In recent years, Nigeria has seen a sharp increase in kidnappings. This has seen Nigerians pay billions of naira in ransom to secure the release of their loved ones at the hands of kidnappers. The ICIR’s Shehu Olayinka examines cases of kidnapping, ransom payment and the cost of being kidnapped in Nigeria.

IT was on a quiet morning after a gloomy night. *Monday Adams had embarked on a journey to deliver ransom to kidnappers deep inside a forest in the central part of Kaduna state. The journey is being made on a commercial motorbike—the best means of transportation to get him to his destination.

He snaked through the forest with the commercial motorbike rider while receiving directions intermittently from phone calls on how to move and which path to take.

The ransom was to be promptly delivered on behalf of the family of Obadiah Ibrahim. The victim was a Kaduna-based worker who, alongside his colleague, was kidnapped in Sabon Gaya, Kaduna state.

Obadiah, alongside his colleague, had spent several days with the criminals. To secure their freedom, the bandits demanded the ransom be brought to a forest in Ridu Village, Ungwan Ayaba, in Chikun Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.

I was terrified, Adams told The ICIR. “I had to change my cloth to dirty ones to avoid being perceived as rich.”


“If they see you wearing expensive clothes and looking good, they may believe you have money and will abduct you to demand a ransom.”

Kidnapping in the country is no longer uncommon. In Chikun LGA alone, more than a thousand (1,010) persons have been kidnapped in 73 separate incidents in the last ten years.

In the forest, Adams said he met Ali Dogo, a bandit leader who, last December, the Nigerian Airforce disclosed, was killed in an airstrike in Niger state. Dogo, also known as Yellow, was reported to have been killed along with 30 of his foot soldiers in an attack performed by the air component of Operation Whirl Punch.

But narrating his ordeal, Adams added that the bandits controlled the entire Ridu community. “They were aware of my movements. When I arrived at the community, they told me they had been tracking my movements since I arrived there.”

He continued, “When I arrived at the site where I was supposed to drop the ransom, I noticed a large crowd. Young and old alike. Some were on trees, while others had bikes and firearms.”

Adams, though fearful, was optimistic about meeting the kidnappers and likened the scene to a market square. “I believe they were expecting to be attacked because, on my way to where I was supposed to drop the ransom, as I was approaching the forest, I met some troops (Nigerian military) with whom I exchanged pleasantries, and they told me about it.”

He eventually handed over the ransom to the bandits. But that was not all. He also provided call recharge cards. “They told me to depart after ensuring everything was in order and exchanging a few words with Dogo. I was instructed to take a different route than I previously used to access the hideout”.

Adam’s experience tells the story of what Nigerians go through to rescue their kidnapped loved ones with no assurance of success.

Obadiah died at the kidnappers’ den.

‘They demanded N10M to release my brother’s corpse’
Kefas Ibrahim, the younger brother of the late Obadiah, said his brother’s death was a huge loss. He left behind a wife and two children.

The kidnappers had initially requested N200 million.

“We went through a traumatic process throughout the process,” he told The ICIR. Kefas said despite collecting N3.2 Million, recharge cards worth N50,000, and a motorbike worth N800,000, his brother still died in the custody of the kidnappers.

According to him, “When we demanded his body, they demanded an extra N10 Million to release his corpse.”

Ibrahim was more pained that the whole effort was futile even after the family engaged a private negotiator immediately after the kidnap incident.

“He was kidnapped alongside a coworker, he said. One was killed during the kidnapping. We got a negotiator who was communicating with them and advocating on our behalf as soon as he was kidnapped. The kidnappers initially requested N200 million. We informed them that we did not have any money. They came down to N5 million. They asked us how much we had from N5 million. We bargained and informed them we had N3,120,000.”

“We gave them everything they asked for—the money, a Glo and Airtel credit card worth N50,000 and a motorcycle worth N800,000. We got Adams to help with the ransom drop after agreeing on what to bring. We contacted them after he dropped the ransom with them, and they said they would release him the next morning because it was too late that day.”

“The next day in the morning, when we asked when he would be released, they said they collected the money because they were out of food.”

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/the-cost-of-getting-kidnapped-in-nigeria/

Sad.

In Edo state now what they do is to smashed raw eggs on your windscreen ,and when you come down to react....Omo dem don kidnap person be that o.