[b]Kidnappers reduce ransom on Punch editor’s father

By Samuel Oluwalana


September 16, 2010 11:38PM
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The kidnappers of Olubunmi Agbana, father of Gbenga Agbana, a Punch editor, have reduced the ransom placed on the 74-year-old man to N15 million, almost a week after he was abducted on his way to the farm at Irele, Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti State.

The kidnappers had initially demanded a ransom of N20 million to free the man.

Mr Agbana, who the kidnappers have been in contact with, told journalists in Ado-Ekiti that his father’s abductors threatened to kill their captive if the family failed to pay the ransom before the end of the day.

“I spoke with my father again and those holding him have reduced the ransom demanded to N15 million,” he said. “They also threatened to waste him if we refuse to pay the money by 4pm. But where can I get such money from?”

Full of hope

Mr Agbana said members of the extended family are running round to see how the money can be raised, but he said that it is almost impossible to raise such a huge sum of money.

“I offered to pay them N200,000, but they became very angry and threatened to kill him. They also told me that he might die in their hideout because of his ill health. They said that his legs had swollen and he was very sick,” he said.

Mr Agbana said his father left the hospital a day before he was abducted by some armed youth. He said the drugs given to his father at the hospital were still at home, and the septuagenarian had relapsed in the kidnappers’ den.

Despite this, he expressed hope that his father would soon regain his freedom because “security operatives have identified some suspects.”


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