackling the activities of bandits in the north-western state.

    “There were some people who were kidnapped, 11 of them. They released one and told them to bring N200,000 each. Before they started negotiating, (they demanded) N20 million per person,” he said.

    “When the relatives of the victims refused to send the money, they left with no option than to release them. They said they don’t have food to feed them that some have started dying in captivity.

    “So it is yielding a lot of results and biting them very hard. The sustainability of these security measures will help in downgrading the activities of bandits in Zamfara State.”

    Shinkafi added that due to the telecommunications shutdown, bandits wrote letters to the people of Shinkafi and the Acting Emir of Zurmi, using receipts of their purchased motorcycles to demand ransom for kidnapped victims.

    He also confirmed that the task force in the state has traced the address of the motorcycle company in Kano State and arrests have been made.

  • Kidnappers bursted while collecting ransom in Ogun

    Kidnappers bursted while collecting ransom in Ogun

    The police authorities in Ogun State have arrested two suspected kidnappers while they were trying to collect ransom.

    In a statement issued by the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, the suspects were identified as Muhammed Abubakar and Clinton Niche.

    They were said to have been apprehended following a report lodged at the Agbara Area command by one Stephen Ajibili who said that his seven-year-old son was abducted by unknown persons while he was sent on an errand.

    The victim’s father had claimed that the abductors had called him and demanded one million naira to secure his son’s release.

    “Consequent upon the report, the acting Area Commander Agbara, CSP Kayode Shedrack, quickly mobilised his detectives to embark on a technical and intelligence-based investigation to unravel those behind the dastardly act,” the statement partly read.

    “The efforts of the detectives paid off when the suspects who had directed the victim’s parents to drop the ransom somewhere were ambushed and apprehended by the police detectives. The suspects subsequently led the policemen to a bush where the innocent young boy was tied to a tree by his abductors.”

    Upon interrogation, the suspects informed the police that they are three in number, but the remaining member of their gang was the person watching over their victim while they came out to collect the ransom.

    The police spokesman explained that the other suspect took to his heels after discovering that his two accomplices have been arrested.

    The acting Commissioner of Police, DCP Abiodun Alamutu, has ordered the immediate transfer of the suspects to the Anti-Kidnapping Section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for discreet investigation.

    He also directed that the fleeing member of the gang be hunted and brought to justice within the shortest possible period.

  • Bandits write Sokoto monarch, demand N20m ransom for 20 abducted villagers

    Bandits write Sokoto monarch, demand N20m ransom for 20 abducted villagers

    Suspected bandits operating in the Eastern Senatorial District of Sokoto state have allegedly written a letter to a monarch in Burkusuma demanding for ransom to secure the release of 20 persons kidnapped from two communities in Sabon Birni Local Government Area.

    The letter was allegedly written in the Hausa language by one of the victims kidnapped by the bandits and addressed to Sarkin Rafin Burkusuma, the district head of the area.

    The bandits informed the monarch that the victims kidnapped from Gatawa and Burkusuma are all in good health and doing great.

    They thereafter demanded the sum of N20 million to be paid for the release of the kidnap victims.

    The kidnapped victims, whose names were all written in the letter, consist of nine males, eight females and two children.

    According to reports, one of the victims was released to deliver the letter to Gatawa through the Sarkin Rakin Burkusuma.

    Multiple sources have it that the bandits have resorted to sending letters to families of kidnapped victims since the shutdown of telecommunication services in the area.

    Sokoto, just like other states of the North-West has been ravaged by bandits’ activities who kidnap for ransom, kill, steal and maim people.

    Just two days ago, bandits had attacked Gangara and Gatawa all in Sabon Birni local government where residents said over twenty persons were killed and 27 persons were kidnapped.

    Although the police authorities confirmed the killing of four persons in Gangara town, they, however, did not give detail on the attack in Gatawa

  • Kidnapping: Reps to probe NYSC over handbook advising corps members to pay ransom when abducted

    Kidnapping: Reps to probe NYSC over handbook advising corps members to pay ransom when abducted

    Emman Ovuakporie

    The House of Representatives on Tuesday mandated the committee on youth development to investigate item 65(e ) of the National Youth Service Corps handbook which gives members security tips incase of kidnap cases.

    TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) reports Rep Ndudi Elumelu the opposition leader raised the motion under matters of urgent national importance at plenary describing the section which advised Corps members to inform their families to make ransom available in case they fall victim to kidnap as “embarrassing ”

    Elumelu insists the inclusion of that section shows a complete collapse in the security architecture of the country which calls for worry and that it is against the provisions of Section 19 of the Public Officers Protection Act.

    Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, referred the house to a refutal made by the management of the NYSC which the sponsor of the motion immediately countered as he came armed with a copy of the NYSC handbook reading out what the security Tips actually stated.

    TNG recalls that Section 65(e)of the NYSC handbook had surfaced in a section of the media over the weekend, generating a lot of reactions and raising concerns to Nigerians.

    The NYSC initially denied it but immediately copies of the handbook started circulating in the social media networks, the withdrawal was withdrawn.

     

  • After initial denials, NYSC admits publication asking corps members to be friendly with, pay ransom to kidnappers in dangerous zones

    After initial denials, NYSC admits publication asking corps members to be friendly with, pay ransom to kidnappers in dangerous zones

    The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) have admitted after initial rebuttals that copies of its pamphlets containing security tips for staff and corps members contain a clause that advises corps members to prepare for ransom payment when and if abducted.

    The scheme explained that it discovered that there different versions of the pamphlet are in circulation.

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports on Thursday, the page containing the advice for the corps and staff on reaching out to the family and friends when plying such routes it described as “high risk” had flooded the social media.

    The handbook, which is titled; “Security Awareness and Education Handbook For Corps Members and Staff,” on its page 56, advised both corps members and (and staff) travelling on “high-risk” roads to alert their “family members, friends and colleagues to have someone on hand to pay off the ransom that could be demanded” in case they are kidnapped.

    The document lists such roads to include “Abuja-Kaduna, Abuja-Lokoja-Okene, or Aba-Port Harcourt” roads.

    The document is produced by Watchcon Security Consultancy Services – a private security outfit, in collaboration with the headquarters of the National Youths Service Corps.

    The pamphlet, on page 57, advises both the staff and corps members on how to conduct themselves when kidnapped, saying; “Do not antagonise your captors, be polite and operate with reasonable regards.”

    It also advises the corps members and its staff to show reasonable cooperation to the abductors, and that they should “establish personal relationship with your abductors as soon as possible.”

    It further added; “The kidnappers may ask for contact persons, do not mention your place of work, but your close friends and parents. They will reach them to negotiate for your release.

    “Advise your friends involved in the negotiations, they should be friendly with the captors.

    “Take no risk by attempting to escape,” even as it urges abductees not to attempt to be a hero making making efforts to escape.

    “Make no statement to the media after your release without official clearance but share your experience with close associates,” it further counsels.

    Initial denial

    However, sequel to the discovery of the clause in the publication and the attendant criticisms particularly on social media, the NYSC in a statement issued earlier on Friday described the clause in circulation as the handiwork of mischief-makers.

    The statement reads in part; “The attention of Management of the National Youth Service Corps has been drawn to a fake release making the rounds on the social media to the effect that Corps Members travelling on ” high risk roads” should alert their families, friends and colleagues in order to have somebody to pay off the ransom that could be demanded in the event of being kidnapped.

    “Management wishes to emphatically state that the clause mischievously quoted is not embedded in NYSC Security Tips pamphlet which was put together by a highly respected retired security expert.

    “Management wishes to appeal to the general public to always clarify issues with the Scheme.”

    The organisation, therefore, advises Nigerians to always verify things before sharing them on social media, saying it “has offices in all the states of the federation, as well as the 774 Local Government Areas in the country for enquiries.”

    “Please, be wary of falling prey to the antics of mischief makers out to ridicule the Scheme,” it added.

    Investigations in progress

    TNG reports that in its admittance, the organisation, however, noted that it realised that different copies of the pamphlets are in circulation with some containing the clause and others not.

    “We realised different copies are in circulation. We are investigating,” the NYSC spokesperson, Adenike Adeyemi told Premium Times in a terse message upon the paper’s inquiry.